Why do young non-grandparents frequent Gransnet?

I’d guess that younger people who aren’t either mums or nans, are just curious about Gransnet so have a look and then stay if they like it or vanish if they don’t.

JaneJudge good to see you posting.
🙂

I think it's very rude of you to be having a real life
You have been a real miss

Thank you everyone I have had a very busy year, some of it very upsetting and overwhelming but I have still been reading, even if I haven't had time to post, You all really are and were very supportive of me and that is what being part of a community is about, isn't it? I'm very grateful. I had a thought when I went for a lie down after work, maybe part of it for me is I trust you all as you have lots of life experience. I attended a carers therapy group once a week and I was the youngest by about twenty years but I was accepted into that group as we all had the same experience of caring for someone 24/7 and our feelings, within that closed group, were all the same, no shame attached or anything. Our ages were not important and I think as women, we have a strength to support one another regardless of our age, background, culture. We all share same lived experiences, as well as being very different also.

Agree JaneJudge, always good to see you 👋

Old, young, somewhere in between, parent, grandparent or neither. Just a bunch of interesting people with a variety of opinions and experiences. Love it.

M0nica

Nice or nasty, prickly or a pushover has absolutely nothing to do with age. At every age some people are difficult in varying degrees or nice in varying degrees, similarly two nice people can be very different and not get in.

Age does not come in to it

Agreed.

And I also agree that it is good to see JaneJudge back with us.

maddyone

Ahh, JaneJudge, it’s nice to see you post. I haven’t seen you post for ages.

Iagree, it's lovely to hear you again JJ

Ahh, JaneJudge, it’s nice to see you post. I haven’t seen you post for ages.

Well I’m over 50 but not a grandparent (and probably won’t ever be) but if I was I’d not want to talk babies and grand children all the time anyway. There’s so much I enjoy learning and in the right age bracket….so why not!

I fit the demographics of the original post. In all honesty I hadn't realised it had an age limit or was specifically for Grandmothers(yes I have always been this way) I think I joined in more when we were all in lockdown and I was back to being a full time carer again and I had started to feel quite isolated and I think I suffer with ptsd from past trauma (not formally diagnosed but it would be unbelievable if I didn't have it) which had been triggered and I kept getting those daily/weekly emails and I just started reading and then found people were warm and welcoming and of all most interesting. I'm sorry if this makes people feel uneasy. I have a wide variety of aged friends, share my life with someone over 50 and my children are more or less all flown the nest already as I had them young, whereas some people my age still have babies or very small children so it s a different stage of my life really. I wish I did have grandchildren, it would be lovely as the most important thing to me is family.

Also, I find mumsnet overwhelming, as facebook really and twitter. I was born in the wrong era really

Nice or nasty, prickly or a pushover has absolutely nothing to do with age. At every age some people are difficult in varying degrees or nice in varying degrees, similarly two nice people can be very different and not get in.

Age does not come in to it

I dont see a problem to be honest, a lot of the threads are not aimed at being a grandparent and so why shouldnt anyone join, grandparent or not ? It is lovely to have somewhere to go for opinions to problems etc .....

😊

I’m not saying that there are no ‘prickly’ types here, but it is not ‘an old person’s trait’. There are plenty of examples of that from younger people on MN too.

Unfortunately there is rampant ageism on both boards, which absolutely raises my bristles, as HQ does nothing about it. As you say though, there is also kindness and humour to balance it out.

MerylStreep Thank you, you are the first to say it here (to my knowledge, but honestly I cannot read everything on GN) but you are right when you say that some people are prickly when confronted straight answers… must be an old person’s trait. They are bristley - some are downright miserable.

But mostly the sweetness, empathy and humor comes through on GN. I love it. That’s probably why younger people come here for alternative advice.

I'm not a gran myself but up against a very difficult and overbearing MIL (a 'nanna' to my daughter so it's nice to get the perspective of a different generation in case I am missing anything. I also see posts from estranged grandparents or those who struggle with (for example) DILs and try to offer another perspective from the other side

I can't agree with that statement either. Believing that to be true must sour relationships with other people whether online or off, and whichever age group you fall into.

Human nature, generally, is greedy, lazy, self indulgent and destructive. We don't care about future generations or we wouldn't behave as we do. Hetty58

I am really sad that you have such an awful life that it has brought you to thus conclusion. I realise I should be very grateful that, with a couple of exceptions, during my lifetime that is far from how I have found people. And thst is in all walks of life.

I like MN because posters there aren’t so prickly when you give a straight answer 😉

"Human nature, generally, is greedy, lazy, self indulgent and destructive. We don't care about future generations or we wouldn't behave as we do."

A loaded supertanker would require about 5 to 8 kilometres and roughly 15 to 20 minutes to come to a complete halt. They have a turning diameter of nearly 2 kilometres. www.marineinsight.com

Supertankers are very hard to maneuver. For example, stopping a supertanker that is under way at its cruising speed can take about 10 miles in an emergency situation. thesouthern.com

A global population of billions of people in hundreds of different cultures, each with its own traditions and lifestyles and varying knowledge of other countries, moves forward under more inertia than the biggest supertanker. Added to that, new advances in materials and technology don't arrive in the world complete with warnings on each example - (on each plastic spoon, each nappy liner) - of all the side-effects that have not yet been discovered, to be read and understood by each user.

By the time it has been shown, for instance, that plastic breaks down into tiny fragments and is washed down drains and into the sea, most people have thrown away their enamel mugs and washing-up bowls and the layers of terry nappies and knitted soakers that their incontinent babies used to be wrapped in, manufacturers are packing their products in this wonderful light waterproof material, and the global economy has become dependent on using plastic. Replacing it is a slow and expensive business. It doesn't happen overnight.

Oh, and I’m not a mother too.
So by going the op’s logic, I should not be on MN either! 🤷‍♀️

kwest

I think that perhaps younger grandmothers might just be so excited about becoming grandparents that they want to be part of the granny conversation and possibly learn useful tips about what and what not to do as new grandmothers. Where else would you find such useful help than from a site that is specifically for grandmothers?

I think that the opening poster was referring to non grandmothers - such as me.

I joined when I was 48 simply because GN looked full of friendly, welcoming, interesting and funny women.

Human nature, generally, is greedy, lazy, self indulgent and destructive. We don't care about future generations or we wouldn't behave as we do

I am not sure I agree. Very little we do is all good or all bad and what happens is that people balance the good and bad of the results of changes in technology or whatever and decide the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, or else they do not find the downsides until it is very late or difficult to change.

The first plastic, bakelite, was launched in 1907, nobody then could possibly imagine what a pollutant it would be a century later. In fact I doubt it was realised in 1950 either, and that is within my lifetime.

MaggsMcG, such optimism, wondering what 'today's adults grandchildren' will feel or think. Will they survive?

I believe we (mostly) were only too well aware of the damage we caused - yet simply didn't care back then. We knew a lot about pollution back in the 1970s.

Human nature, generally, is greedy, lazy, self indulgent and destructive. We don't care about future generations or we wouldn't behave as we do.

The Boomers grew up with post war austerity, hardly any furniture, no tvs, no fridges and no instant meals so they can just put that in their pipes and smoke it !