How Many People on Mamapedia Think Mamapedia Is for Raising Children's?????

it's a site for parents to discuss topics that interest them.
we all have the ability to pass up topics that don't.
khairete
S.

One of my favorite things about this site is the compartmentalization of political versus parenting topics. I am able to participate in interesting political/philosophical conversations and get practical advice about time outs versus privilege revocation in one place. I particularly like the fact that I can strongly disagree with a specific poster in politics, but benefit from their valuable advice in other areas. There are several people on here that I have a lot of respect for and still disagree with on some major political points. That is really hard for me to balance in real life, but I feel like the practice here makes me a more open person.

This is a forum of all sorts of people.
Just skip over what you do not want to read, hear or participate in on this forum, that is what I have done for all of these years.

I do the same on my own facebook page.

I have friends and Acquaintances, on both extremes, and sometimes, I just have to avoid, what I do not want or have time to deal with.

I assume that you are referring to the posts regarding opinions on the courts ruling for marriage equality.

As the parent of a child who identifies as asexual and pan-romantic, this ruling is important to me. It means that my daughter can marry whomever she loves, and that her marriage will be legal and recognized in every state in this country. It means that I am now raising my child in a country whose government validates who she is, who just gave her and everyone else in LGBTQ+ community equal protection under the law.

My daughter is 18, so she is fully aware of the events happening in our country, but other parents are raising younger children and they can now tell them that "yes, you can marry whomever you love".

Part of being a parent and being a member of this site, is that we are able to discuss things that matter to us and as an online community many of are celebrating what we consider to be a huge victory in equality. We are choosing to celebrate that together, as parents, women and friends.

This site certainly does its job when it comes to, "When did you start solid foods?" however, there is more to it when it comes to raising children.

Your own questions are about finding flowers and funds for your husband’s education. I doubt anyone balked that these questions did not meet the motherhood requirements.

The stir is something our young children will be faced with, when they return to school and/or camp. I work during the day and don’t do much assisting in the school. Even if I did, it is a parochial school, so many of the views are similar. But, my daughter will return to camp on Monday and she may likely hear about the ruling or something along the subject matter. It’s important for me to know what other peoples opinions are, good or bad, whether I agree or not, because I have to prepare my young daughter for what is out there in the world. It would be completely unfair for me to shelter my daughter when there is so much going on in the world. In the years to come, this [Supreme Court Ruling] will be part of history. Would you leave elementary aged children to figure this out on their own? This is a great topic for the MP site.

In my own way, I am sheltered as a parent. I know as much as my daughter chooses to share with me. I always hope that she shares everything, but I find more information on views, opinions, and the feelings of others on social media sites, much like MP. With that, I have seen the nasty posts as well. Those nasty posts are exactly what our children need to know about. They need to know that there is hatred in the world, no matter where it comes from.

As for the stir, I will add this. I have seen a lot of posting about what the bible says about homosexuality. I have even seen a few posts about judgment, but more about how we will be judged for our sins/lifestyles. What I haven’t seen much of, is what the bible says about judging others [neighbors/brothers/sisters].

Hoping for peace in the days to come.

I think motherhood encompasses every aspect of life, from poopy diapers to crayons in the dryer and weird body stuff to current events. I feel like I want to be educated about all of these things because I'm not perfect and my opinions are not always crystallized. Hearing from other experiences and opinions and walks of life helps me be a better mom, even if opinions are different than mine.

It helps me raise my children's.

Depends on what you mean by raising children. Do you just mean potty training and summer school workbooks? Or do you mean philosophy, values, how to discuss different topics, etc.?

It's a forum for a lot of things, including SAHMs who feel stuck at home and who look for discussions on many topics. If you think we should ban things that don't specifically relate to children, then we have to cut out the requests for vacuum cleaner recommendations, a sister's bridal shower, workplace drama/policies, recipes (except where they pertain to fussy children), breast exams, and info on home repairs.

And Doris Day is right - just wait until the election. Do some people use this forum only to vent or proselytize or rant? Sure. And a lot of others call them out on it.

What I think would be helpful is if members were more specific in their question titles (instead of "Help" or "Seeking advice", post the actual topic) and then people could more easily skip the question entirely if they aren't interested. But even if that doesn't happen, it's pretty easy to know in the first 3 sentences if it's a subject that doesn't interest you, and you can move on.

Personally, I enjoy a lot of thought-provoking and enlightening comments I hear from many members here, and I don't get upset by the presence of other stuff even if I personally feel it's BS.

Not sure what you mean about not being on this site if we weren't looking for facts! Not sure that's entirely true!

It would be very difficult to separate parenting from our political, religious and moral beliefs. These beliefs influence how we parent.

This is not actually a site to collect minions. Most of the time when one tries that people point out it is against the rules so I am not really sure what you are getting at.

No one parents in a bubble and if they did they wouldn't know about this site or any site for that matter.

Everyone has posted to celebrate from time to time. "I'm pregnant!" Yay, *waves hands in mock celebration* I posted when the Cardinals were doing well, hung my head when they fizzled out.

I think a better question for you and a few others, why on earth do you think politics have nothing to do with parenting?

Discussing politics and current event is also a part of raising children.
If you have no idea what’s going on in the world how are you going to teach your children about it?

Not everyone agrees on anything going on and that is and will always be a part of life. For now we have the freedom (in America) to speak out about our personal beliefs. Or until the politically correct and thought police come for us.

I LOVE this site. I have since the 'mamasource' days.

My hands on parenting days have come to a close in many respects (my youngest - twins - are now both 18). How I have parented has always included lively dialogue about controversial issues.

When ALL kiddos come home, there is ALWAYS lively debate (and always differences of opinion) regarding a HUGE spectrum of issues. I keep my awareness of myriad issues (political, social, health, economic....et al) up to snuff BECAUSE it helps with parenting. I would be remiss as a parent (human) if I did not.

People get heated over issues they feel strongly about. Most, eventually, step back and re assess.

I do have to agree with the previous poster (justneedsomeprivacy) who suggests that 'your' questions really do not meet YOUR strict litmus test for 'appropriate' questions for a parenting site.

I did not find them upsetting. I think you received some very helpful responses.

Sorry the recent postings offended you in some way.

**shrug**

best

There is no rule on this site that politics may not be discussed.

Wild Woman -- "spewing venom and ignorance," really? You and I have been friendly in the past, and even though I don't agree with your politics, I don't call you names and personally attack you. Most of the posts in the past few days have been about love, and did not spew venom. I guess we can agree to disagree about the "ignorance" part of it, because I can take that same view about people of your political bent. But I feel that some of your conservative rants are much more venomous than those of most of the "liberals" on this site.

Try having a gay kid who is called an 'abomination' and other such lovely names by certain Bible-thumping individuals. THAT is venom and ignorance.

And M. -- If your kid turns out to be gay, you will welcome these perspectives.

Why do you assume there are no facts where motherhood is concerned? There are lots of facts. Not all people care about facts, but they are there if you look.

The female is the political. In fact, I will strongly voice my support for sanders. He wants to give paid sick leave to everyone! Think of all those cleaning ladies and babysitters without such support? Let's give all women equal chances and choices! Liberating one class on the backs of another isn't liberation. How about paid maternity leave for everyone? Providing parents with basic human rights helps parents do their job. This stuff is political.

This world has enough negative stuff going on. We need more love and joy. I think we can have intellectual debates without making it personal. I like to think we can model grown up behavior for our children :-)

Well SOMEONE'S panties are in a twist this morning!
Sure this site is mostly about parenting, and most of the questions and answers are about just that.
But even mothers are people, and sometimes people get off topic, or simply want to talk about something other than homework or poop.
I tend to believe that a person's attitude is a direct reflection of their character, and right now your attitude is coming off as nasty and judgy.
I hope you're just having a bad day...

The range of topics, comments and advice given here can be very interesting. Even if it's to see what the "other half" has to say about it. Even in parenting there are things people don't agree on...bottle vs breast, cry it out vs parenting them to sleep, whatever.
Politics play an important part in parenting as does religion. Even if I don't agree with something, it's good to hear the other side of things. Both my husband and I have made a point of presenting both sides of things and then discussing why this side of the argument feels like the right one and why someone may feel the other argument is right for them.
Some people are better at putting words to their thoughts and feelings in an online environment. Sometimes I've been pretty bad at it, other times I do pretty well. Those times I've been pretty bad at it it can come across in a very wrong way. Some people get offended if they don't hear what they felt they wanted to hear. Not everyone asking for advice wants actual advice, they just want vindication.
I don't really care what the topics are about here. Potty training your kid to politics to sleepless nights to religious beliefs. If I don't like it, there is always the scroll button and ignore it. I sure do that a lot myself.
I am making the guess that you are referring to recent posts about the SCOTUS ruling on same-sex marriages. I am over the moon with their ruling. I admit, I am still trying to figure out why people feel it is their right to ban and fight against something that has no effect on their personal life in any way and harms no one and is not the belief of everyone. Why does their religious choices get to have that much of a direct and severe affect on people when it doesn't do anything to their private life. No one is saying they now must marry someone of the same sex or face legal consequences. Legalizing same sex marriages does not force them to change their beliefs or actions in any way beyond them not being allowed to actively discriminate against them because same sex marriage is now legal. I've been reading the posts to see if I can find any answers as my kids have asked the same question. So, it does affect my parenting. It is helping me try and find answers to my children's questions and their understanding of the world they live in.

If you think about it, politics and social conflicts do affect parenting. We need to be able to talk with our children about these issues. We need to have well rounded world views. When we surround ourselves only with people who never offend us or disagree with us, we are fools.

I think it's about child raising and family issues - which encompasses a lot and is a wide somewhat ambiguous area.
Though politics, religion and money may not be subjects for polite conversation, they do get discussed to varying degrees.
I've got friends here I just adore on so many topics but I have to shy away from them come election time - we simply have to agree to disagree and leave it at that at least until the election is over and the whining of the losers and crowing of the winners dies down.

If you think the last few days have been bad, you don't know the half of it. Wait until the election gets close. You will see nastiness fly out of some mouths here of people who have so much hate in their hearts that your eyes will spin. It's like they'd think that someone died and made them God.

It says, "mamapedia, the wisdom of moms" at the top of the site.

That wisdom is not limited to diapers, feedings, discipline, or development.

Rather, it is our collective wisdom about all aspects of life that makes this site so valuable.

the end

Growing up, witnessing hatred and discrimination against certain people who were and are dear to me has a LOT to do with how I parent and my values I pass on to my son. And as Cheysma pointed out, if you have a child who is anything other than heterosexual , the recent politics going on are something to pay attention to.

On this and every other site there will be people who act out in ways which are meant to cause anger. Whether or not the poster is aware of this or fact that they are demonstrating some outlier behaviors is entirely irrelevant-- people aren't going to respond favorably. It doesn't even matter what 'side' people are on politically; even on this thread there is some demonstrable disrespect directed toward specific groups of people.

This site is what you make it. I chose to just skip over some questions the past few days because some people do go to extremes to prove a point and I don't need to read their garbage. I'm sure I also missed a few good points, but the point is, I take from this what I want and so can you.

I love this site because you can talk about topics other than kid issues-because moms have more to them than just their kids- and it's anonymous enough to be very frank, and it's not all one sided-there's all types here. It's good to see a swatch of the population that isn't all like-minded.

It must be perspective, I have seen many more positive and uplifting posts over the past few days then nasty ones.

I really cannot think of any recent subjects discussed here that don't pertain to parenting in some way. The better informed I am on ANY subject the better Mama I will be.

Take what you want and leave the rest. I for one am not all that interested in making more money so my husband can go back to school or which florist to use. To each her own.

Raising children is affected by all aspects of your life. So yes, basically I feel anything goes on this site. Religion, Politics, Sex, Money. Whatever. It all has to do with your parenting style and choices and how your kids end up being raised.

although, to counter what WildWoman noted - she's the only one I've seen on here the last few days spewing venom. Mostly it has been celebration, and even those that don't feel like celebrating have been mostly respectful - except her.

M.

This site is flooded with liberals. You can see them spewing their venom and ignorance on MANY posts - especially the last few days with the 0bama(doesn't)care and other Supreme Court Rulings. It will get worse as we get closer to the 2016 election.

You will get PLENTY of facts here on raising kids. Facts from people who been there and learned from their experiences.

There are people on here who believe that politics should NOT be on here - however - sorry - politics is a part of life and raising your kids. You raise them with your beliefs, morals, etc. and you vote on those same principles. You can't get around it.

People are passionate about their stance/beliefs, etc. and you will find that here.

You will see the passion in breast feeding and bottle feeding posts.
You will see the passion in stay at home mom vs. working mom posts.

You choose what you want to reply to. NO ONE is forcing you to reply, post a question or even log in. So if you don't like it? Don't log in. It's really that simple.

Hope this helps!

Sure.
Take you for example.
None of your 3 questions have been about "raising children's."
There's a lot more to raising kids well than potty training and organic vegetables.

I'm not so much into just opinions. I tend to skip over those responses. Anyone can have an opinion - I prefer the moms who have first hand knowledge of what they are talking about, even if it's not 100% relatable to the question being asked. With experience comes wisdom. There are a lot of wise moms on this site :)

I like the variety of topics. As others have said, there's more to me than just being a mom, and I do think all these recent events will affect our children and families. I have a young family member who is in process of coming out - and it's good for me to know how some people will respond to them as they go through life. It's upsetting, but it's good to know.

My kids are older than the potty training and breast feeding stage. We are discussing current events at my table. I've taken away some comments from here and discussed them with my kids. Thankfully my kids are curious and ask questions. They need more than *because the bible said so* to convince them that something is wrong.

I don't have all the answers for my kids, but there have been some great posts on here that sum up how I feel about the positive changes. I'm not great at expressing my thoughts. So I've borrowed some of the moms' points. So thank you moms - I've sent you flowers. I get a lot out of this site :)

Just don't click on the ones that don't interest you.

Morning
I think the board is good for questions regarding children, but also running a household..
I do think that sometimes a person will post a question which really isn't a question but more an opinion and then other posters get riled up.. I try and stay clear of anything that I might think too controversial.. in addition, I try and not get too mixed up with anything political, religious or just plain mean.. the only posts I ever read are ones where I too have/had the same dilemma OR if I have had similar experiences and perhaps can suggest something that might help... otherwise, the board can be too controversial for me... However, on those cases, it's easy for me to read what works for me and then leave the rest...

that's why *I* come to this forum, for MOM themed questions, that relate to being a parent