My neighbor told me about it when I was pregnant and looking for daycare.

Anonymous wrote:Looking for daycare recommendations for my now 6 year old. As snarky as it is, I love it. There’s some really great information.

Daycare info for me too 😝

I got my first AP job in the area and was googling to see if I could get any information on the school. I did!

From Urbanbaby, may it RIP. I got there by googling recs for a pediatrician.

On UB, someone mentioned that there was a Special Needs board on DCUM that was very helpful and nice (I had some concerns about my preschool son), so I checked it out. It was, I stayed.

I used to be more active on UB because I am NYC based, but it's gone, so all I have is DCUM (not that you guys aren't great, but sometimes I'd like NYC specific talk).

I was looking for the definition of "SALA" and wound up here. (South Arlington Liberation Army)

Anonymous wrote:
I'll go first...

I've been a regular since Jeff started with three emails (( I reaallllly got involved when someone asked about piercing her 2 year olds ears and someone replied that it was "sk@nky" 😠).

Since then, I've told every new parent that I've met that's new to the DC area, just to give them sort of a crash course on the area, but also for questions they may have and also recommendations...

What about you?

I remember this from the listserv -- that really got ugly after that person said that about someone's 2 y.o. child.

I found it when I moved here and one of the moms at my kid's middle school (NBMS) told me about it at cupcake wars.

I was supposed to be there helping out, but I became so invested in that thread that I spent the rest of the night around the corner by some lockers reading up, lol.
They had plenty of help that night, they didn't need little ole me.

Anonymous wrote:I have a vague recollection of landing here after googling new mom things, thinking "those people are horrible", and left. Came back years later and got hooked.

Similar experience, except I never left. The over-the-top trolling was too funny.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't remember because I'm getting old, in my 60s, but it's been ten or fifteen years. I think I googled something. I love this sight, though. I used to read Fairfax Underground but that one is just too disgusting, I had to quit. DCUM is so much better.

It took me a little while to get used to the whole DCUM mentality and the snark and the trolls but I love the way Jeff handles it all and I'm totally hooked.

I dislike it when people here try to imply I'm not welcome here because I'm too old or because I no longer live in the DC area. I'm a mom, a grandma and a great grandma, used to be a MIL, have lots of interests related to different forums here, and was born and raised and raised my own kids in NoVa.

I'm here and I'm not going anywhere and I'll report you if you call me grandma other than very affectionately.

Yeah, everything is bashing boomers here, clearly not up on which generation they are bashing..always way off. And if there's a comment on any thread that anyone disagrees with...more condescending ageist trolling. Every day.

If you are hearing “grandma” or “boomer” frequently then maybe the “advice” you’re giving is dated. Be upfront and give a disclaimer.

I'm not hearing it frequently, thanks anyway. It's never necessary though, if it's used as a condescending insult. It offends me when it's used towards others as well, not just me.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't remember because I'm getting old, in my 60s, but it's been ten or fifteen years. I think I googled something. I love this sight, though. I used to read Fairfax Underground but that one is just too disgusting, I had to quit. DCUM is so much better.

It took me a little while to get used to the whole DCUM mentality and the snark and the trolls but I love the way Jeff handles it all and I'm totally hooked.

I dislike it when people here try to imply I'm not welcome here because I'm too old or because I no longer live in the DC area. I'm a mom, a grandma and a great grandma, used to be a MIL, have lots of interests related to different forums here, and was born and raised and raised my own kids in NoVa.

I'm here and I'm not going anywhere and I'll report you if you call me grandma other than very affectionately.

Love you, grandma! 🤗

Love you back!

Anonymous wrote:Years ago I read on another site, GOMI, that this was the meanest online forum so i had to check it out for myself.

I never left

Wow, I would have said that GOMI was the meanest I ever read! I really enjoyed reading that site, but it seemed to be crashing my computer and also I felt like I needed to remove negativity from my life, even though I only lurked/read and did not post myself. Haven't read there in years so I don't even know if it's still active.

As to how I found DCUM, it was through the Hilaria Baldwin scandal in December 2020. Reading the thread on her and then finding all the other really great content on this site was a break from the stress of the pandemic and work, etc etc. and has also been helpful in dealing with all of that, reading comments from people in similar situations.

I read a piece about it a long time ago that mentioned it being a snarky, gossipy place with ridiculous commenters. Of course I had to check it out.

I don’t live in or around DC and have never even visited the area but I’m addicted to the drama here.

My now 15 year old had horrible colic during the first two months. At a well check up when the doctor told me there’s nothing else we can do and she’ll just have to outgrow it I started crying out of frustration and sheer exhaustion. That’s when he recommended this site to get some advice/commiseration.

Ugh.

Oh, this is a saga! I was on The Bump forum 10+ years ago. There was a mass exodus because they fired the mods. If I remember correctly, the reason was that the company wanted to clean up the forum. Apparently the regulars were all a bunch of trouble-makers who scared away new posters. There were longtime members with a history of in-fighting, inside jokes, etc. so newcomers were put off by the vibe.

One of the mods had seen the writing on the wall and set up an alternative forum we quickly migrated to that was eventually named Then Comes Family. That place was absolutely chaotic. There was a vote for everything - the name, the mods, the logo, the board titles. I finally left when there was this big drama with one of the longtime members/mods. I don’t even remember what it was about anymore. She lied about something, I think, created drama to make some point, and then I was done. I couldn’t take the drama anymore.

I had seen DCUM back when I was looking for childcare recs and thought “Ugh, I don’t like how it’s anonymous.” But now, it’s blissful not to have personalities and a dramatic history tied to each post. I don’t know or care who I’m responding to anymore.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't remember because I'm getting old, in my 60s, but it's been ten or fifteen years. I think I googled something. I love this sight, though. I used to read Fairfax Underground but that one is just too disgusting, I had to quit. DCUM is so much better.

It took me a little while to get used to the whole DCUM mentality and the snark and the trolls but I love the way Jeff handles it all and I'm totally hooked.

I dislike it when people here try to imply I'm not welcome here because I'm too old or because I no longer live in the DC area. I'm a mom, a grandma and a great grandma, used to be a MIL, have lots of interests related to different forums here, and was born and raised and raised my own kids in NoVa.

I'm here and I'm not going anywhere and I'll report you if you call me grandma other than very affectionately.

Yeah, everything is bashing boomers here, clearly not up on which generation they are bashing..always way off. And if there's a comment on any thread that anyone disagrees with...more condescending ageist trolling. Every day.

If you are hearing “grandma” or “boomer” frequently then maybe the “advice” you’re giving is dated. Be upfront and give a disclaimer.