April 9th, 2012Top StoryAn Overwhelming Glossary of Mommy Message Board LingoBy Tracie Egan Morrissey
There's basically a message board community to cater to every type of parent out there: Christian parents; diabetic parents; working at home parents. The Bump is to pregnancy what The Knot is to weddings. What to Expect message boards are a catchall for women familiar with the popular books (What to Expect When You're Expecting and What to Expect the First Year) who don't know where else to go. Scary Mommy is good for the irreverent and YouBeMom is a great resource for mothers who want to be completely honest about anything — be it pediatricians, Real Housewives, strollers, or sex toys — without getting the virtual side-eye from judgmental types in more mainstream forums. The many different TTC (trying to conceive) boards across the internet are no doubt comforting for its participants with fertility issues. But there are also geographically-based Yahoo Groups (like the oft-discussed Park Slope Parents) for mothers and fathers looking to connect with others in their respective neighborhoods. And while PSP gets a lot of flack for its flame wars, eye-roll inducing preciousness and "over-parenting," for the most part, these mommy message boards are used by people looking to feel a little less confused and a little less alone. Sure, there are the people who enter into these forums strictly to brag about their children or their own parenting prowess — but they're also obviously fulfilling a need that's not being met in their real lives, however annoying that might be for others. I was never a participant of message boards while childless and this didn't change with the birth of my daughter. But I do tend to lurk every now and then. It's a good way to gauge how well your baby is doing hitting his or her developmental milestones. And these forums can provide tips and answers to the kinds of questions that aren't really important enough to ask the pediatrician, and that you'd rather hear from real parents and not books. Do all babies like the tags on their toys better than the actual toy? How do you deal with unsolicited advice from a mother-in-law? What kind of spoon is best to introduce solids? While never adding to a conversation, I've found some of the forums really helpful, particularly the stroller discussions on UrbanBaby, which helped me shop for the right fit for my lifestyle, which includes traveling on the subway and living in a fourth-floor walk up. But Christ if they aren't difficult to understand. As someone whose job it is to be on the internet, I thought that I was pretty proficient in shorthand. That is, until I visited these mommy message boards. First of all, some acronyms that are already well-established in other venues mean a completely different thing in parenting forums, like FTM. It doesn't mean Female to Male transsexual, but rather, First Time Mom. It's confusing terms like this that make understanding postings through simple reading comprehension kind of impossible. So here, we present an alphabetized glossary, to assist you in wading through the murky waters of mommy message boards. AC - Assisted conception Iby Jason Stitt/Shutterstock.  |
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