My daughter refers to the people here as my fake friends ? Like her girlfriends as better!
I refer to you all as “acquaintances.” But among my immediate family, they all know what I mean when I say “CC.”
One of my kids gives me a hard time about being on CC. When she wants to rib me she calls me “Sue 22.” I think it’s her version of “Okay Boomer.” ?
You are my secret friends. You are “I read on my iPad”, which isn’t technically a fib, right?
To my family I say “on the college board”. To others I say “someone I know” or “a friend I know”.
I sent my negative daughter the above mentioned article, with the following text;
ME: You always made fun of my “fake friends.” This was an interesting piece, which was of course posted on my forum!
Daughter: I still mock you. Not for having online friends but for being on a college forum when you’re now a grandmother! Even if topics have changed.
I just gave up; she will never get it no matter how many time I try to explain the Parent Cafe. :neutral:
^^^ Just explain CC Parent Cafe as a never ending text of friends with many, many offshoot texts (threads). 
It’s fun to hear all of your answers. I can say the college boards but I don’t want my kids thinking I am obsessing over their lives.
I also don’t want to get into conversations like this:
Me: I read on the college board that xyz can be a symptom of [insert disease] and it might be good to ask for [insert medical test]
IRL Friend: Where did you hear this?
Me: From a friend online.
IRL Friend: Is that friend a doctor? How do you know?
Me: Yes, she is a doctor. I know that because she said so on the internet. And her screen name is “momdoc”.
IRL Friend: facepalm. Don’t you know not to believe everything on the internet? She could be a 12 year old boy in his basement pretending to be a doctor
LOL
@snowball @garland, pretty sure I joined the 2000-2001 school year. All mine are real live grown ups now, I definitely stuck around for grad school help and then to pay it forward.
Toasting y’all with a G&T because that quinine is an anti-malarial, so maybe it helps!
I was embarrassed to mention CC friends long ago, but the connections I’ve made, they are impressed and now ask me to ask CC 
My sons used to be on CC. They get it. Been here since 2006.
“One of my friends on CC said…” is a common intro to a topic at dinner. Fortunately I have gotten so much good advice from this group that it’s not followed by a groan of “oh no, NOT AGAIN…”
For years, my kids have called many of you my “invisible friends”.
At this point…today…everyone I know is a cyber friend…
Enjoying this thread immensely as a nice red meritage breaths.
A couple of years ago, my son said, “Mom, you don’t have to keep saying College Confidential; I know what you mean.” So now I just say “my boards”.
I’ve been on since 2004, I think. I had to change my screen name a few months after I joined because I was too easily identifiable and I hadn’t realized it was a long term commitment! There have been ups and downs and people have left and new ones have arrived. Drinking my Pino Grigio and toasting y’all.
I have never told my kids I post on here (11 years!). S was on here for a short time and mentioned something about me posting , but I never admitted (or denied it). I just refer to “friends”, because that’s how I think of people. I’m FB friends with several and have had meetups in person with some folks here.
I don’t post every day, but I do check in. I’m glad you’re here!
I’ve been on CC since 2004, but didn’t find the Cafe until several years later.
DH knows about CC and actually appreciates the wisdom here that I pass on to him. My kids (almost 30 and 33) don’t know I’m still here. I don’t think they’d think having cyber friends is strange, just that I’m still on a college message board.
I joined in 2004-2005, I think. My kids are 31 and 28. My family used to tease me about being on CC, but they don’t bat an eye anymore. My H asks if I am on CC when I get engrossed in reading something on my screen. If I say yes, he asks if I am chatting with friends or “saving lives.” He loves the idea that I help students virtually, and he has enjoyed my tales of what y’all have to say in Parent Cafe.
Raising a glass of water at this point … pinot noir to come later, if I stay awake past 8.
Both husband and son have asked me to seek your expertise in the past. Husband was most impressed when I was able to get info on some out of the way hotel in Russia he was booked in for a business trip. I had to go to the International Student forums but got an answer.
Hi cc friends! Am another old timer, having been here since early 2004 , though I resisted changing from the original version, (the home of the legendary “urban moundbuilders” thread) to the next iteration until forced to do so in fall of that year, so my join date is later than when I actually joined. We have been though a lot of experiences and life transitions here. My family is so used to my simply saying “I read…” and I don’t have to say anything more.
Nice to have such long friendships and to go on these journeys with so many of you.
Had to look at my profile. 2004. OUCH. That makes me old…