Why is it so hard to get on the Moms on the Hill listserv?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The moms on the Hill give Georgetown moms a run for their money when it comes to cliquishness. I can somewhat understand, you don't want everyone knowing where a lobbyist or high ranking Senator's aide's family lives.

This is just not even true at all, in real life I mean. Yes you have to get an invite to join MOTH but literally you can go up to any mom anywhere on the Hill and she will send an email to the moderator and that's it. EVERYBODY GETS IN. There's no criteria for membership other than living on the Hill, and it's not like they even verify that. Tell me how that's cliquish?

In 21st century America, this is an insurmountable obstacle for some--sad but true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I moved to Capitol Hill six months ago and have a 3 month old. I know zero people in the neighborhood and am not the type to walk up to strangers and strike up a conversation. I've heard about the MOTH listserv through the on-line grapevine, but it is ***ridiculously*** hard to locate. It apparently is a yahoo group, but all of the other yahoo groups I am a member of (including one for dog owners on the Hill) have a "join this group" link on the main yahoo group page. MOTH seems to require that a friend "invite" you and I only figured this out by googling around and following the breadcrumbs where the group has been mentioned on other sites. In fact, what I mainly found were other people posting questions about how to join.


I am not so much asking how to join (I know - find a friend or a random stranger and ask for an invitation), but hoping there are some MOTH members out there who can explain the logic behind why it is so hard to join. And maybe pass along to the powers that be at MOTH that their club has gotten a bit too exclusive.

I'm sure the MOTHers were just waiting for you to move in and tell them how to do it, OP. Things will definitely change from now on based on your post. Bravo!

Seriously. MOTHers can be a bit nutso, but this is like Gary Busey offering advice to Johnny Depp.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Really? The group of women that berated a woman for allowing her child to wear attire that had a political view not shared with much of DC? That's not mean?

I'm a MOTH and I have no idea what you are talking about. In any group there are going to be people who don't get along. Duh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The moms on the Hill give Georgetown moms a run for their money when it comes to cliquishness. I can somewhat understand, you don't want everyone knowing where a lobbyist or high ranking Senator's aide's family lives.

This is just not even true at all, in real life I mean. Yes you have to get an invite to join MOTH but literally you can go up to any mom anywhere on the Hill and she will send an email to the moderator and that's it. EVERYBODY GETS IN. There's no criteria for membership other than living on the Hill, and it's not like they even verify that. Tell me how that's cliquish?

In 21st century America, this is an insurmountable obstacle for some--sad but true.

This is exactly the point. MOTH doesn't want to be DCUM. It's a neighborhood group that is facilitated online, but it's not intended to be an anonymous online forum. People on the Hill are by and large VERY friendly. If you are too freaked out to approach a neighbor or fellow mom at the park, that's a problem you need to deal with. It doesn't make the group "clicquish." The Hill is a small community in some ways but it's not like everyone literally knows everyone. If I see a mom alone at the park I have no way to know that she's new in town and afraid to approach me.

[Anonymous]

One more tip for the OP--once you get on MOTH it's not like the red carpet is going to roll out for you and every mom you see on the street is going to be your automatic BFF. You're still going to have to take the initiative to get involved, attend events, and (gasp!) introduce yourself to people in order to meet them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One more tip for the OP--once you get on MOTH it's not like the red carpet is going to roll out for you and every mom you see on the street is going to be your automatic BFF. You're still going to have to take the initiative to get involved, attend events, and (gasp!) introduce yourself to people in order to meet them.

This....I'm not sure what people think MotH is, but it's just a list serv like any other. You still need to go to the meet ups, and post, etc. I've been on for two years and probably have attended one event. Maybe posted two questions. It's a LOT of postings to get through (I actually sent up a seperate email account for all the junk) - but it's helpful on occasions. If you live on the Hill, it's great - if you don't, I'm not sure why you would care - 3 pages of post on a totally different forum about it? Seems....intense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I moderate another parent's group. If we allow open enrollment we just get spammed by people trying to sell us kiddie services or people who don't fit our member base.

I'm assuming you meant "geographic member base" by that statement. Otherwise, that sounds pretty cliquish to me.

We take people from anywhere in the DC area. We even let in members from Baltimore. It's not cliquish at all. We are very permissive in who we let in but they have to fit our purpose. To take an example elsewhere, I would expect that Mothers of Multiples takes parents who either have multiples in their family or extended family, or provide care such as a nanny to multiples. That doesn't seem cliquish to me.

And what purposes would that be? How might one fit your purpose in order to get into the group?

Why does it matter? My group could be for special needs families, members of a certain church, Ex-Pats, military families, postpartum depression support, juggling afficionadoes, cyclists who tow kids in trailers, parents of chess kids, disabled parents, Al Anon famillies, what would it matter? If you are somehow feeling like you are missing out by not being in our group, trust me it is no big deal.