I am Loving Becoming Crunchy!
March 22nd, 2011 | 
Author: 
Can I be her?
I am loving becoming crunchy…
Not the blog (though I do greatly enjoy writing it 
) but the actual changes we’re making in our lives one step at a time.
I feel like becoming a parent has finally allowed me to become the person I’ve always wanted to be.
For as long as I can remember I’ve had secret leanings towards being one of those earthy, hippy, granola types. I always thought those people were so cool!
My admiration probably started with my older sister – she was crunchy before crunchy was in style! As little kids she had us organizing Earth Day clubs and studying up on Greenpeace.
As a mom for years now she’s set an amazing example to her kids of healthy eating, breastfeeding, and being active…I’ve always wished I could be more like her.
I don’t know why I never acted much on those desires…I don’t know if it was pure laziness or my focus was just on other things or I felt constrained by pre-defined roles or what…but now I just don’t care about any of that – my true hippy self is emerging in all its glory!
I’m definitely not there yet…there are years of practices and habits and ingrained thoughts to overcome.
But I’m having so much fun getting there. I’m loving the online community I’ve found…I’m loving the new ways I can relate to friends who are already there.
I’m loving the fact that even though my husband is so not into all this of his own accord, he’s jumping on board with me for our daughter. He’s agreed to go organic and give up a lot of his mainly meat meals. He’s agreed to use cloth diapers and cloth wipes. It was his initiative to find a natural carpet spot cleaner and he knows to question whether there will be chemicals involved when someone calls to give us a rate on duct cleaning.
I am so proud of him!
And not everything is easy…there’s still a lot of cleaning up we have to do and changes we need to make. But we truly do have the best motivation in the world in our little Bean (who just started crawling yesterday! Mommy bragging moment )
So yeah…this wasn’t really what I planned to write about today, but I just felt so excited about it all that I wanted to share.
What kind of changes did you make (or do you want to make) specifically because you had children?
Posted in Just Life, Natural Living - Moving Away from Toxins | 
Tags: Becoming Crunchy, cloth diapers, cloth wipes, Crunchy, Earth Day, earthy, going organic, granola, Greenpeace, hippy, organic, what is crunchy
we've been "crunchy" for some years, it's soooooooo worth it.
Angela (Toucan Scrap recently posted..Well done Roo
Crawling! Woohoo! Now you're gonna be really happy about things like the natural carpet cleaaners cuz everything on the floor ends up in the mouth!
And I know what you mean about becoming a mother has allowed you to be the person you've always wanted to be. I was like that in high school: always wanted to live naturally, be organic, wear natural fibers, and leave less of a carbon footprint behind. My parents were products of the nuclear family 50's, so I didn't have much say in our lifestyle.
But now I'm off like a shot in the direction I've always wanted to go. People that would have criticized me for just being myself now can't argue with, "It's best for my daughter!" Mwa ha ha..
I'm so glad you're loving it! I am, too. =)
Delena
Delena Silverfox recently posted..Potty Training Babies How To Deal with the Negativity Pt I
Isn't that funny how it sneaks up on you? For years I secretly admired crunchy people but knew I'd never be cool like them. Now when people identify me as crunchy, I'm taken aback and surprised but pleased.
Love that photo, too! I just clicked over to flickr to read all her comments.
Lauren @ Hobo Mama recently posted..Sunday Surf- Lazy Sunday
It is so fun to follow along with you on your journey. I have to admit that we were pretty durn crunchy before we had kids, but having kids, like you, has motivated me to be mindful of choices and educate ourselves about all the alternatives. The more I've read and researched, the more hippy dippy I've become. And my dh, like it sounds yours is, has seen positive outcomes so he's willing to go along with my ideas.
Thanks so much awesome mamas!
I totally agree with you that it is worth it @Angela – finding that out more and more every day!
@Delena so true…I am also going to have to start vacuuming more often lol! Excellent argument as well – works like a charm!
I am right with you @Lauren – and I definitely think of you as a cool and crunchy mama!
Thank you @Zoie! Hippy dippy…love it – sounds like something my parents would say
. Good for your hubby too!
Love it! I love your hippyish self too…lol…the more people I can identify with the better
Lets all spread natural and green parenting and crunch, crunch, crunch away on our organic granola and leafy green vegetables 
Glad we connected!
Jessica @ clothdiape recently posted..Convenience Part 1 The Ease of Natural and Green Parenting
Thanks @Jessica! Loved your Convenience of Natural Parenting Post too
Buying organic food (or at least avoiding the most toxic non-organics) is definitely just for our son. I still love boxed mac&cheese and hot dogs, but haven't bought them since he was born!
CatholicMommy recently posted..Vegetable Garden- Planning
Good for you!
I haven't had Kraft dinner for quite awhile…but things like diet coke and chips are sure hard to give up! One step at a time, right?
Wow – reading this was like looking at myself just a couple of years ago. When I became pregnant with my now 2 1/2 year old, that's when everything went into high gear on the route to crunchiness. I still have some vices that need to be worked on, but we're getting there! (Oh, and if anyone were to ask me what year I'd love to go back to if I had a time machine, it would be 1964! I soooo would have loved the hippie days in all their glory!)
Alicia C. recently posted..Its the Journey- Not the Destination
That is so awesome @Alicia – very encouraging! And I'm totally with you in that time machine
This was a great post! I feel like I could have written it!!! I blog about similar topics and coincidentally called my blog "Becoming Greener" before I found your blog. Having Green, crunchy friends also makes you want to do more and try new things! My friend inspired me in 2007 when our oldest kids were babies.
Thanks Jen!
I look forward to checking out your blog! (and friends are definitely an inspiration!)