Lately I've been thinking about you. Yes, that's right. YOU. All of you cloth-diapering moms who who have "liked" Thirsties on
Facebook and have often commented on my blogs. Ok, ok, I know I am not being PC and I really should be asking "Are you are crunchy cloth-diapering parent?" I don't want to leave dads out, but since I am pretty sure most of you are indeed moms, I'll take the risk. Now, when I ask if you are a crunchy mom, I don't mean "Do you wear long skirts, layered-tanks tops, have unshaven legs and wear Birkenstocks?" (But if you do, that's cool!) What I am really wondering is this: Are cloth-diapering families more likely to recycle, to garden, to eat organic and local, to walk or ride bikes instead of driving? Are they more likely to compost and garden, to make home-made baby food, to co-sleep, to breastfeed, to wear their babies? Or are cloth-diapering moms just as diverse as disposable-diapering families? So what I'd like is this--I'd love to hear how you compare to the stereo-typical Crunchy Cloth-Diapering Mom and if you are the polar opposite, I want to hear that too! There is no judgement here--we all have parent and diapering in common--but it's fun to hear our differences once in a while too. I'll go first.
- Well, first of all, I do shave my legs--though many a time, I've gotten out of the shower and discovered that I shaved the same leg twice because I was interrupted by a child. No one ever interrupts my husband while he is shaving. Hmmmmm.....strange.
- I don't own Birkenstocks but I used to in college...now I wear flip flops all summer and my Dansko clogs all winter (I think those are kind of crunchy).
- I rarely wear make-up because I never go anywhere very exciting and I certainly don't have an extra five minutes in the morning to put any on--but honestly, I probably should. These days I am lucky if I leave the house with a bra on.
- I am an avid recycler. I cringe when I see plastic or glass in the trash. It weighs too heavily on my conscience. In fact, we were recently out of state and went to a game a huge sports arena. I was horrified by the fact that every single bottle, can and cup was thrown in the trash. Boulder is big on recycling and it's become a bit of an obsession with me.
- We do have a small garden, we do NOT compost (I am not crunchy enough to tolerate the sugar ants it attracted even though I had in a sealed container!).
- I have co-slept with all three of my children for varying amounts of time. Cooper is finally in his own room which is wonderful because I couldn't stand the crooked neck from nursing all night any longer!
- My husband does ride his bike to work when he can, but I have to admit, I am all about the car these days. I just can't get anywhere with all three any other way.
- I do NOT make my own baby food. Again, it's the time thing--or at least that's my excuse--but I have nursed all three for a minimum of 16 months.
- We eat organic and local when we can--but it is pricey and I have to take that into account.
I am a simi-crucky mom. I’m a single mom so the chance of saving money is a big deal. I nursed my oldest tellshe was just over 2 and we did co-sleep. i made all of her food and a lot of that was from my garden. I have tried to the the organic thing but there is not always the funds to get everything organic but I found one great thing that help the manager specials that the stores. They all ways have organic. I am still nursing my son and he is 2 and 4 mons. Trying to ween but he has been so sick. I made all of his food too. We didn’t have a garden at that time though. I have only cloth diapered my son because 14 years ago I was very confused about them and I was also 18. Thanks to friends and the internet I wa able to this time around. I was shirts most everyday just feels better but I do shave. I still have my Birkenstocks and enjoy wearing in the winter to work then I put my heels on.
Here’s the thing; only in the last few months can I put a label on my parenting style, so here goes… I’m a co-sleeping, baby wearing, EBF, baby led weaner (haha), that CD, buys organic/local when possible, recycling, no makeup wearing (happy to get a 2 minute shower) crunchy mama! I have/still do co-sleep with all three of my little ones (in fact I currently share our once small but now giant queen size bed with my 4 month old and my wonderful husband shares a full size with our 3 1/2 and sometimes 5 year old when she is too scared for the top bunk (yeah me for all the room). I have EBF all 3, but 2 is my cutoff for night nursing and subsequently when they stopped during the day. I guess I have done baby led weaning but just thought it made more sense for my kids, they didn’t really do the baby food thing (although I just got a baby bullet I’m excited about so we’ll see). I always have a fuller recycling can than trash at the end of the week and we sell our cans/bottles. Always CD’ed from the birth of our first. Now that we are on a budget (per Dave Ramsey) I make a lot from scratch, but haven’t mastered the garden/compost thing… but we have LOTS of apricots right now, so that’s something. I’m big on sewing and ‘upcycling’ clothes. I’m a baby wearing (with my 1st and 2nd because it was an attachment parenting thing that I liked, with my 3rd it is a necessity). I don’t have Birks, but if I found them at a garage sale for a steal I would be :)
I think I"m about half crunchy too.. I usually shave my legs, but in the past have gone for long periods of not shaving legs or pits. I love granola, but don’t make it myself. In fact I do a whole lot less cooking from scratch than I’d like to (my idealized version of me cooks lots of crunchy healthy things from scratch. She also cans, bakes bread, uses dried beans instead of canned, and makes her own kombucha.. The real me does none of these things!) I don’t own Birkenstocks (or Danskos). I am a super geek about recycling and will somestimes raid public trash cans and bring home cans and bottles. I have a compost but it is a lazy one and I only use it part of the time. I do grow my own organic veggies in a little garden and share with my mom who has a larger organic garden. I try to buy organic as often as possible but there are things we also buy “generic”. I hope to make my baby’s food once she’s on solids. I babywear, co-sleep and breastfeed on demand. We use holistic medicine as much as possible too. Other goals towards crunchiness, other than those listed above, include installing a clothes line so I don’t have to machine dry so often, and installing a water filter to get rid of fluoride in the city water.
I’m not fully crunchy, but I’m getting moreso everyday. I shave and like to be somewhat fashionable (though comfort’s a MUST). I rarely wear makeup though. My hubby’s job is a 40 min drive away so walking or biking is impossible, and there’s nobody to carpool with. However with groceries and errands, I personally plan everything for 1 day a week to save having to drive to town any more than I have to. I compost and have an organic garden. I recycle less than I’d like because it’s hard to find places to take it, and it irritates me that it’s not a big deal around where I live. I cloth diaper my baby full time, and use cloth wipes, too. I don’t cosleep unless my kids aren’t feeling well. I only breastfed a few extremely difficult weeks with a lack of help and support, though if we ever had another child I’d breastfeed past a year if I could. We eat organic when we can, but when the budget is low I only worry about beef and dairy being organic.
We used to recycle, trying to get the DH back into it! lol
We just move to a new home, so no garden either. I love to garden and raise my own farm animals. In the next few years we will be back into it.
I shave legs once a month, maybe. I just dont have the time!!
We co sleep and breast feed. I am also attempting baby led weaning.
Not big on organic, but I try to buy local if it fits into our budget.
We live very rural, so walking and bike riding isnt much of an option here. But I do walk 2 miles with the baby almost every day!
Ive never been big on wearing make up, I do for special occasions tho.
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