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 guess you could say I’m “crunchy”…. I can’t say cloth diapering is the reason for it, as I specifically remember reading 50 Things You Can Do To Save The Earth as a child … over and over and over again! I was always big on recycling. Now that we cloth diaper, I can say I’ve become greener. I used to eat fast food a lot and didn’t bat an eyelash at the plastic bags at the grocery (hey, they are recyclable… right?). I now have Envirosax bags to use (although I don’t always remember them), I refuse to eat fast food, we eat organic whenever we can, buy local whenever possible, and we do garden. I’ve always gardened, though…. and I can’t say that it has ever produced enough for us (but we have a farmer’s market).
I try to use only “Green” cleaners and wash now. I am looking into making my own shampoo instead of buying stuff.
We breastfed our little one and did babyled weaning for the most part. There’s the occasional “we need him to eat fast because we have a time crunch” (like last night, actually) where we grab what we’re eating and blend it a bit and just spoon feed him, but we don’t just buy baby food. We have bought some squeeze pouch smoothies for him, but they are organic and for when we’re on the road/out and about. Our little one is nearly 17 months now, and we DID do exclusive Baby-led weaning until after his first birthday. He had plenty of experience with textures, shapes, tastes, and feeding himself. :)
I started using sandwich bags and wraps (Planetwise) instead of plastic.
I’m disgusted by how many paper towels we go through and i’m looking into un-papertowels (they are essentially large cloth wipes that snap together and you just wrap them around the papertowel roll/dispenser).
I’m switching over to stainless steel containers and glass containers for lunches.
I don’t wear makeup. I’ll be honest, I don’t even know how to put makeup on.
I want to compost, but our yard isn’t ready for that yet (we have a major renovation project going on in our yard).
I don’t have a bike yet, but hubby and I want some. We are looking at next summer for being able to afford some nice bikes. We do walk, though I cannot walk to work (roads are too dangerous and it’s dark when I go to work) and he cannot walk to school (45 minute drive, let alone walking!)
We do baby wear, though my little man is preferring his wagon now.
We co-sleep with our toddler (though we didn’t until about 9 months… he slept right next to us before that. we were not educated about how it really ISN’T horrible until after the newborn/early infant stages).
I make sure to buy the BPA/PVC/Pthalate free plastic toys when he gets anything (even though it’s 2x the cost)
I am in the market for birkenstocks though I’ve never owned any. I go through those cheap sandals (that look like birkenstocks) so much that my husband just wants me to buy the real thing since they will last a lot longer.
I do shave my legs. Well, I mean to, anyway. I like them clean shaven, but who has the TIME anymore!? Ideally, I would shave every shower….. realistically, I think it’s been 3 weeks.
for everyone that says they have no time to make babyfood, all you have to do is take a portion of what’s on your plate, throw it in a glass container (cup, dish, bowl, whatever) and a handblender for a second or two…. it doesn’t have to be perfectly smooth! That being said, Baby-led weaning is even simpler… it just takes longer sitting at the table with your baby, but no time, really, in preparation
I’m a little crunchy and going more that direction every day (or so it feels to me). Love the outdoors, do lots of hiking. Made my own baby food, like to buy organic but unfortunately can’t afford a lot of it, so I stick to the “dirty dozen” and sales when I can. Tried to BF, MANY problems, but still doing it once a day at 12 mos. Cloth diaper exclusively except when a nasty diaper rash rears it’s ugly head. (Baby girls needs the thick cream and I’m terrified of ruining my cloth!) Recycle whenever I can but I admit I’ve had weak moments. Shave my legs (when I can) and wear a little mascara… rarely more than that! Just planted our first garden and super excited about that! All the eco-friendly and mama blogs I started following are making me want to be better for the earth which makes me feel more crunchy by the day! :)
I’m probably more crunchy than I realize, but mainly because the recycling, breastfeeding, cloth diapering, gardening, etc. just seems right to me. I don’t like to wear skirts – they are too drafty in the winter & too much sweat in the summer makes them otherwise uncomfortable if you know what I mean! I prefer skorts. I’ve never tried Birkenstocks – but I do wear Chacos. The idea that one shoe design fits all is ridiculous anyway (I’m a PT by out-of-the-house job status). I always planned to breastfeeding – my mother was one of the few of her generation that did so with all her kids & wrote her nursing MS thesis on it in the late 70’s/early 80’s. Co slept with both kids till they solidly slept through the night because it was easier tfan getting up & going 1/2 way across the house in the middle of the night Cloth diapers because it is cheaper & better for the environment & so nice not to have to run out in the middle of the night because – oops! forgot to restock the ‘sposies!! Plus CDs are so much cuter – especially the new Argyle Thirties And I garden for the sole selfish reason of having fresh sun ripened tomatoes in the summer!!! I’ve started composting, but I’m am only a dilettante thus far. DH is reluctant to hoo on that band wagon. I do wish we had a rain barrel & we may homeschool. I dunno if this all makes me crunchy, but it’s what I do!?
**we still nurse, too. (nearly) 17 months and going strong!
Shaving my legs – yes please! I feel so much better when I do.
I breastfeed my son and plan to do so until a year, maybe slightly longer.
We do not co-sleep. I prefer to have my (our) own space in our bedroom. Our son sleeps in his crib in the nursery.
I’ve done a bit of baby wearing, more often when he was a newborn (4.5 months old now).
We have a garden to make salsa and spaghetti sauce – yum! We compost our food waste and lawn waste too. We also recycle.
I use cloth diapers and cloth wipes but disposables of both when we travel or sometimes with (part-time) babysitters.
I stay at home with my son full time.
I usually wear mascara and will add eyeshadow, lip gloss, and/or blush when I’m going out of the house.
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