To not really understand why people without kids use sites like this?

[999HELPMYPUDDINGSONFIRE]

Obviously this doesn't apply to people trying to conceive or those going through te adoption process.

I think it started as a parenting website but just got bigger and bigger,
.
I have a teenager and I'm a lone parent but very rarely go on those topics though they are there if I want them.
MN is the funniest and wittiest forum I've come across and just because a poster hasn't given birth doesn't mean that I don't want to chat to them.

By parents, for parents, is the tagline by the overwhelming majority of this site has nothing to do with children.

First one of the year! I predict in precisely 4 days time we'll have a benefits bashing thread. In 9 days times we'll have a Supermarket incident thread and on the 25th January we'll be trolled by Pistonheads.

Am I not allowed to ask for advice on how to support my suddenly single SIL and her two young children, one with severe autism OP?

Where did OP go?!

I do sometimes look at whether a poster has kids or not to put their posts into context, I do think it makes a difference.

KoPo your DH is fine to come on here, just as long as he sticks to the Dadsnet topic. He's not allowed anywhere else on the forum. It's MUMSnet y'see! I don't make the rules.

And Giraffes, I hope this doesn't sound patronising but you ARE a mum. Your baby will always be your child and you are a mother. But even you weren't, doesn't make anything you have to say on here less valid!

I found MN by accident whilst looking for something totally unrelated and was entranced by the vast range of opinions and high quality of the cussing.

I don't give a rat's arse if someone has sprogs or not.

Am I not allowed to eat petit filous either?

NotThe you most certainly are not! theyre for the mums and babies, you see

oh bugger- maybe I'll start TTC then

Yonder.....your DChinchilla will make an excellent addition to the DRabbit and DGuineapig play date

Can I bring Drabidpitbull along too?

Because I'm a stepmother.

I haven't read the whole thread yet, but to answer Toothbrush and 999's question as to how on earth non-parents find/end up on a "parenting site": in my case it was word of mouth. My bestfriend is a mother and she heartily recommended the site to me. If I remember rightly she first heard about FoodFocus on a weightloss thread, she recommended both FoodFocus and Mumsnet to me, the latter for a host of reasons.

I don't have children, but I spend a lot of time on AIBU, chat, relationships and baby names. I'm not familiar with other internet forums. I'm happy with Mumsnet for interesting banter. It has also helped me embrace not having children. Reading about the tremendous impact of children on one's life has made it even clearer to me that it is a big life choice and therefore that it is equally valid to live a life without parenthood.

I wished I had found MN when I was TTC.

I would have changed my mind

Pokes head in to show off new name, then shuts the door and goes to look on threads I'm- on leaves

I like it oneofthe that way we'd be easily recognisable as inferior

What do you think of babyless does it suit me/ make my bum look big?

Exactly - maybe you should be IgnoreMeI'mChildless

I could be 'OnemorningI'llhaveababyifmyovarieshaven'tshrivelled'

I'm leaning towards idloveababybutwhydontyoumakemefeelmoreuselessfornothavingonethanialreadydo.

Is that too long?

No not too long at all, we childfree ones must make sure we tell other posters that we're childfree - why not do it with a long name?

YonderRevoltingPeasantWhoIsHe

How DARE you make assumptions of the pedigree of my PFGP purely on the fact that I 'occasionally' shop in Asda! This fact has no bearing on his lineage! The fact that he is actually an 'inherited' mongrel of a pig is neither here nor there!

This is why I had to remove him from Small Animal Playgroup....the incessant supermarket-based bullying. That and the fact that I think he is a bit inbred and stupid.....

like the long name idea - how about "giraffescantproducealivebabyordance"

ouch that's black humour for coping giraffe.got to laugh or you'd cry
don't beat yourself up too much though,you don't need to be brave all time