Jec, if I am being honest, I did read the first post of yours as judgemental and this is why:

I do know the context in which you are writing. I didn't know you had a bad day, and I am sorry to hear reading someone's post made you feel worse. I honestly skipped the drama the first time I replied to that thread and actually had to go back and read it. Basically, I came on here, and read a vent about "other forums" that were full of providers that hated their jobs and bred nothing but negativity after I had just spent fifteen minutes trying to type out an answer to your question and understand the term that you were trying to discuss. First of all, I am not a negative provider, I love my job and I try to help others and I felt lumped in with your description simply because I subscribe and enjoy some "other forums". If that's not what you meant, that's wonderful. But that is how you came across.

Once again, I mentioned before that it is hard to judge tone on the internet. Maybe you really just meant a really positive message to these ladies on this forum that you appreciate them. I get that. They are great ladies and I learn a lot from them. It is a wonderful forum to be a part of. The part I don't get is to give a compliment you needed to tear other forums down. So I wrote to you and tried to explain that each forum might serve a particular purpose in a provider's journey. You may not necessarily know a provider's intentions behind a post. They could have had an extraordinarily bad day too. There are a lot of us that are members of lots of forums. When I post in a particular forum, I make sure I know my audience. There are some forums I won't post about a new parenting/daycare technique because I know what the answer will already be. And that's okay. I really respect the opinions of everyone on ALL the forums. They take time out of their very busy days to help me and even just provide the briefest of connections in an isolating job and I really appreciate it and try to return the favour as best I can.

Know your audience, is the best advice I can give. Hope you are having a much better day today. Cheers, it's the weekend!