Becoming Crunchy

OK, that title is my little nod to April Fool’s day…we can continue to be nice in April even though the March of Kindness is officially over.

I am truly thankful to Dionna over at Code Name: Mama for initiating this whole thing…she’s helped bring quite a community together!

For me the month has been in some ways up and down, but mainly it’s been great, and I know doing and seeing all these acts of kindness have contributed so much to what we’re trying to do as a family – it’s not always easy making changes, and a little kindness goes a long way in the midst of it all!

I’ve loved reading about the RAOK’s (Random Acts of Kindness) from others – especially the ones from children. I am looking forward to the Bean being old enough to make it part of her day on a regular basis!

And I’ve had a lot of fun committing RAOK’s myself …especially the ones for hubby (he’s probably been the focus of a grand majority of mine) – I think it’s actually done a lot to improve our relationship over the past month; it’s certainly changed my attitude a lot!

I’ve also enjoyed being the recipient of what seems like a ton of AOK’s!

• A friendly stranger helped get me into the Ina May Gaskin conference in Toronto when I felt there was no way I was going to be able to go.
• I’ve had a ton of response to this blog…wonderful comments and all kinds of people joining in on Facebook – it’s really been awesome!
• Alicia over at McCrenshaw was instrumental in helping me get my blog button HTML up on the sidebar (though I’m not sure she realized how much she helped me lol)…I know, I’m weird, but it was very exciting to me to accomplish that!
• And Becoming Crunchy even got 2 awards this month – the Stylish Blogger Award from Jessica at The Cloth Diapering Mama, and The Cherry on Top Award from Alicia at McCrenshaw – woohoo!

I’ve also been inspired by Zoie over at TouchstoneZ to begin writing a letter to my Baby Bean every month, and joined together with The Modern Aboriginal Mama and becca stiches and bitches in my No Poo Experiment. All kinds of fun!

I know there are more AOK’s and friends that I didn’t list as well…there’s just too many to cram into one post!

But for me, this March of Kindness is actually ending on a more serious note.

I recently heard of Dr. Agnes Gereb, an obstetrician/midwife in Hungary who has just been sentenced to 2 years in jail for the crime of assisting at home births. The first mention I had of her was from midwife Ina May Gaskin, who talked about her at the conference I attended and mentions her in the book Birth Matters: A Midwife’s Manifesta.

Dr. Gereb has suffered what many believe to be a human rights violation, and I feel the need to help bring awareness to what she is experiencing – as a ‘natural’ parent…as a parent at all, really, I must support the right for women to choose where they can give birth, and I think it’s important for us to know that this type of struggle is going on around the world, even leading to jail in a case like this.

I will be dedicating a post to Dr. Gereb’s situation on Thursday, April 7th, simply to bring more awareness to what is going on with her. If you are a blogger, I would sincerely appreciate it if you would consider joining me in dedicating a post to Dr. Gereb on that day as a gesture to support those who would declare that the choice of where to give birth (and the ability to give birth in comfort and dignity) is a right, and that women also deserve the right to a qualified attendant in assisting them in the process.

Please, only do this if you feel so led…there is no pressure from me for sure. But please do look into her situation, and ask yourself if it is something you need to support through your blog or social media.

I want to thank Dionna once again, and a special thanks goes to Alicia at McCrenshaw, for sharing my favorite and most inspiring act of kindness this past month – please go read her story if you have a minute.

Did you participate in the March of Kindness? What was your favorite RAOK?

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