AIBU to wonder how so many non parents end up on Mumsnet?

[Keepingitreal14]

I see loads of posts from people without kids, older people with grown up adult kids etc and always wonder how they ended up as a poster on a mumsnet forum? Just feels a bit random to me.

I have grown up kids. I started posting when my kids were babies....2001!

I discovered mumsnet long before I had dc. I was a big fan of the ‘what we’re reading’ board. I also have a colleague who jointed purely for the weight loss chat.

I have no children, but I find this forum useful at times for life caper

There are so many threads on this 😂
Could be... trying to conceive, joined when their kids were young and just stayed, looked up an issue online and found threads on Mumsnet and just stayed, saw it in a news article...
There are lots of different boards here, lots to talk about besides children. 👍

Does it bother you to have childless people here?

You should search this question and you’ll see it gets asked a lot. Is it really random tho? On AIBU how many posts are actually about children or being a parent?

Search engines often throw up mumsnet if your searching recipes or activities etc

I’m childless not by choice - well not originally anyway. I’m here because I was told it’s a fun and informative place and that you do not actually have to be a parent to post here.

@Keepingitreal14

I see loads of posts from people without kids, older people with grown up adult kids etc and always wonder how they ended up as a poster on a mumsnet forum? Just feels a bit random to me.

Really? There are a vast range of topics covered on here, not just about parenting

Do you only read threads specifically to do with being a parent/babies/kids? If not then I imagine it’s fairly obvious that there is a huge amount of content on here and only some of it is relevant to mums. It’s not surprising surely that people without kids are on a forum with sections including relationships, work, pets, chat, travel, money, weight loss, exercise etc etc

Oh my life, surely not this again?

Because they can. The talk topics are not limited to discussions around children - look them up.

🙄

older people with grown up adult kids

And are they no longer parents or something?

I do now have a child, but I discovered Mumsnet well before that (when googling what to do about bats in a property!)

What an original and thought provoking question. See also 'why can't we have a like button '

Well I started here 10 years ago when DD1 was 18 and DD2 was 13. They are now adults but I still enjoy being on here. Older parents and those without children have a lot of wisdom to offer. MN is not just about being a parent. It's about life in general.

Because it's not only about children. Because there is no joining criteria. Because it's an internet forum open to everyone. Because it covers a huge range of topics, possibly the least of all, being a mum.

I am old and am also on Gransnet. This is far more interesting. So many topics are covered and people are forthright in their opinions, sometimes with a good old argy bargy.

It also gives me some insight into the opinions , lives and difficulties of younger people. I think this helps in relating to my own daughters. It is too easy to get stuck with opinions and thoughts from a bygone age.

I am a parent, but I didn't come here for parenting advice.

I wanted to read a thread that was posted in the DM.

I didn’t realise it was time for this thread again, seems like only a few days since the last one, and the one before, and the one before. There’s loads of useful information and interesting discussion on her, you don’t need ovaries or offspring to appreciate that, despite the name of the site.

It is because if you Google almost ANYTHING ("recipe for dhal", "is Hackney a good place to live", "chased by evil spirit in forest") one of the responses will be a Mumsnet post.

Nobody goes looking for Mumsnet, people engage with it accidentally, find lots to interest them, and stay.

Look at the list of topics.
How many of those require a child?

It isn’t rocket science.

You Google something that is impacting you. A link to a MN thread comes up. It looks relevant or interesting. Job done.

My kids are all adults - so ban me.

This question gets asked so often. Are you new to MN and who really cares? YABVU.

Oh, it's the obligatory monthly thread on this topic. Yawn.

10 years I googled a problem I was having with my dog and it took me to The Doghouse, as the problem had been discussed there. I had a search of the site and found lots of topics that interest me.

My youngest was a young teenager at the time. Most topics on MN are not about parenting young children.

However, I have grandchildren. Do they count??

I joined donkeys before I was even thinking about kids. And even now I'm in the busy preschool years I'd say less than half the threads I read are about parenting.