Anyone else feel as if they have just 'grown out of' Mumsnet?

[NormaSnorks]

I was intrigued by the 2009 Mumsnet 'Census' - with large numbers of 30-somethings IIRC... and I just got around to thinking, "perhaps you really DO just 'grow out of MN'?

Chances are, a lot of people join before their first baby (late twenties/thirties?) and then stay with it through toddlerdom and infant school... but then it all gets a bit samey doesn't it, and real life begins to be much more interesting again?

Of course there are 'Teenagers' topics and all that, but I just find there are fewer and fewer threads/topics of interest & relevance to me personally these days...
(pushing mid-forties, kids age 7 & 10)

So, if that's true....where do all the old MNers go??? Is there another site somewhere for us? (and puhleeease, don't say the mouldy word...)

?

I didn't find MN till my two were 15 & 17 and I've still found lots to keep me here - I work in a school, with computers, so I find Education & the Geeky stuff particularly interesting, but there are lots of general discussion threads that have a much higher standard of debate than, for example the BBC's 'Have Your Say' forum that DH uses, which has a level of bitchiness that MN could never match (Interesting, as it has far more men than MN....)

Shiney -
"I have never seen you before Norks. How odd. "

Not really.... perhaps all the threads you're on are the ones I hide

I actually joined MN in 2000 and have had a few name updates along the way... this being one that I used from 2006.

I feltlike you Norma,I must have joined just after you (januray 2001, mat leave with ds2aged 9) and for along timefelt a bit mature IYKWIM.

Then I had ds4 so I am back in toddlerworld again.

Do think it is natural but a shame if peoplemove on.

you'renot the fiorst mumsnetter to mention feeling as the OP says

i often feel this way.
normally after another thread that has gone tits up,
I hanker for the old days when the song title game was up and running and friday night was fun threads(not bumsex)

Peachy, that would just about cover it?
We could call it 'Boyo'snet'?

Yes - I would like a special section for Mums of 7-12 yr old boys please, and then I can slip easily into Teenagers.

Topics to include:

• Good Housekeeping - cleaning football/rugby boots; Lego storage solutions
• Geeky Stuff - how to keep one step ahead of my Techno Genius 10 yr old
• Style & beauty - what to wear, when at any moment you may be required to yomp across a field, or stand for hours on the edge of a muddy pitch... (Heels? Can't remember what those are?)

LOL@hotel california - genius!

my kids were 8 & 11 or something when i joined all those long years ago.

now my eldest is 20

i have periods where i can't be arsed

Custy - at least you still have periods (not too old then...)

Agree about Hotel California btw - perhaps we should rename Flouncers Corner?

I really keep thinking I ought to leave and I would achieve so much more in real life =, but, well, then I just take a peak, and, you know the rest.....

we stab 'em with our steely knives, but we just can't kill the beast.....

flouncers corner should so be re-named that

Well.......... been here a year and half maybe and just found out from this thread that I can hide whole topics
WAHOOOO

Like everyone else has said, I do get tired of the same old threads over and over. Also can't abide the sniping, outrageous posts by bored people written to provoke, and the same old arguments (state vs private, bottle vs breast, working class vs middle class, life on benefits vs life for those who work and still struggle, etc).

I used to learn so much reading here - whether about a fab book for myself/dd, intelligent posts from women who were struggling to balance life vs work, interesting theatre shows, great places to go on holiday, etc. Now, I find I don't learn much - other than how rampant depression is, and how many men cheat/treat their wives appallingly.

There used to be real conversation here, and now it is mostly banter - perhaps a function of so many members and so many more threads in a day.

I don't laugh out loud as I used to (frequently), or even feel amused much of the time.

Thank goodness for the ability to 'hide' threads - I hide more than I read now, actually.

But it still is a good place to 'drop in' for a chat. I miss alot of the old 'virtual' friends who used to be here - whether they've gone off to Mouldies, gone off to real life, or name changed and I've not picked up on it.

I get occasional MN fatigue, especially when the list of Active Convos (my normal port of call) is full of the same old thread titles, or improbably baby names, or really uninspiring sleb stuff (most of it).

But then I stay on here to chat to some regulars and eventually the Active Convos get interesting again.

I find it a bit like email - the first time I had email, I was forever checking it to see if I had new mail (and even further back I was Bridget Jones with the answerphone!) - so I used to check Thread I'm On all the time in case someone namechecked me. I still use it but can go days without looking and it's not a problem.

improbable baby names

I feel the same as Thumbwitch. My two are teenagers and the novelty of MN has certainly worn off. However there are still amusing/informative threads regularly so I still drop by to see what is happening. I enjoyed today's phone sex thread .

Well it's only 10 years old. And as many people seem to have it when they are pregnant/new parents that might be why.

Like all things there are phases and cycles. Sometimes there's nothing interesting, other times RL has to take a back seat

In another 10 to 20 years there will be lots of us who are MILS complaining about our DILs and waffling on about the GC

Norma agree with your topics, esp cleaning of rugby boots!!

Me too

Am in a phase of MN fatigue: it used to make me feel good, it doesn';t now so am questioning it.

But boyo'snet / 7-12 yr old boys would fir mew perfectly, and for the foreseeable furture too LOL (my boys aged 10, 9, 6, 22 months)

lol at Hotel California

But surely no-one really thinks that MN is actually cool? It's an internet forum at the end of the day so we all have a bit of saddo in us to log in and actually care about what some anonymous person might have said
I don't come on here because it's cool in any way, it is far from it IMO and there are some dodgy threads and way-out views on things from people I know I wouldn't mix with in RL but it's eye opening to see what some people really think and that's probably what keeps people registered and dipping in now and again.
That and the occasional but priceless times when a thread is pure banter and I can laugh out loud as it rolls along
If anyone starts to see it as being anything serious, then it's time to get off

I have read some cracking books after MN tip offs in the books thread so that's worth something

I am older than a lot here but I am just reachingthis point.
I think I needto do a big thread cull.

I get tired of how nasty people are too each other on certain topics.
Of course any thread has the capacity to go tits up but there are certain subjects where some familaiar names just turn up to be fucking vile and it annoys me because any chance of discussing, any chance to challenge the nasty stereotyping that is just destructive, gets lost.

So suddenly you end up in this weird alternate existence where instead of a group of parents trying to do their best for their kids you get a Beano-esq version of life with boatered Tarquin vying with hoodie wearing thugs...or lentil weaving, chakra cleansing breastfeeders vying with greggs sausage roll munching f-fers... selfish WOHMs or lazy SAHMs...
Its just all such bollocks.

It makes me think we sometimes get the MPs we deserve

I've been here for 6 years - started when DS was a few months old and now also have DD who is 4.

I don't go on the weaning/breast and bottle feeding threads. Like reading birth announcements and occasionally find myself lurking on antenatal (no good reason ). I find myself reading all sorts of threads and joining in here and there.

I am getting quite into Education and presume I'll stay being into that for quite a while.

Weather is always a good one too, although that is something I talk about in real life too