Skip to main content
Skip to main navigation
Skip to talk navigation

Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Saved Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Flip

Wondering how to stop worrying about your grown child? Speak to others in our Parents of Adult Children forum.

MNHQ have commented on this thread

Wondering how to stop worrying about your grown child? Speak to others in our Parents of Adult Children forum.

MNHQ have commented on this thread

Parents of adult children

We're merging some sections into the Parenting area

20 replies

MichaelMumsnet · 15/05/2019 16:32

Hi all,
We’re doing some work on making the Talk boards more useful and user-friendly for both regular and new users. After looking at some stats for the site, we think we could boost activity on the whole by merging some of the lesser used sections.

We’re proposing to fold this section into the general Parenting area.

This should increase the number of topics in the section - and hopefully lead to more posts and responses to members.

OP posts:

Report

rosedream · 15/05/2019 22:27

How about merging teen and older children together if you need to merge some. Leaving them separate from younger children.

riverislands · 15/05/2019 23:43

I just looked, and it doesn't seem the best place at all. It's mainly first time pregnant mums to be.

Waterandlemonjuice · 15/05/2019 23:44

Fgs

musicposy · 21/05/2019 13:27

Oh great. So the one place I can come and read where I'm not subjected to stuff like "50 year old crone looked at my child" or "have you considered if she's over 50 she may have the start of dementia?" Is being got rid of. You try posting about an adult child/ older teen in general parenting and see the kind of responses you get from people who have never been there so don't have a clue.

FFS. I've been on mumsnet, what, 12 years, and in that time I've got older and so have my children. I swear I clicked 3 threads this morning that made it clear I'm not welcome any more due to my advanced age and now mumsnet are saying there's no place for us either.

I don't have grandchildren yet (and hope not to for a good few years!) but weirdly even gransnet does not have a parents of adult children section.

Agree with a PP, if you have to merge it, merge it with teens. A lot of us are on that border between teens and adult children.

mumsiedarlingrevolta · 21/05/2019 13:29

Agree completely with @musicposy ^^

please merge with teens but leave it separate from babies and toddlers!!!

FaithFrank · 21/05/2019 17:08

I agree with pp. If you merged it into the general parenting section, this topic would just disappear. People would not post about this kind of stuff on there. Merging with teenagers would be better.

InsulatedCup · 23/05/2019 07:11

I agree - this board is useful as it is. It is, however, quite hard to spot.

MadisonAvenue · 23/05/2019 07:16

Please don’t do that.
As others have said, this would just disappear.

Last week you were wanting to merge Teens in with Parenting. Why are parents of older children being treated like they don’t matter here on Mumsnet?

InsulatedCup · 23/05/2019 07:25

I've just looked at the Parenting section - 99% babies. I've never looked at that section before.

cosytoaster · 23/05/2019 07:42

Please don't, for all the reasons already given. I've found some really helpful advice on this and the teen boards, I really don't want to have to wade through pages about babies and toddlers nor be patronised with naive advice from the parents of babies and toddlers

musicposy · 23/05/2019 08:46

So are we just going to get silence from you, MN?

You have to remember, too, that a much larger portion of users read than post. So many times I come on here, scroll down, and find someone going through exactly the same as me. Then I can read all the advice without having to repeat. That's a useful resource which would be gone.

ProfYaffle · 23/05/2019 08:56

I don't have adult children but I do have teens and posted recently in support of keeping the teen board. Merging teens and adult children seems like a good fit. I think a lot of us read 'aspirationly' towards the next stage of parenting.

I also agree with the views on here that as an older parent it's easy to feel squeezed out. We need these specialised boards to find each other. As was said on the 'teens' thread, this is a website about parenting, it's important to keep that as the focus with detailed boards. Streamlining would be more appropriate in other areas around hobbies or pets.

musicposy · 04/06/2019 06:56

So the next dodge from you, mumsnet is to take threads less than half an hour old and bump them for people or offer to move them to busier areas, thus making people feel conspicuous and putting people off commenting on them? I don't see this happening on more "politically correct" topics. Underhand, mumsnet.

Samcro · 04/06/2019 07:26

i don't get this.
have just looked at the parenting topic. its about babies and potty training.
I don't post in this topic as my eldest doesn't seem to give me cause and my other adult child is very disabled (homeless me! as there is no where to talk about a adult child in a care home,)
being a parent of an adult child is so different than being a parent of a child. I think it would be a shame to merge the two.
i will say I went to look for this topic and it is hard to find(and Ive been here for 13 years)
please don't merge it.

MichaelMumsnet · 04/06/2019 15:22

Thanks for the comments so far. We're looking for feedback - the more, the better.

The idea that we could merge this area with the teenagers section might be a good solution that increases activity - but doesn't cause too much upset.

OP posts:

Deemail · 09/06/2019 22:24

Merging with teens would work best at a push but not merging with general parenting. I've found both teen and adult sections really useful and I'll be honest if I posted I wouldn't want answers from parents of younger kids who haven't a clue what it's like dealing with teens/young adults. No offence intended I was once in the same boat and wore the same rose tinted glasses.

musicposy · 11/06/2019 08:40

I think teens would be ok, and possibly even beneficial, if it is renamed so that posters with children who have left their teens aren't put off.

There's a post in AIBU at the moment where a poster has an adult son and girlfriend (turned out not quite to be the case that it was the mum but still) and the responses have reinforced to me that I could not post in a general parenting section. the responses are always just "kick them out", which may indeed be useful advice. But it isn't always that easy and only others with older ones understand.

Mrsjayy · 11/06/2019 08:44

My eldest is 25 years old I don't "parent" but i might need to moan or ask for advice ,you are really are clutching at straws with this now. Why not merge the half a dozen feminist boards that are not used?

Timeforachange68 · 11/07/2019 13:53

Another vote to keep this topic separate I think to have to wade through posts from parents of much younger children to find relevant posts would put me off posting/answering posts. It really is a different stage of parenting

Bourbonbiccy · 11/07/2019 13:57

I really don't think it's a great idea. It's best to keep them separate

Flip

Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.