Tuesday, September 2, 2014

What Is A Crunchy Mama?


Facebook groups are my new favorite thing lately. I have learned SO much by the many groups I've joined. I have my favorites, and then I have those I like to browse on occasion. After joining the first few groups I kept seeing the term 'crunchy mom' on posts I was interested in or on things I would comment on to help a mama out. I had a feeling I was a 'crunchy mama' and didn't know what that was so I decided to Google it. Yup, I was right, but I only consider myself "semi-crunchy".

Here are some of the links you can check out:

Urban Dictionary: Crunchy Mom
Blog Post: The Stir: 20 Signs You're A Crunchy Mama
Fun Quiz: The Morals Family: How Crunchy Are You? (I got 123!)

This is a general idea of what things make you 'crunchy'. I've collected the different things from several sources, but most everyone agrees on these topics:

Crunchy Parenting Topics:
  • No birth control/Natural Family Planning/Fertility Awareness Method
  • Unmedicated childbirth/Homebirth
  • Placenta encapsulation
  • No Vaccination
  • No Circumcision
  • Breastfeeding/Nursing in public/Extended nursing/Tandem nursing
  • Exclusive Breast Feeding for 6+ months/Baby Led Weaning
  • Attachment Parenting
  • Gentle Parenting
  • Bed Sharing/Co-sleeping
  • Babywearing
  • Extended Rear Facing Car Seat
  • Homeschooling/Unschooling/Montessori Method
Crunchy Living Topics:
  • Homesteading/Gardening
  • Eating Clean/Non-GMO/Organic foods/Natural foods/Raw milk & foods
  • Vegan/Vegetarian/Paleo
  • Holistic/Complimentary Medicine
  • Herbal/Homeopathic remedies
  • Wear little or no make-up/uncut hair
  • DIY Body Care Products
  • No Poo
  • Cloth diapering
  • Menstrual cups/Mama cloth
  • Family cloth
  • Natural cleaning products, etc.

I only call myself semi-crunchy since I don't do even half of this stuff, but I still like following the Facebook groups because I think there are some interesting things to be learned from them and because, on the things I DO, I can learn or share my experiences with others.

So in my post from the end of August I mentioned I had new topics for you. THIS is one of them. But if we are being honest...I've made 'CrunchyMama' posts thought the life of my blog so it's technically not a new topic, BUT it does have a label now so all the posts related to the list above can be found in a much easier way. Not everything is under that label yet (takes time to add that to all the previous posts) so do check out the links/labels below!

*Some* OF MY 'Crunchy' POSTS

Check out my Homemade Laundry Recipe. (DIY PRODUCTS LABEL)

Read about my experience with the No Poo method: Beauty Tips | Hair. Baking Soda Shampoo/Vinegar Rinse. Lets Talk About Hair | Back to Using Baking Soda. (LETS TALK ABOUT HAIR LABEL)

Read about my Cloth Diapering experience (CLOTH DIAPERING LABEL): My Thoughts at 2 Weeks In. My Thoughts at 2 Months In. 5 Things for Using The Wet Pail. Getting the Stains Out.

DIY Body Care recipes or posts (DIY BEAUTY LABEL): DIY Shaving CreamBaking Soda Shampoo/Vinegar Rinse. DIY Facial Toner. Olive Oil Sugar Scrub. Homemade Whitening Toothpaste. DIY Healthy Hair Oil. Lavender & Lemon Lip Scrub. Lavender & Peppermint Foot Soak. DIY Microderm Face Scrub. Yogurt Face Scrub. Olive Oil Hair Treatment. DIY Scented Vinegar Rinse for Your Hair. 3 Ingredient Homemade Body Scrub.

I share occasional posts about my GARDEN. No gardening tips or anything, but if you're interested in my garden then check out that label. I also do some CANNING. Again, no recipes, just posts on things I've done previously.

I was homeschooled from the beginning, all the way through high school. This has greatly affected my opinions on homeschooling. My Little Man is still much too small for hubby & I to make a decision on whether or not we will homeschool or allow him to go to public school, but until he is of age to attend school I plan on teaching him as much as I can. (HOMESCHOOLING LABEL)

BABYWEARING. This is a new one for me. I actually am getting ready to make my own ring sling carrier. I am waiting for the rings to arrive so I can put it together! I'm sure this is a future topic for this blog.

I am very thankful to be able to say my Little Man was exclusively breast fed (EBF) though 6 months (a little over actually!). We are currently doing a version of Baby Led Weaning (BLW), but also do homemade baby foods with him too. I have yet to write on BLW, but check out the BREASTFEEDING label. I have more posts in the works for both of these topics.

Close
So there you have it! These are the topics I write or will be writing about that just so happen to also fall under the 'crunchy' label. I'm looking forward to sharing with you some of the things I've been working on writing for these different topics. Hopefully it won't be too long before they are posted for you to read! (Not all of these posts have been tagged with the "CrunchyMama" label on my blog. It takes time to do that and I haven't had a change to add that label to all the above posts.)