Upper-Middle Class Parents Clash Over Parenting Advice

Feb. 3, 2011— -- While millions of Americans scale back and re-imagine life with less, a privileged minority in the upper-income stratosphere have brought their worries and sometimes frivolous arguments online, where they anonymously debate how to tote a child in a 3-story house, why rich people don't feel rich, and whether to judge parents by their strollers.

The site, DC Urban Moms and Dads, serves a city where 29 percent of children live below the poverty rate.

The posters mostly hail from the District's tony 20016 zip code, where median family income is $133,000.

On DCUMDs, the well-heeled parental set from Ward 3 dominate the forums that are brimming with thousands of questions.

"Dating: When do you reveal your income? Do people steal strollers? Can your child be starving and fat at the same time?" Or, complex issues made matter-of-fact like a self-defined closeted lesbian who sees the benefits of heterosexuality for social success or job security.

It's where a mom digitally pondered the great income divide between her family and a babysitter.

"A former day care provider, who the children love and who we trust, agreed to babysit once in awhile. Nice I couldn't be happier. However, now I feel embarrassed about her coming to our house," wrote the anonymous poster. "Day care providers don't earn much and I know she came from a relatively poor family and here we are an upper middle class family, nice house.