How do you use this forum?

Marilyn
Sun, 09 Aug 2020 18:38:54 +0000

Like so many others, I joined the site when my son was in high school, and never left. It’s my major social forum, where I can learn about and discuss just about anything. I’ve gotten tons of help not only with helping the son move through life, but also for our relocation and many other life activities. I did continue on the college type forums for a couple of years after son’s graduation, but after that my personal knowledge was no longer useful.

I love that you can ask about anything and get helpful answers. My favorite was ages ago when my husband was going on a business trip to Russia (manufacturing area) and we couldn’t find anything about the hotel he was supposed to stay in. I finally found someone on the International Students Forum who was familiar with it.

I’ve made a real life friend, and have met other wonderful posters in person. There are a few of you that I would dearly love to meet someday. Also had numerous PM conversations which have been very useful. And to be honest, there had been posters who have kept me off threads and cautious about commenting because of the tenor of their responses.

There were posters who were using the forums to criticize and attack the forums and moderators, who would state they knew better how the site should be run, who took umbrage at any kind of rules or control, and who dominated the threads. I can only imagine what was happening behind the scenes.

The Parent Cafe seems to have settled down into a friendly and useful place to get away from stress. It feels like the people posting are the ones who truly want to engage in cordial interactions. I pop on several times a day, just for fun and curiosity.