The "Crunchy Mom"

Lately there has been a lot of talk on some Facebook groups that I follow of being "crunchy." Being the curious person I am, I googled it. According to the Urban dictionary someone who is crunchy, is someone who is eco-friendly, vegetarian, tree hugging, liberal (leaning to the left), cloth everything and "local" (meaning one who grows their own foods and only eats locally grown food.). 
In my research, I found this article from another blog entitled "20 signs you're a crunchy mom". I just want to share my results. Whether these are legit or not, I don't know, but here are my thoughts to how crunchy I really am. 
Disclaimer: The views on my blog are MY opinion and in no way reflect on anyone else. And I'm not mommy hating! I support all mama's. As long as they are doing what they feel is the best interest of the child. I just dont support moms who could care less about their children. But I support all Mama's! Peace, y'all. 

1. You have a chicken coop in your backyard, and you're not a farmer.

• I don't have chicken poop in my yard, but my in-laws do. Free range, organic eggs are the best. Slurp! 

2. You love a good chicken pox party.

• Not me. Not this one. I am so glad my parents decided to get me the chicken pox shot. I am thankful I never had to go through the chicken pox as a kid. And I don't want my little one to go through the chicken pox. 

3. Scoring raw milk is your idea of a thrill.

• I'm sure it would be great, Just don't know where I would score raw milk in Hampton Roads. I also think we would go broke, considering the amount of milk my husband consumes. 

4. You and your husband haven't slept alone in your bed since your first child was born.

• Well, that's kind of true. But that's only because my Little One is 3 months old. But other than that, I couldn't do this. My dog slips in and sleeps our bed almost every night. I couldn't imagine having a kid in the bed too. How are you supposed to have "mommy and daddy time" if your kids are in the bed with you? Don't answer that question. 

5. Your children indicate their need to nurse ... in full sentences.

• Nope. And if your kid can ask you to lift up your shirt to nurse, its time to stop. Sorry, that's just my opinion. I know others disagree, but I'm not a clingy person to begin with, and I'm not sure I can have all that all up on me. LOL 

6. You use terms like EBF and assume everyone knows what you mean.

• I do know what this means, but that's mostly because I do EBF. Its Exclusively Breast Feed. 

7. You coordinate your wardrobe around wraps, slings, and other baby-wearing devices.

• Guilty. I love baby wearing. Its so fun. And everyone always compliments on how beautiful my baby is. They don't do that as much if E is in the stroller. I got the Ergo baby Carrier. Its about $100, but I got mine used, for half the price! 

Here we are, babywearing in the middle of marshall's a few weeks ago! This was Hubby's first outing after his appendix surgery (He is alsmost fully recovered now. Thanks for all the prayers! )

8. Your kids whip out kale chips at playgroup while the other kids eat Oreos.

• Not sure about Kale chips, but I wouldn't have my kids out with Oreo's either. My Kiddos would probably have a granola bar. LOL Crunchy?

9. Their diets are gluten-free AND Paleo.

• I heart carbs. And I really hope E will love carbs too. I know how hard it is to eat gluten-free because my MIL has a gluten allergy. I hope E doesn't develop this allergy because gluten is everywhere. But it can still be natural. Wheat is something that is grown. In the ground. Its one of Gods natural creations. 

10. You know some really good placenta recipes.

• No. Just no. Not for me. 

11. You not only use cloth diapers, you make them (and wash them) yourself.

• I love cloth diapering. Its so much fun. The prints are so cute, the laundry isn't that bad, and there are no chemicals on my baby's bu. Oh, and I'm not filling up a landfill of dirty diapers. I don't have a terribly large stash of diapers like some do (but that's a whole new blog post in itself). There will be a few more added around Christmas.. I love my little stash =) 

Lot's of these diapers are what's called diaper covers. They are just a shell and have a place to put your own inserts in them. That means that if "Little Girl" just pee's, I can just change out the insert and reuse the same shell. So I might have 15 diapers, but about 7 are covers, which means that I can use 7 multiple times (safely and cleanly) before I toss them into the wash pile. But like I said, Its a whole different blog post. 

12. The only school for your kids is homeschool.

• My major in college was education, and while I know the school systems are flawed, I do believe that every child should be entitled to a public education if they want to, not just because the parent "thinks" that its best for them to stay home all day and minimally socialize with other children. 

13. You use "family cloth" instead of toilet paper.

•  I KNOW hubby would shut it down, so I wont bother. Since I cloth diaper, I figure I am making a good enough difference in the world, so I'll just use the regular toilet paper stuff. 

14. You drive a Prius (and almost never look longingly at minivans).

• I totally got a Prius last week! I Love it. EEKK!

15. You have a composter, and you use it.

• I don't even know if having a composter would be allowed in my rental unit. LOL 

16. Your children aren't vaccinated and never will be.

• It might just be my opinion, but I think that kids should be vaccinated. It leads to healthier life styles for the community. No one wants another outbreak of Polio. Or Scarlet Fever. President Roosevelt was considered a liberal (leaning to the left) president in the 30's and 40's, but I think that even he would agree that children should be vaccinated. If you didn't know, FDR was a victim of Polio in the 1920's and spent the remainder of his life on crutches or in a wheelchair. You can read more about him here. He is kind of my favorite President.

17. There's pretty much nothing you can't make yourself from bug spray to cleaning supplies to granola (of course).

• I haven't tried this, but I think I would give it a go. 

18. You believe coconut oil and breast milk can cure pretty much anything.

• I am quickly learning that this is pretty much the case! I am also kind of getting my sister on board with this one.

19. You use a menstrual cup.  

• I think I am going to leave this one alone for now. I'm not really in to talking about my lady bits and its correlating products all publicly like this. Awkward.

20. You talk about transitioning your children into their own bed ... about the time they're ready to go to college. 

• I am in the process of transitioning Eleanor into her bed now. Last night was her first night in her crib and she did wonderfully. I pray she keeps this up.  I think every child deserves to have their own bed. And sleep in it. Unless there is a scary storm, or the heat is out and everyone needs to stay warm, kids should sleep in their beds! 

Here's my Girl trying out her new bed! She was just making sure her monitor worked nicely. Look at that smile!! 

Some others that I read about on the group, but not mentioned above were:

"keeping all body parts on the body"

• Circumcision. Some people circumcise just because it has been the socially acceptable thing to do, but I believe in circumcision for Biblical reasons. Nuff said. 

Fecal pills

• I am not even going there. Google it if you want, but I am not going there. 

Birthing at home/un-medicated birth

• I did have an un-medicated birth, but that is mostly because I had an incredibly short labor and honestly didn't have any time to get medication. Birthing a home can be alright I guess, but there is always the chance that something unexpected could happen that could put the baby in danger, and I don't think I would want to be away from a hospital if something terrible happened while giving birth. 

So, there you go. That's pretty much how crunchy I am. I think I am a healthy medium between regular, normal American mom, and Crunchy mom. In food terms, I think that would translate to a granola bar. Not too crunchy, like a box of stale raisin bran, but not too soft, like smooth peanut butter.. So, lets see.. How crunch are you?