Do we need the Mindful Home forum ? Share your input!

[LaLa]

Mindful home and Natural Home both house many of the same posts and Mindful home is currently a subforum of Natural Home. As a moderator, I am often moving threads from Mindful home to Natural Home and it seems a bit confusing to me as to what exactly should go where.

We have five subforums of Mindful home that would STILL be here if it was agreed upon to remove the Mindful home section.
If that was cool with everyone it would leave the following places to post on the issues at hand:

• Natural Home and Body Care
• Decluttering Organizing, and Simplifying
• Finances
• Frugality
• Meal Planning
• Country Living Off the Grid

I think it would be easier to manage posts and not have duplicate conversations if we did get rid of the Mindful Home forum as many of the same conversations take place in Natural Home and always have, but some of you may have insight into this in a manner that I don't see

SO...if you feel it would be great to keep it or to get rid of it, share your thoughts as to why that is
Thank you!

[Oh the Irony]

Hmmm...that is a tough one.

For example, I started a thread called Visionary Words for you Home. I posted it in TAO and it got moved to MHM. (I didn't know there was a MHM)

It actually fits perfectly in MHM, but not so much in the other areas. I love the sound of MHM because I think it incorporates some of the spiritual aspects of home keeping.

I agree it is confusing to know where to post....


Sorry, this didn't help. :LOL

[IdentityCrisisMama]

I agree that the home section AND nutrition section are difficult for me to browse. I often want to just check what’s going on in the nutrition, toxins, recycling and etc. ‘issues’ and find that a little hard because food and home are different.

I’d like to see a change but, because I find it a little hard to navigate in the first place, I don’t have much input…sorry to just criticize without offering much.

I could volunteer to poke around a little if that would help as I really would like to use this part of MDC more often. Thanks for what you’re trying to do!


BTW, I do think meal planning and nutrition should be in the same forum and my personal wish is that the issues such as cleaners, toxins, organic foods and stuff were in the same place as well.

[Jennisee]

I agree that the umbrella forum of Mindful Home Management is redundant and doesn't get a lot of posts, but I like all of the subforums. So I think your idea sounds good.

[Livi's Mama]

I agree with Jennisee.

[tnrsmom]

As the *other* mod and looking over page 1 here where more than half the posts have been moved, I vote for removing MHM.

[weebitty2]

Another dissenter in the wings -

I dunno. I guess it's just that to me there's a difference between mindful home management, and natural home and body care, since home management to me involves all aspects of home - including repairs, remodeling, decorating, yard care, et c - not just the implications placed by the words "natural" and "care" (green cleaning, et c) - although I do think that MHM would probably be better not as a subforum but a board itself.

[Bluegrass]

Ugh. I need to read more closely.

I do like the mindful home management category. I agree that there is more to home care than natural cleaning supplies.

I do think maybe meal planning should be a sub-category of nutrition, for ease in navigating.

[sincitymama]

If I ruled MDC.....(insert dreamy transitional music here).....

Mindful home management would stay, but natural home and body care would be gone. Natural cleaning questions, etc.. would go in MHM, but MHM would then be more inclusive, there for questions about natural cleaning products as well as home repairs, decorating, etc.. Natural body care would be it's own subforum, maybe of health and healing? That's for ease of finding information on mama cloth and stuff. I think it's a bit confusing to have hte two combined.

Meal planning, I agree, would be better as a subforum of nutrition. The decluttering and financial stuff and living off the grid would stay as-is, subforums of MHM.

Just my 2 cents.

[Oh the Irony]

Originally Posted by SarahNH

Mindful home management would stay, but natural home and body care would be gone. Natural cleaning questions, etc.. would go in MHM, but MHM would then be more inclusive, there for questions about natural cleaning products as well as home repairs, decorating, etc..
Just my 2 cents.

I think they are worth a lot. MHM is less restrictive than natural home and body care. I like this idea.

[nitareality]

Actually I'm sitting here trying to figure out where I'm supposed to post a question that I have about pots & pans, storage dishes, and utensils. I've seen these questions in Nutrition, Nat. Home and Body care, and maybe TAO? :LOL I don't care as long as I get answers I guess. Sometimes I've wondered why meal planning isn't part of nutrition...

[aisling]

For what is worth, it has always struck me as backwards that Mindful Home Management is a sub-forum of Natural Home and Body Care as it seems to me that natural home and body care is one piece of the mundful home management puzzle just as meal planning and finances are.

If it were up to me these would be switched.

It would be very strange to have frugality or decluttering or finances as an immediate subforum of Natural Home and Body Care.

Just one thought about one piece of the puzzle. Do with it whatever you would like!

[greenmansions]

I agree with pp that home and body care make more sense separated - to me they are very different

I also like the name of mindful home management as the umbrella for the other home related topics

[luv my 2 sweeties]

For what is worth, it has always struck me as backwards that Mindful Home Management is a sub-forum of Natural Home and Body Care as it seems to me that natural home and body care is one piece of the mundful home management puzzle just as meal planning and finances are. If it were up to me these would be switched.

It would be very strange to have frugality or decluttering or finances as an immediate subforum of Natural Home and Body Care.

Mindful home management would stay, but natural home and body care would be gone. Natural cleaning questions, etc.. would go in MHM, but MHM would then be more inclusive, there for questions about natural cleaning products as well as home repairs, decorating, etc.. Natural body care would be it's own subforum, maybe of health and healing? That's for ease of finding information on mama cloth and stuff. I think it's a bit confusing to have hte two combined.

Meal planning, I agree, would be better as a subforum of nutrition. The decluttering and financial stuff and living off the grid would stay as-is, subforums of MHM.

I agree with the essence of both of these posts. The details are tweakable, but I like the idea of keeping MHM as a more inclusive forum.

[root*children]

I say chuck it. I've always thought MHM was such a Boring name! It always seemed the exact same to me as Nat. Home & Body.
As long as we still have Frugal Living!!

[julielenore]

Too many forums = alot of moved threads. People aren't posting in the wrong place on purpose, there are just too many forums to choose from. Just my two cents.

[root*children]

Another reason not to have MHM is because it's actually harder to find the Frugal Living, Off-the-grid, Meal Planning, and Finances Forums. You can't see them on the main MDC discussions page, so most people don't even know that they're here

[Ruthla]

Originally Posted by dready*mama

I say chuck it. I've always thought MHM was such a Boring name! It always seemed the exact same to me as Nat. Home & Body.
As long as we still have Frugal Living!!

I recall the huge "Frugal Living Thread" that preceded the creation of MHM and all its subforums. Was there actually a demand for the other subforums?

Originally Posted by julielenore

Too many forums = alot of moved threads. People aren't posting in the wrong place on purpose, there are just too many forums to choose from. Just my two cents.

ITA!!!

I'd like to see some of these subforums consolidated- like combining Frugal Living with Finances, and I agree that Meal Planning makes more sense as a subforum of Nutrition. Getting rid of the MHM "umbrella subforum" would be a good start.

[UUMom]

I think mindful home, health, food etc should all be in the same place. I post to all thos eplaces and I can never remember where they all are. I keep checking nutrition in Mindful Home and vice versa. I think one forum of Home, Health etc with mutiple sub forums would be more clear. For me. But I'm slow and i dress funny.

[aisling]

Hey! Its all rearranged...did you guys take my suggestion?! Mindful Home Management is the top forum with Natural Home and Body care and the others underneath it! That's exactly what I wanted to see happen!

Awesome!