If you don't have or want children, why are you here?

[pepsicolagirl]

Disclaimer: I do not mean this in a rude way. I just couldn't think of a better way to phrase it.

I have seen a few messages across the mumsnet forums from women who are happily child free which is great and of course there is nothing wrong with at all.

But it always makes me wonder why you would be a member of a website called mumsnet if you are not and have no wish to be a mum?
So, if this is you, do you mind me asking why?

Oh good, we haven’t had this topic for ooh about two weeks.

Came for Penis Beaker, stayed for Feminism

That should be a tshirt.

I'd say the majority of threads on here are not related to pregnancy and parenting so you don't need to be a mum to find the threads interesting or relevant to you. Having said that, I'm not sure I would have signed up had I not had children as that's what attracted me in the first place and it is promoted as a parenting site.

YABVVU.

I'm here because it's one of the most active forums around even in topics with no relation to parenting.

I've known about AIBU since I was a teenager - it's infamous! Didn't have my first child until I was 28, so guess I shouldn't have been browsing beforehand? I preferred DS forums before kids, but their advice forum was far more mild. Well, except that one troll who wanted to keep a dolphin in the bath, that was AIBU level loony.

Because it’s a free country and they can

Most of the forums on here (including AIBU) aren’t actually about child rearing. It’s very understandable to me why people would be interested in a large and vibrant online forum regardless of whether or not they have kids.

This questions comes up frequently on mumsnet and I’m always surprised by it. The answer is so obvious it baffles me that anyone could be confused by it.

I am a mum, but it doesn't take much imagination to understand why some people (male or female!) are on here if they don't.

they could be childminders

• aunties, uncles etc

• or interested in talking to other adults about things that aren't kid related?
  I mean, there's loads of different chat forums on here including pets, telly addicts, home decorating, etc etc

Probably via google about something like kitchen planning or some such. Stayed because there are a lot of interesting topics/threads and I find a lot (absolutely not all) of discussions interesting and arguments from both sides often articulate and thought provoking.

@BrumBoo
I've known about AIBU since I was a teenager

Oh gee, thanks for that, now I feel old lol

no such things as chat boards when I was a teen

The name Mumsnet relates more to its origins than what it is now. By the time it had diversified there was too much equity in the brand to change the name. I do think they should update the tagline though.

You are not new to the site, surely you have seen this question asked and answered multiple times

We don’t have children (not through choice) but that doesn’t mean we don’t care for children. We have many nieces and nephews that we spend time with and they come to spend time with us in the summer because we live at the beach. Where else am I supposed to look for advice on how to deal with all the usual issues? It’s not like I have any of my own experience to go on.

If you didn’t have pets, for example, but a friend asked you to look after their dog while they go away for a weekend where would you look for advice or tips on things? A website for people with dogs, maybe? It’s the same thing,

[quote Quaagars]@BrumBoo
I've known about AIBU since I was a teenager

Oh gee, thanks for that, now I feel old lol

no such things as chat boards when I was a teen[/quote]
I still remember a time before having the internet in the house was a thing! I'm not that young, but we did have free access to the computers at college. Which was good, dialup was a horror show...

Because the majority of threads are not about parenting.

You could read a few of the other 5863 threads asking this question if you need more.

Not by choice for me. I joined at first for the infertility site and more recently the miscarriage site. Then I also got quite hooked on AIBU and the Mumsnet classics.

@doodleygirl

Perhaps you should look at all the boards which discuss a wide range of topics which don’t include children, and then make an educated guess.

To be fair to the OP you only know that when you get here. So it’s fair to ask what made someone come here. I am forever telling people, parents and non parents alike about certain situations that they may be able to relate to. That might be how some come here, as an example. But I never knew there were lots of other things to discuss not stemming from parenthood. Before I got here

@korawick12345

You are not new to the site, surely you have seen this question asked and answered multiple times

I don’t consider myself new to the site and I’ve never seen this question as a stand-alone thread, just as a rude rebuttal to someone who says something someone doesn’t like.

Ten years ago I was googling a journalist who had just written a controversial article to see what other people thought, and came across a fascinating discussion on MN (to my surprise as I thought it was just about weaning tips).

I've been posting ever since and it has been amazing for feminism, gardening, house stuff, politics, books, cats and actually also threads about children, as lots of my friends have had kids over the past decade and it has really helped me understand what they are going through and (hopefully) not be the clueless childfree friend who gets a roasting on here every so often.

This thread comes up on here VERY BLOODY SODDING WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!

Booooooooooooooring!

@HoboSexualOnslow

If you Google ANYTHING a mumsnet post will come up about it. I came for the (non child related) advice, stayed for the LOLs

This is so true!

I'm a mother and a grandmother too. I joined MN primarily for the book threads, sometimes I peruse other things, in the news stuff, politics, property and occasionally parent related threads. There are a whole range of topics up for discussion that would attract people who aren't parents or don't want children.