Ok, is there a blackhole that sucks in our kids?

[MillingNome]

By all looks, it would seem that way:

Forum Post
I'm pregnant 306,894
Life with a Babe 130,751
Toddlers 96,412
The Childhood Years 37,073
Preteens and Teens 10,609

Yeah, yeah- I suppose a more likely reason for the drop has more to do with life getting busy than cosmic forces of nature. Or maybe, by the time they get older we're all

[Alkenny]

I think that makes sense...but also, back when our older ones were babes MDC wasn't around and/or alot less people had pc's or were online.

I wouldn't have been here had I not found myself unexpectedly pregnant, on bedrest and with alot of time on my hands a couple of years ago.

[CarrieMF]

I have been on pg/baby/toddler/childhood message boards for 7 years now and have found 1 commonality, as the kids grow older people fall off the face of the earth and the number of posts decline. On my Nov 98 board there hasn't been a post in probably 2 years. On my Mar 01 board only a 1/4 of those who started are still around. On my Apr 02 board there are quite a few around still but you can tell only a fraction of them are regular posters anymore.

[Breathless Wonder]

I find as my kids age, I just have less time online. I'm not NAK 24/7 anymore.

Also, I think the answers to older kids problems are WAY more complex, and not necessarily conducive to the message board format.

Finally, there are privacy issues, that people are more aware of, IMO, as their children age.

[nolonger]

I'm new to the internet as of 2001, was a regular subscriber to Mothering in magazine format when my teens were tots, and found the boards while googling for a friend with a baby to see if the magazine was still around.

My perception is more of a "glass is half full" one. Since my youngest is 14 and I deal with the financial consequences of being a single SAHM homeschooling/sometimes unschooling mom, I am not received well on many parenting boards, i.e., I'm a busy body who needs to get a job and a life, my kids are spoiled rotten, gawd is punishing me for disobeying my abuser,

Also, I live in the US where people tend to have a rather nasty attiitude towards older children in general, especially low-income older children.

To make a short story long, when I found Mothering, I stayed up half the night devouring all the articles on teens and kids leaving the nest and crying because finally, finally somebody understood where I am and where I came from. There weren't enough polished articles so I found the boards and started lurking.

I don't have much time to post, use dial-up so I need to keep the phone free if we're expecting a call, and of course my internet skills are somewhat "retarted" but I'm just so glad that there is a forum here for teens where I can get ideas from like-minded parents, see how wonderfully our kids are turning out, and not feel quite so much like I'm always swimming upstream.

Thank you for being.

[kkiolbassa]

Originally Posted by Breathless Wonder

I find as my kids age, I just have less time online. I'm not NAK 24/7 anymore.

Also, I think the answers to older kids problems are WAY more complex, and not necessarily conducive to the message board format.

Finally, there are privacy issues, that people are more aware of, IMO, as their children age.

: I agree with this. especially the part about the problems being more complex with older kids/teens. It is nice to see that there are some other moms of teens here.

[tinybutterfly]

And don't you think as your children become older and you have been parenting for a long while, you become more confident in your parenting choices? Well, most days.

I have a lot of time on my hands as both of mine are older and in school. I can't work due to health issues, and often spend fair amounts of time at home, sometimes in bed, so I come here for social interaction with like-minded mamas.

It's nice to know you are all here.

[Anuska]

I have a lot of time on my hands as both of mine are older and in school. I can't work due to health issues, and often spend fair amounts of time at home, sometimes in bed, so I come here for social interaction with like-minded mamas.

I do too, well not alot of time, but kids are in school and I can probably be on-line a couple hours a day if I choose to.

Problems are much more complex with teens....and there is also the "privacy" thing. I respect my kids privacy and I know at anytime they can come here and read. I'd never share anything here about them, unless I asked them first.

I did that once and my dd, was mortified when she found out. She was 17 at the time.

So now I kind of just lurk around here on this forum......give advice every now and then.