Hip Mama

I'm not referring to a hip mama here in a superficial sense, but one of being an informed and honest parent. As Bee Lavender, one of the founders of hipmama.com states, she was "radicalized by my experience of being a parent, yet never saw my story or any honest stories in the media. Hip Mama was the first parenting publication to explore the real experience of parenthood; not just the superficial aspects, but the true challenges and rewards of creating a family."

I knew I wanted to be an involved parent. Not involved in the sense that I was putting my unborn child’s name on a waiting list for an ivy league pre-school. Involved in the “full catastrophe” of parenting. As Yo Mama says, “The parental is the political.” I have suddenly found myself caring about things that I could have never predicted. Now that my child is taking early childhood education classes through the school district, I make sure I'm informed and vote on the school referendum. I’m involved in making sure they continue to receive funding.

I enjoy reading books with more realistic (sometimes raw) views of parenting, such as:
Mother Shock by Andrea Buchanan
The Big Rumpus by Ayun Halliday
Mothers Who Think by Camille Peri
**Your Children Will Raise You: The Joys, Challenges and Spiritual Lessons of Motherhood edited by Eden Steinberg
The Mother Trip and The Hip Mama Survival Guide by Ariel Gore

Go ahead, check out some of these resources:
Brain, Child: the magazine for thinking mothers
Mamaphonic: Mothering and the creative process (a web site and a FABULOUS book!)
Hipmama
Violet magazine: "you've grown up but you haven't grown old"

If you have others to add, please share!