Mumsnet in the early ‘00’s. I’m obsessed

[FTMummy2022]

You may say I have too much time on my hands but I’m completely fascinated & obsessed at reading old threads from the early 2000’s on MN…. Don’t you think it’s weird/ironic that the topics of the threads themselves pretty much haven’t changed at all in 20+ years? It literally is the same old crap different day…I was born in 2000 so for me it’s like reading what my mum would have posted about being a parent… anyway, just a thought.

Also you could do threads entitled “where shall I go in the Caribbean in March” and a discussion about decent hotels would ensue without anybody saying “I think that is a really inappropriate thing to be asking in a financial crisis”. It was accepted that people had varied standards of living.

@GADDay thing have obvious changed because you just named swmnbn and your post is still there.

Yes @Brollymolly it’s called Nella Last’s War - she is an older mum of young men and the world is obviously very different but her daily frustrations about being a woman are often quite relatable!

I remember there was a general invitation to meet up and camp in someone’s field - all were welcome. Can’t imagine that happening now!

I joined in 2004 when expecting my first baby. It was much smaller then and felt like a proper little community. The topics discussed were similar, though. Motherhood doesn’t change that much!

I see lots too when googling a question and shoving Mumsnet next to it. So interesting to read.

I wasn't there in the early 00s - I think I joined 2006 ish. What I remember the most is not the posts - but the freebies! There were always product tests and giveaways and I got some excellent ones back then. Not just from MN but from other product testing sites.

Oh wow yes I’d forgotten about the Gina Ford furore! Is she allowed to be named now?

I think I started in 2006 and not sure when I actually signed up - I remember the bunfight of moldies like it was yesterday.
There was a lot of wit, wisdom and more kindness I think. It was smaller and easier to navigate.

I think I joined in about 2003 and it definitely felt like more of a community back then. Despite some of the later falling out over how cliquey it was, it was actually a genuinely supportive and lovely place to be.
I am still friends, both online and in real life, with people I connected with on here in my 2005 ante/post natal threads and then through the years of secondary infertility.
I still remember crying at 'Peter is pink' (if you know, you know)

And I liked being able to post without worrying if some lazy excuse for a journalist was going to lift my ramblings for a clickbait article in their sorry excuse for a newspaper.

It definitely used to be funnier. Felt like you were among friends and could lark around.

One thing that has changed is that there were a lot of anti-nursery/childcare threads then. There is now a widespread acceptance of mothers working. It’s no longer seen as optional for the majority and the handwringing over using childcare has stopped as a result.

I was on Mumsnet a lot from around 2006. Then a long gap and back recently. Not much has changed, really, except that it's much busier and therefore there's much less personal interaction. What I find depressing as a feminist is that things, if anything, have gone backwards. I'm not talking about the societal stuff so much, but the constant appeasing and excusing men- still so much "he's such a good dad-he helps me with the baby" "all men watch porn" "men don't see dirt" "of course the baby has his name" stuff. I was kind of hoping the next generation would have moved on from this. And people STILL don't understand that you can say "Men as a class are more inclined to violence/whatever" and not mean "Your husband Fred is violent/whatever."

I’ve google searched a topic before, ended up on mumsnet thread and spent ages reading through before seeing the date and realising I’m reading a discussion from over 20 years ago, and all the little children being discussed will be adults now.

I joined around 1999/2000 but for the life of me cannot remember my user name. I moved countries and only came back some years later and it was just different from what I remembered.

I used to get words from my mil who would try ring in the evening, but the phone line was engaged as the internet dial up and phone line were linked. She'd complain to her darling ds, my ex, how I was always hogging the phone line and it must be costing him a fortune 🙈🤣

There was another site as well, not the NM one, but one that had a buy and sell section and a live chat section. For those of us who were up in the night with our non sleepers, got into pretty decent chats during the wee hours. I just cannot remember the name of that site either.

As you can tell I am much older now, and the memory isn't as great 😂

Wow amazing, bet that time has flown by!

@crumpet

Omg no way lol! Unless you had a death wish lol

@angelicaelizapeggy

I've done this too! So spooky... it's almost reading posts from the dead (although they're not dead they've just grown up!)

I joined at the very start and was on a resistant eaters thread about my youngest son. It was very helpful, no nasty comments about “fussy” eaters.
Hes 32 now and started eating “ normally” at 19!

@UndertheHawthornTree86

Thank you for sharing!!

I have been loitering around since about 2002 and it has changed and adapted for new parents.
I felt it was a huge support when I was struggling with youngesters and my mental health.
I was obsessed by the flylady crew and lived my life on her mantras.
I know that you think there was a death wish thing about meeting up with strangers but it really wasn't like that it was fab.

I came from Babycentre in 2004. I remember feeling very much an outsider initially as everyone seemed to know each other so well.

I soon worked out how it works (I couldn't understand the rolling Actives thing 🤣)

I remember lots of posts about things like child modelling and gifted and talented.

Also the product placement which is clearly ongoing.

Liz Earle, Boden and Chanel Vitalumiere foundation were the biggies at the time.

The webchats used to be good. The leaders of the 3 main political parties coming on the 3 nights immediately before an election (2010 I think) That wouldn't happen now.

The Weekly Roundup. I made that once, about my do it yourself hysterectomy trying to get my mooncup out. It came out (the roundup not my mooncup) on a Friday afternoon and Morningpaper did it and it was genuinely hilarious and so well done.

Caroline Hirons used to post on skincare threads and was genuinely helpful and lovely.

My first username was a capital city I've never been to and people used to get me and another capital city mixed up.

I started off on babycentre. There were a couple of very snooty, unpleasant people on the board I was on, but no one would say anything. I then moved here and if someone was a dick, people would tell them they were being a dick. Much better

And a huge field!

That's funny. I remember the round ups by Morning Paper being hilarious. One of my comments was included, but I can't remember what.