By participating in FortSmithMoms.com community boards, you are agreeing to abide by our Community Covenant. (You should also review the FortSmithMoms.com Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, which you agree to abide by when you become a FortSmithMoms.com member.) Our policies are a partnership, a promise we make to one another. FortSmithMoms.com strives to provide a safe, welcoming, engaging place where members are encouraged to treat each other with respect and courtesy. We will be sensitive to your privacy with regard to re-publishing your words and we encourage you to report problems to us.

A safe, welcoming, engaging place: We promise that we will do everything humanly possible to ensure that our boards are safe, welcoming and engaging places.

Respect and courtesy: FortSmithMoms.com is a place where it's okay to be yourself -- be that stressed out, happy, overwhelmed, silly or sad -- as long as you always act with respect for your fellow mommas or moms to be. We promise that at FortSmithMoms.com, you won't have to leave the “true you” at the door. We promise to bring passion to our work and to our community and to act with affection and appreciation for our members. We will listen to your suggestions and complaints, and try to incorporate your ideas in everything we do.

Re-publishing Your Words: Because we know that your words are often filled with knowledge and insight, we have dedicated ourselves to bringing the best of our community to a larger audience. We do this by quoting your message board posts in weekly e-newsletters, throughout the FortSmithMoms.com and sister networks and FortSmithMoms.com promotions including in our sites and even in books, newspaper columns, radio and tv programs. When re-publishing your quotes for wide distribution, we will identify you only by your FortSmithMoms.com member name. We promise to be sensitive in this effort.

Reporting Problems: If you encounter a violation to this covenant or have problems navigating our site or finding information, please write to contact@fortsmithmoms.com.

Don't Be Afraid to Post: If you're new to our community, we know taking the step for the first time to post publicly to a message board can sometimes seem intimidating! Don't be afraid to jump into a discussion. We have a very supportive community that serves up heavy doses of support, encouragement and enthusiasm. We love meeting new people and making new friends.

Feel Free to Lurk and Listen: While we hope that you'll become an active participant and join in our discussions, you're welcome, of course, to simply hang out silently until you feel more comfortable posting a message or joining in a chat. When perusing message boards, it's okay to do so silently.

Tap Into an Incredible Fountain of Information: Whether you're looking for answers to a health concern, a new way to revamp those leftovers, or your new to the area and need a sitter, our members are here to help. The FortSmithMoms.com Community is your place to get the answers you need and talk about the things that interest you most.

Welcome Newbies: When newcomers arrive, say "hi" and welcome them to our growing community. Many of our community's "old timers" (regardless of age) are a wealth of knowledge and have much to share. Help new folks "learn the ropes" about how to find information and resources, save time, and how to get involved.

Agree to Disagree, Respectfully: We invite and encourage a healthy exchange of opinions; disagreements are okay. If you disagree with a member's post or opinion, by all means, challenge the opinion. However, any challenge must be given with a sense of respect and caring for the other person. The real objective of community is to understand each other, not to attack others and convince them that you're right. Name calling, insults, "flaming" and attacks are not appropriate and will not be tolerated. Agree to disagree respectfully.

Don't Attack Each Other: Because this is so important, we'll say it again: Don't attack others. Personal attacks on others will not be tolerated. Challenge others' points of view and opinions, but do so respectfully and thoughtfully, without insult and personal attack.

Harassing, offensive, vulgar, abusive, hateful or bashing communications- especially those aimed at sexual orientation, gender, race, color, religious views, national origin, or disability- will not be permitted. Before you post a message (or say something during a live chat) that is intended to embarrass, humiliate or harass another person or group of people, stop and THINK first! Harassing communications are considered to be those that may cause distress, embarrassment, unwanted attention or other discomfort.

Keep Personal Information Personal: Think before you post or speak: Do you really want to put your address or telephone number on the public message board or share it during a live chat? We encourage you to keep personal information personal, and to remind your children to do so, too. Similarly, do not ask for personal information from others. Message board posts that request members to submit personal information to another party will be removed unless these posts have been pre-approved by FortSmithMoms.com staff. This includes, but is not limited to, communications that ask for personal information submitted via email, mail, telephone, surveys, and research studies.

Keep Your Posts Clean: There may be places where explicit, obscene or vulgar language, graphics or behavior is appropriate: FortSmithMoms.com is not one of them. Message board posts that contain explicit, obscene or vulgar language will be removed. Similarly, message board posts that solicit or offer explicit or X-rated GIFs, JPEGs or other graphic files will be deleted without notice! If this is what you like, this is NOT the site for you.

Be Courteous: Avoid Duplicate Posts Do not post the same message more than once on a message board or on many boards. Duplicate messages can be frustrating for other members, especially for those whose time and energy is limited. Weeding through the same message in multiple locations can be not only frustrating, but down right annoying. Duplicate messages will be deleted.

Don't Post Commercial Items: Don't post commercial messages or solicitations in message boards or during live chats. Posts containing commercial or product/service promotional messages- included but not limited to references to local businesses, be they home based or otherwise, internet sites, URLs, or links to other commercial Web sites- will be removed.

Don't Post Others' Copyrighted Information: Information copyrighted or owned by any individual or entity other than the member should not be posted on the message boards or software libraries without the consent of the owner. If such an event occurs, the individual posting the information shall be held solely responsible. FortSmithMoms.com shall not be held responsible for member-posted information that may violate copyright law.

We reserve the right to remove a post which does not relate to the topic being discussed in the board. In addition, FortSmithMoms.com reserves the right to organize message boards (or folders) in order to best serve the majority of our members. For example, narrow-interest or minimal activity topics may, at FortSmithMoms.com discretion, be relocated to a more appropriate folder or message board, or deleted entirely.

FortSmithMoms.com also reserves the right to prohibit or delete messages that are thought to violate applicable law or that may be harmful to other members, the communities that comprise FortSmithMoms.com, or the rights of FortSmithMoms.com or others. That said, FortSmithMoms.com does not have the practical ability to restrict conduct or communications that might violate FortSmithMoms.com Covenant or Terms of Service prior to transmission on AOL or the Web, nor can we ensure prompt removal of offending message board posts.

We also reserve the right to remove your FortSmithMoms.com membership from you should you violate this Covenant or any of our Terms of Service. If you haven't read the FortSmithMoms.com terms of Use, please do so. Happy posting!