For those of you that are deciding to stay childfree....

[lala2221]

Do you feel guilty at all? For not following social norms? For not giving your parents the chance to be grandparents etc?

@lockedownloretta

Can i ask why so many chikdree by chouce people want to hang out on munsnet which is literally a website focused on having kids?

It isn't a 'website literally focused on having kids'. There are dozens of topics that have nothing to do with parenting, pregnancy or conceptions.

Assuming you are a parent or TTC - are children all you think about? Do you have no interests outside children, no hobbies, no political views, no pets, do no sport, never watch a film or read a book? I very much doubt it. And, guess what, we childfree people can talk about all those things just as well as parents or parents-to-be!

@lockedownloretta

Can i ask why so many chikdree by chouce people want to hang out on munsnet which is literally a website focused on having kids?

Because I love cats, food and people who are bonkers.

@lockedownloretta

Gasp shock horror! Fat fingered woman on phone makes typos!

Seriously though, what is the attraction?

If you google nearly any question one of the top responses is usually a mumsnet thread. Which tells you how broad the topics covered on this site are. The website may have started out just as a parenting site but if you read the forums it’s clearly evolved.

@lockedownloretta

Gasp shock horror! Fat fingered woman on phone makes typos!

Seriously though, what is the attraction?

It’s a massive site with hundreds of thousands of threads and thousands upon thousands of members. Very few topics are directly related to parenting.

Look back on your own recent posts and I bet you’ll find that the majority of the threads you post on are nothing to do with whether you have a child or not.

"Can i ask why so many chikdree by chouce people want to hang out on munsnet which is literally a website focused on having kids?"

Why does it bother you?

If you google nearly any question one of the top responses is usually a mumsnet thread.

Exactly. That's how I found MN - googling something and a thread came up. Read the thread (and noted that the standard of SPAG was better than the average forum) then spotted some AIBUs in 'trending' which sparked my curiosity.

I was immobile, recovering from an operation at the time, so soon got hooked as a lurker and after a couple of weeks, I created an account.

@lockedownloretta

Gasp shock horror! Fat fingered woman on phone makes typos!

Seriously though, what is the attraction?

The top bants.

'Chikdree' is a brilliant typo.

@lockedownloretta

Can i ask why so many chikdree by chouce people want to hang out on munsnet which is literally a website focused on having kids?

I answered this yesterday at 16:40.

"However, if I had my time again, I wouldn't have them."

My mum used to say that. Just because of her health and the stress children can cause in life. And the constant worry!

It's not until I had my own that I see why she said this years ago. I can appreciate the struggles she went through.

DH was searching for 'alternative to cornmeal to stop pizza sticking' or some such yesterday and the top answer was MN!

I joined way back in about 2000 - my DSis was at her wit's end because DNephew was being badly bullied and school weren't handling it well (another reason I'm glad I don't have kids) and I'd been looking online to see if I could help her deal with the school and up popped Mumsnet.

I also like The Archers boards, knitting and crochet chat, weightloss chat, the litter tray (yes, I have 2 cats ), Scotsnet, I find the feminism boards intelligent and enlightening, like the book chat, find that Mumsnet if often in tune with the zeitgeist. So there's far more to the site than BLW and baby names (although I must admit I know more about babies than I ever thought I would owing to this site!

I would say it's predominantly a site for women rather than particularly mothers.

"Many older people WITH grown up kids live in isolation and loneliness, so having kids doesn’t guarantee company in old age, sorry."

I know an elderly woman who was estranged from her only child. He did not even attend her funeral. She was lonely. Having a family doesn't guarantee future happiness unfortunately 😬

@lockedownloretta

Can i ask why so many chikdree by chouce people want to hang out on munsnet which is literally a website focused on having kids?

A huge portion of the forum has nothing to do with having kids.

Because I love cats, food and people who are bonkers.

I'm not bonkers, but I like people who are bonkers and I adore cats and love food

I sometimes think that mumsnet should be renamed. I used to belong to National Women's Register years ago. The group changed its name from National Housewive's Register because they felt that it didn't represent the members any more. I was childfree at the time, and met some lovely people.

@TroysMammy

I prefer my cat to my daughter, true story 😁

@blowinahoolie

"Many older people WITH grown up kids live in isolation and loneliness, so having kids doesn’t guarantee company in old age, sorry."

I know an elderly woman who was estranged from her only child. He did not even attend her funeral. She was lonely. Having a family doesn't guarantee future happiness unfortunately 😬

My ex neighbour was in her 90's. She had 4 children but they had all died. She never saw her grandchildren as none lived closed so having children definitely does not guarantee they will be there for you when you get old

Also, a lot of children move away when they leave home. I was over 200 miles away from my parents and 150 miles away from MIL. We used to visit them of course, but it was only every few weeks.

No. Parents aren’t very good grandparents as it stands.