We all lost our starting dates showing when we joined the Swap in the big move. Lets post them here and I will edit it later on and make it a sticky post.

I joined the Swap Feb of 2001.

I don't memember.  I believe though that I've been here at least 10 years.

I can't remember for sure. I was pregnant with Carolyn, who was born in 1997. I think it must have been late 1996.

I joined in 1999.  I remember cuz we had just moved into a new house and a friend of mine suggested that I come here.  It has been the ONLY board that I frequent until Luke joined the Marines.  Now I talk to Marine parents every so often but certainly not like the Swap that I check umpteen times a day.  It's very handy cuz my computer is in my kitchen and I live in the kitchen.

We signed up for the internet in March 1999 and my first search was on homeschooling.  I found The Swap!

I joined the Swap shortly after Kate and Sarah took over in fall of 1997.  I lurked for several months first before I decided to sign up.  
Jan

When I joined Grandma Kay was running it.  1995 or 1996?

I am not sure.  We got the internet when Kelly was a baby and she is 16.  I didn't get on The Swap right away.  I want to say it was maybe a couple of years.  That would put it about 1994-1995?

I migrated from the Prodigy Homeschooling Board early on when Grandma Kay started the Swap, and stayed on when Prodigy became a pay-only proposition and the Swap stayed free.  Probably 1996?

Anyway, I remember being struck by and then fascinated with the instant rise of non-bookselling discussions, and it was the beginning of my understanding of the power of the Internet.  Community could really happen, and this was better and faster than a thousand penpal letters in the snail mail!

Sarah

I think I came in '98....or was it '96....:rolleyes2 ...no, I think it was '98.

Kay, I am fairly certain that you were already here when I came, so you've been here at least since '98 or possibly before.

I've been here since April 9th of 2004.  

I was posting when Kay was the owner.  It seems like it was not less than 3 yrs before getting PG with EG but maybe as many as 5 yrs.  So, if it's possible, I'm guessing 1994ish.

I did not come on from Prodigy as Sarah described.  I think the first change that I remember was from Kay to Sarah and KD (Is that whow took over after Kay?)

I lurked for a long time before I joined.  I joined 5/02/01.  I still have my confirmation email.  Here is a portion of it:

Thank you for registering with the Swap!
Sarah Acker
Kate Theriot
Swap Co-Owners/Managers
Homeschooler's Curriculum Swap

I joined just after the move from Prodigy.  John was on-line for a couple of months before I was brave enough to see what was out here.  Homeschooling was my first search when we came on-line.   I think that was in 1995 or 96.

With Grandma Kay - 1996 or 97?

back in '96, I think.

Feb 2006. Does Grandma Kay ever pop by?

The last time I joined was in March of 2003.  I signed in again at that time and couldn't get it to work on my computer so I just left it alone.  Then I tried again in July or August of the same year, but found that when I tried to register my name was already in use.  It was me.  I thought I would have been deleted by then but wasn't.  I first started lurking summer of 1997 and have been here at least in lurkdom since then.  I am not sure when the first time I joined was.  It was sometime before Ashley was born (Sept 2001).  When she was tiny, I couldn't do anything while holding her except look at her or she would raise a fuss, so I quit logging in and only looked quickly at what was going on for about a year and a half.

I was pregnant with Simon, about to turn 11.  I think I found the Swap in Feb '97 but didn't start posting until April '97.  My first post was about, you guessed it, teaching science.  

I don't remember for sure, but Sarah and Kate were already running the show.  It was probably '98 or '99.

July 4th, 2002.

March 2006 for me.

I first found the swap my first day on the internet, which would have been in 1995.  I was on several hours, not realizing Free AOL did NOT mean free long distance!!  I think I signed on as Sherri475.  That put an end to my surfing until about 1997 when I got a local connection for internet.  Then I was SherriLynn.  In late 1999 I read a lot on the forums about Y2K stuff, remembering ~A~(Anestasia)!!  It wasn't until I began a friendship with Amy in maybe 2002 that I became a pretty regular swappie and became afarm.  I went through a few name changes...

Vicki, I remember the afternoon you and Yenny were meeting for tea for the very first time...

I honestly cannot remember.   

I frequented another site at the time, and met Amy. She invited me to check out The Swap.

My 15 year old son still refers to her as "Auntie Amy".

I've been lurking since '97 when we started homeschooling.  I'd join and post one or two things, then I'd go back to lurking without logging in and lose my registration. Maybe I can stay logged on the new boards and remain a member for more than 3 months.
~Pam

I came in around 1996-97.  Grandma Kay was running the board still.   I lurked more than posted... same as now!    

Blessings,
Cassie

I joined May 2, 2007.  It was when the Lord spoke to me about homeschooling.  I found The Swap right away.  I didn't lurk at all just jumped in and started asking questions.  
Vicki even let me phone her to ask more questions.  (I promised I wasn't an ax murderer).

1999

It would have to be shortly after Vicki and I met.  (Go figure. lol)  The old site says June of 2004.  That might be right...

I joined with Grandma Kay.  Not sure of the year.  I'm saying 93, maybe 94.

December 2, 2006

I also joined when Grandma Kay was running it and right before Renna and Marilyn took over.

I started HS'ing around 1995 or 1996, so must have joined somewhere around that time.  I had a lot of questions. (Don't we all!)

I joined up in March 2003.   It was 2 days after Lyle and I started talking about hs'ing and one week before my first hs convention and I was terrified.   We started homeschooling that September.  

1998 for sure. Kiera was almost 3 and I was researching homeschooling and found the swap. I mostly lurked there for a year or so. I remember hubby teasing me for researching so heavily when the kids were still so young.  

February 28, 2002.  I wasn't even homeschooling when I joined, but I was about to be laid off and was planning to organize my house.  I've learned so much about how to be a parent from this site, even without homeschooling.

when my kids were just preschoolers.............sigh. my oldest just turned 17!  I have no idea what year it was...well, I guess I could give it more thought..........

It was 1996, but I mostly lurked for a few years, only posting occassionally.  

I remember the first time I asked my husband if a swappie family could come and stay at our home for an overnight.   His response was, "yeah, sure!"  As if swappies were just part of our extended family.  That was LatteMamas family, btw.  A year or two before that we had a Mid-Atlantic Swappie gathering, and BarbD, her sister, Lori, MaryE, and me and some of our family members had a cookout locally.  

The swap has been an extension of my family since 1996.  

It was close to the same time as Renna, and I'm agreeing that it was '98 because we moved into our Ohio home in October of '97 and I think I found the swap that winter, so it would have been winter of '98.

I found it while searching for used curriculum for the next year.

fall of 2000, I believe.  Is there any way to check?

Grandma Kay was just moving on, so '97 I suppose. Clara wasn't born yet.

April 2002.

I met Denise on an MSN board called "Moms with Sons" or something like that.  For some reason she and I were talking on the phone one day and when I mentioned to her that I was homeschooling she invited me to the swap. I sat right down here in this comfy chair on the swap and haven't gotten up since. Could somebody please hand me another box of bon-bons.

1998-Kate TheRiot and I went to the same church and she helped me get started in homeschooling Katie from kindergarten.

I found the Swap at the end of '96 or the beginning of '97.
I lurked for a while, but eventually posted. I remember there were about 3 Lauras on the Swap when I got on. One was in Japan. Isn't that a funny thing to remember?!

I believe I found The Swap before we even started homeschooling 11 yrs ago.. that would be 1997 I suppose.  I used a different name for years and was more a lurker than a poster but I certainly gleaned tons of information before and after we started homeschooling.  So I give a hearty thanks!

I lurked for some time before I became active...and it was just as Sarah and Kate Theriot became Swap Mommies.  Was it 1997ish?

I joined the first time when Kid's Talk had just been created and Jean and Larry were mods of it. I drifted in and out until 2001 or so, since then I've been a fixture

The old swap said that I have a member since 2003.  I think I remember something happening and I had to start a new account.  I started homeschooling around 1999.  I know I was here before my littles were born.  They were born in 2001 and 2002.

I joined right about the same time as Erin Grace.  Maybe it was a little earlier, but it was spring of 2007.

I'm amazed at the wonder-women who know the exact day.  I'm lucky to get the year right....

I joined in October of 2005 (supermom05) when I started hs'ing and boy am I glad I did. I was so full of questions and doubts. The Swap has truely been a godsend and I try to bless my hs'ing friends with your knowledge and coerce them into coming here as well. :rolleyes2

I joined in November 2003!!!

I joined in 94 or 95 with Grandma Kay.  KathyV lived near me and told me about The Swap.  It's nice to see some other long time members who are more or less lurkers. I've learned so much from you ladies over the years.  Thanks!

Pam

Do we even know when WHEN the Swap was started?  Me and a couple of others have been here since 94ish.  How much further back does it go than that?

EDITED:  I just read on another thread that the Swap wasn't started until 96!  I could have sworn it was earlier than that.

I started lurking at the end of 2005 but didn't actually join until early 2006.

I joined Feb-14-03. I was a lurker for at least a year before that. I felt like I knew you all, yet you didn't even know I existed! I finally got brave enough to register and introduce myself.

I stil have my email confirmation too - dated March 15th 2005.   I lurked for a while, (maybe since Christmas break before that) then registered when I wanted to reply to someone.

I joined the Swap with Grandma Kay.  My first on-line purchase was from Kay. It was a box of math games.

I have been a member since about March 1996.

I was on bedrest and my dad set up the internet on the computer for me. I couldn't figure out what in the world I would use it for...he suggested I look up one of my interests. I typed in Home Schooling and found the SWAP!!!

Nov 1999- Vicki told me about it the first time I met her and I was sold on my first visit!

Today! LOL. I had to re-join since the new swap took over, and I kept getting a frustrating error message - so I took it as a sign that I should "give up" on The Swap. And I did for several months (June to October 08 Anyway, DH is rebuilding my computer so I'm logged onto his and voila - no error message. So, here I am again, BUT I've found that I really do have to curtail my online time, and I spend most of what I've allotted over on Facebook so I can keep up with DD who is off at college. (Having a great Freshman year, BTW, after a bad-roommate-hiccup that has been fully resolved PTL.)

I thought I'd have plenty o' free time now that I'm not the ballet-taxi-driver, but seems DS has turned me into the fencer's-taxi-driver and I took a part time job at the Fencing Center to pay for the Fencing Lessons - so even LESS free time.

Oh, and let's see, as for me: my bumper sticker should be "I'm still hot ... it just comes in flashes now." Sigh.

I miss you all, and try to keep up on those of you who are active on Facebook.

Oh, and to answer the original question: I FIRST joined the Swap in Spring of 1996. I think tha'ts right. xoxo

I've been here for about 12 years - that would be since 1996 or thereabouts!

Whenever Renna joined I joined shortly thereafter.  I think it was the winter of '97, Renna, because we had just moved into our new house and I was trying to sell some books to make money to buy curriculum for the next year.

I don't know when I came but I was already here in August of 1996 when my mom was killed in a motor vehicle accident.  The swappies were a wonderful support.

When I was doing FEET classes with Vicki--7 years ago??  Wow!  Where has the time gone?

I joined in 1998, the year my oldest was diagnosed with cancer. The ladies here were a great encouragement.

Whenever Kay  Crowley was running it. Not long after it started sometime in
96 or so

Fall of 1996. I remember because that is when my now 18yr dd came home from public school.