are you 38 weeks and counting?

[badmamma]

Junior magazine ? Britain's finest parenting magazine ? is looking for a witty, observant pregant woman in final weeks of her FIRST pregnancy to keep a diary until she gives birth. It should be full of the magic, awe and wonder of a first baby, but also have the comical observations about being big and hot and about to burst. It will be published in September/October and there will be a fee. Please email [email protected]
if you wish to take part. You don't need to be a journalist, just have a good sense of humour.
CUT OFF DATE FOR APPLICATIONS July 23rd.

Who says "finest parenting magazine"... according to whom ??? It's editor ????

Britains most unaccessible, unattainable lifestyle, product-led parenting magazine, don't you mean?

ok tell me a better parenting mag? ok, it has expensive stuff (like all glossy mags this is necessary to attract advertising) but it s only one with articles that don t insult yr intelligence.

badmamma, Do you/did you work for it??

yes, i do write for Junior (among other publications) precisely because i want to write and read about parenting issues with a little bit of attitude - like the threads on Mumsnet - rather than write utterly bland stuff which does not represent the complexity of motherhood. that is why i ve been asked to find a non-journalist to write this diary about the last few weeks. because it will have truth and humour and reality.

badmamma, I have 3 kids ( youngest 9 months) and am therefore, by definition, not witty or observant (too shagged to care) nor (thankfully!) pregnant Can occasionally be hot, not really that big though. Shame really, as I could certainly do with the fee!!

By the way, you don't know anyone called Claudia do you

badmamma, if I were witty and observant I would just write a witty and observant novel on the ups and downs of motherhood, get a huge advance, sell the rights to Hollywood and buy my own tropical island. As it is I will just have to make do with cleaning up baby sick and sterilising bottles.

Oh, I remember Claudia, she was made to feel really welcome on Mumsnet too wasn't she? I wonder if she ever found any volunteers?

I'm sure most first time pregnant women will have plenty of other things on their minds when it comes to getting the baby out. I can't imagine them shoving the midwife to one side whilst they just complete another entry in the diary.

Maybe it would be slightly more realistic to ask a number of women to write one 'entry' each, either a record of one specific day, or a precis of the last fortnight?

'she wasn t made too welcome on mumsnet either' ... so you are all completely hostile to the idea of having a real woman write her experience and it be published in a magazine yet you complain the magazines don t represent your lives. that s a shame. i feel like the new girl at school being bitched out by an unfriendly and cynical clique.

Badmamma - I think that some of us don't like this board to be used as an advertising medium... otherwise you are most welcome to talk about your experiences (as you did with Woolworth) or ask questions or offer advice

badmamma, I feel slightly embarrassed at the hostile reception you've received. I'd like to ask why this happens with journalist enquiries on this site, it's very different on others I visit.

my goodness, i remember my first pregnancy it was the most awesome, weird experience of my life. i wanted to tell everyone about it - not because i m a journalist, but because i m a human being. but that was six years ago and i can t remember it clearly enough to do it justice. i just thought - innocently - that someone would like to keep a journal and capture that awe. i didn t expect to be rounded on like i was asking you to sell your baby.

Mopsy - Don't know if anyone else thinks this but I think that if companies are looking to advertise their products (magazines etc) on mumsnet then they should pay for it rather than use the talk boards. I'm happy to 'chat' to mums who happen to be journalists but don't like to see ' magazine - Britain's finest ' on the talk boards.

Exactly

i m sorry Bluebear but i m not advertising. quite the opposite. i was inviting access to a print medium. what is wrong with that. or would you prefer your lives to never be represented in the media?

my goodness, i remember my first pregnancy it was the most awesome, weird experience of my life. i wanted to tell everyone about it - not because i m a journalist, but because i m a human being. but that was six years ago and i can t remember it clearly enough to do it justice. i just thought - innocently - that someone would like to keep a journal and capture that awe. i didn t expect to be rounded on like i was asking you to sell your baby.

Badmamma - I think you are missing Bluebear and my point... it is the way you introduced your request which was not well-received. The request in itself isn't the issue !
Something like... I work for a parenting magazine and I am looking for some help..... would have been IMO more appropriate.
I guess we don't seee eye-to-eye.

well i m sorry about the initial wording. it was inappropriate given the nature of mumsnet, i now realise. but i still think it would be a worthwhile exercise if anyone is interested.

Pupuce has hit the nail on the head - it was the way your request was introduced which annoyed me -Please notice that I was not one of the previous messagers who made you feel 'bitched out' I was just replying to Mopsy to explain why I felt uncomfortable with this thread.
If there had been a message on (for example) the 'working at home' board suggesting pregnant women may wish to email for info on writing for a parenting magazine I would have been much happier about it.

badmamma - on a different topic, why is it that parenting magazines often have articles on 'How to survive the first 6 weeks of your baby' but don't seem to mention that this time may be a lot easier than 6 weeks to 6 months. (or is that just my baby? )

what is really interesting here is how your website treats newcomers/outsiders. i have no idea about home work notice boards and i don t even know what DH and DD mean. so i guess most newcomers don t either. whatever you think of my request and it s wording, i think you should think about how cliquey you all sound. like a bunch of girls sitting on the wall talking about someone who doesn t know the rules. kind of behaviour i remember from school.

Badmamma as a freelance pr & journalist I feel for you, as I said before I'm shocked at how offensive people have been towards you. I hope you will ignore them and continue to use and contribute to the site. Mopsy x

badmamma - sorry you feel upset, I'm sure if you stick around you'll find most mumsnet boards are very friendly and supportive. I'm off to bed - night.

well, i've never hear of junior magazine...but it couldn't possibly be worse than the junk that my husband reads...the sun, the star, and worst of all the sport. And if one of them was going to pay me money to write about my pregancy i would quite happily do it. Not because i need the money, but because everyone around me is sick and tired of hearing about it.... I'm sure i could have written a hilarious account of the last few months of my first pregnancy (or this one for that matter). I managed to get every ailment (scratching myself to the point of bleeding...etc.) in the book and my gp was only interested in the fact that i didn't have swollen ankles.
Maybe it's my american sense of humor, but i thought badmamma was being a little tongue in cheek when she introduced her magazine as the "finest." Anyway, IMO there is nothing wrong with doing a simple post looking for someone to participate in an article/tv program etc. I do agree that it was a little annoying when that woman (claudia?) posted the same thing on 10 different threads.
Now, badmamma, one of the unwritten rules of mumsnet is that we see arguing as a positive interaction and a way to find out about a lot of different opinions and ways of doing things...and we always kiss and make up afterwards. So, since it sounds like you have kids, please join us on a permanent basis and add your two cents in.