Mumsnet

You wouldn't have to lie about your age. Well, not as I see it. A gran has got to be a mum.

If you want information though, just ask away. I can google.

I am also a member of mumsnet - keeps me up to date . No you don't have to tell them your age and I don't think they can tell that I am a wrinkly but maybe my opinions show it, who knows. I like this virtual world you can be anyone you like.

I am a member of Mumsnet, dont think I had to state my age, cant really remember.

I still post occasionally on Mumsnet but have changed my allegiance to Gransnet. Perhaps it is something to do with my age - I prefer the chat on here.

I am also a member of mumsnet and can state that I would much rather be OVER HERE than OVER THERE, but just because I am a nana that does not mean I am not upto date with what is going on in the world,we here on GN can also communicate with each other without the use of foul gutter like language and we can respect that other people's point of view is valuable,so I think my wrinkle's will be more at home here on GN.

agree with all of the above except to say that 'mumsnet' was a lifeline to us as a family earlier this year when my youngest DD was suffering from the debilitating pregnancy condition Hyperemisis Gravidarium. The support thread there was and still is so helpful and the girls so kind to one another it helped us so very much. I have often wondered wether there are any'grans-to-be' whose daughters are suffering at the present time would like a support thread here.I always felt is was a little like eaves dropping being on the same thread as my daughter but I found it so helpful and reassuring. I would be happy to set up a thread here if there is enough interest.

grandmaagain I think a thread as you suggest would be good on here,and I agree with you with regard to the specialist threads that mumsnet has,it is the general everyday forum's that I find very intimidating with the view that the op's opinion is sometime's the only opinion,if you get what I mean.(blonde day) must go and get my wrinkle's ironed.

Quite agree with you glammanana some of the language and vehement opinions leave no room for discussion and can feel very threatening I too avoid those threads now but still lurk on the Hyperemisis support thread in case there are any other 'grans-to-be' who feel as bad as I did earlier this year.

I am signed up to Mumsnet too. I much prefer Gransnet.
I am afriad some of the Mums over there - are- quite frankly ..... bonkers ;-)

Mumsnet scares me

Mind you, a quick trawl through mumsnet is a salutary experience and helps to stop one feeling complacent as mother or grandmother.

apricot No one needs to know your age on mumsnet but I would suggest a different soubriquet.

I was astonished when I joined a couple of ex-pat forums to see the venom and vindictiveness of some of the posts. I suppose that if you get into conversation with strangers in 'real' life you can soon discover if they are the kind of people you want to get to know better, whereas on any forum there will be a mixture and you will lack the visual and aural clues you get from personal contact.
One man took against me because I did not share his political views, and actually trawled all my posts for the past three years to try to find something with which to discredit me. He failed, and he was banned from that forum.
I suppose it would be wiser to avoid all politcal and religious debate - but those are the very subjects that interest me most and I refuse to be intimidated into silence.

Mumsnet certainly shows how things have changed since I was a Mum with young children.
I don't remember being so worried that everything I did was wrong or fretting about my children eating or their behaviours.
There seems to be all these 'rules' now and a lot of treading on eggshells around children. My children were a very important part of our lives but they did not dominate everything like it appears children today do !

The things people used to worry about a very few generations ago — where the next meal was coming from, how to afford the shoes the kids needed, whether you could have a fire in two rooms instead of just one, and so on — have gone away (at least for most people in 'the West') so people worry about other things instead. I sometimes wonder if it's the amount we worry about stuff that distinguishes us from other animals.

Apart from people who could afford private schooling, did anyone worry until recently about which school their kids went to, or did they just send them to the nearest one?

For instance.

baggi I think the internet has enabled parents to analysis everything as information is so readily available, where as we placed the children into the nearest school and I dont think we even considered that there was another option unless you could afford private schools, and the only guidelines we had on parenting was from our own parents.

Bagitha, Our choice of schools depended on our 11 plus results. There was a local secondary modern school which nearly everyone locally went to if they 'failed' the 11 plus ( yes, back in those days, you were told you had 'failed')
There were Technical High schools for those who had done better than the fails but not as good as the top scorers - and Grammar school choices for the people who passed.
I think mostly though - children got sent to as near a school as possible.

Yes, my siblings and I were subjected to the eleven plus too,*maxgran*. I was really referring to the primary school level. 'Choice' is not a problem where I am – people still send their kids to the nearest school for the most part, and there is only one high school for a very large rural area – but one reads about all the hassle some people have in London and the south-east in particular where it doesn't appear to be straightforward any more.

Worry about education and schools has always been around. Forty years ago we moved house so that our children would be able to attend a school that was planned for the area. The school was not built for whatever reason and we were left with the choice of a school that we deemed not suitable for our children. We had a lot of sleepless nights wondering how to get the best education and in the end had to pay private school fees.

I think mumsnet and gransnet meet different needs.
MN is a phenomenon and their weekly emails are sometimes hilarious. I think on some threads there are a lot of people posting from phones and hence a lot of short posts.

I have got two good ideas for Christmas presents for younger grandson through reading Mumsnet. You can't beat them for info on what is 'in' with the little 'uns.

Now that's clever jingle!

Just came across this thread and went off to have a look at Mumsnet. I came across 'as you get older is it normal to find your mum increasingly irritating?'. Reading what some daughters had to say I found it a) quite amusing and b) reassuring. I'm not the only one who irritates her daughters and I'm nowhere near as bad as some of the mothers out there (according to their daughters)

I don't think my children find me increasingly irritating but I'm irritated by them treating me as if I'm half-witted/geriatric/crippled/blind/deaf etc. I intend living for another 35 years, by which time I probably will be all those things BUT I'M NOT YET!

I was out shopping with my son and his 4 yr old on Saturday,.. I was moaning and complaining and my son said taking me out was like going out with a raincloud.
That shut me up !