Many of you may not know it, but there is a secret underworld of mummy forums.
These are private pages especially for mums to ask for advice and whatnot — and the first rule of the mummy forum is you don’t talk about what happens in the mummy forum.
I was initiated and added to one a few years ago after being that annoying new mum that kept posting random questions on my personal profile for help on how not to break my child.
Now I am four years in and consider myself a bit of an expert on the mummy forum. A mummy forum guru.
For all the new mums out there that haven’t quite gotten the hang of it yet, you can thank me later for my tips.
How to survive the mummy forums: Avoid these topics
1. Vaccinations. WARNING! You do not talk about vaccinating your child or your opinion on any types of shots, even talking about the flu vaccination is not safe. You will be trolled.
2. Circumcision. Big NO. Who would have thought a tiny bit of excess skin could get a mummy slammed so hard? Terms like “genital mutilation” get thrown around willy-nilly.
Top Comments
The only other mummy forum(10000+ members on FB) I read and contribute to is not at all like this. I've found it to be very supportive and full of helpful advice - but the moderators are strict and very clear on rules. I've participated in two discussions that got out of control and were removed - one on vaccinations (it was more pro than anti) and another one about Au pairs (trolls went crazy at mums who had them and imposed "rules" on them).
For the record, I find MM really good - extremely rarely do discussions get out of hand (I've found) and the moderators can be a bit variable, but a few times I've been blocked and later realised it was for the best or I've had to reword something in a more positive or less argumentative tone. MM is my link with the adult world most days, so I'm grateful for the interaction!
I'm a grandmother, 3 children & 1 grandchild so far. One thing I do not understand these days is a push present. Getting a reward for pushing out your baby. Isn't getting a healthy beautiful baby the present and reward. Have we become so materialistic that we want presents for delivering a baby.
My husband bought me a beautiful bracelet (nothing overly extravagant - certainly not $1000s) - I wear it every day. It reminds me of the special time when our family was created.