Hippie Mom

Happy Mother's Day!

I had to steal the photo but here's where it is from: http://networkedblogs.com/hBJqH. I hope that's appropriate & please read her post because it too is great. Are you a hippie mom? Or do you look down on those (us?) hippie/ crunchy/granola moms? Or should the parenting debates be thrown out the window?
To start, I recently had to ask someone what crunchy meant, but I get it now. I also won't try to categorize myself. But I certainly don't look like a hippie. I dress professionally, or at least casual-professional. I do my hair, makeup, drive a Honda-and yes, once owned a VW Van with my ex-husband and even remember pushing it down the street to jump start it. I own a house and a stable business. Which all add up to not hippie, as I understand the term.

But as her post points out, there's a lot of things that I do that put me in the other category. Which I think I've posted about enough times, but my quick list: Home Birth, Breast fed my baby past 2 1/2 (that means she still nurses), No vaccines, Co-slept, baby wearing, partial cloth diapering, grow my own veggies, season permitting, and try to eat healthy. And virtually no drugs to date for Scarlett except for one dose of gravol to knock Scarlett out during our travels to Italy. (Which was fun to watch her dancing in the airport prior to boarding and avoided the hysterics of the previous unmedicated flights). And there are more supplements, homeopathics and herbals in our house than any form of medication.

I also have a couple of patients that refer to myself and Scott as "hippie dippy granola types from BC". Yes, something about the province defines us. Also probably something to do with the type of work that we are in.

And yes, I also eat granola almost everyday. But I do recall one game of "What If" that I thought if I was most like a breakfast food I would be like granola, but everyone else choose me to be most like coffee and a croissant. Which I found flattering. But in my head, coffee and croissant parenting comes with a posh stroller, hands off parenting, and every modern baby occupying device known to families. Look how biased I am!

When did we start all of these parenting and lifestyle categories? I like the choices that I have made that fit a natural lifestyle, am guilt ridden about how I could do better and know that I can't claim any model. Maybe if I could drive a beautiful VW van like the one above, I wouldn't worry about all these little things!

Happy parenting and mothering!