Semi- Crunchy What?

Semi- crunchy mama. You know, crunchy, like granola... Hippie, Earthy, Tree-Hugger, Crunchy.
I am a semi- crunchy mama. What on earth is "semi- crunchy"? Here's what the urban dictionary has to say:

crunchy mama
	Mother who supports homebirth, breastfeeding, baby wearing, cloth diapering, co-sleeping, gentle discipline, etc. One who questions established medical authority; tends to be vegetarian and/or prepare all-organic foods.

You can add lots of other generalizations to the list. Crunchy mamas practice elimination communication, homeschooling or unschooling. They make their own baby food, cleaning supplies, and home remedies. They don't take meds during child birth (or ever for that matter), they don't circumcise, or vaccinate. 

I am semi- crunchy, or at least I try to be. I have heard too many scary stories for a planned home birth, and I had my daughter without meds... But trust me, that was NOT what I wanted! I love nursing my baby, but I don't nurse my toddler. We cloth diaper part time and you better believe I clean those things; no diaper service here! I tried elimination communication (you keep baby diaper free and watch for clues that they need to go potty... Then you hold them over the toilet...) however, I gave up on that when I ran out of clean clothes and clean towels the first day. I wear WeeWum and Chicka Baby. I even wore Bug until I was 30 wks preggo with Wee. I co-slept with Wee until he was almost 4 months old, and I LOVE "family snuggle time" on Saturday mornings, when all the kiddos (and animals) are in our bed.

All of our children are up to date on vaccines, but we did "delayed vaccination" which means we held off for the first few months. If any of my babies are sick, I listen to my intuition. If I feel a dr visit is needed, we go. I do research meds and I try to find safer alternatives. (I made Hubby eat 1/2 clove of garlic for a cough once... The poor guy thought if 1/2 is good, whole should be better~ I do NOT recommend eating a whole clove of garlic!~ It did kick his cough...)

I make most of my own cleaning supplies and I'm working on a homemade shampoo recipe. I sometimes buy organic, but I won't give up steak. We tried to grow our own veggies, but I almost killed them~ Hubby had to save the whole garden for (or from) me. I hate wearing shoes, but I will wear them in public. Right now we are practicing "unschooling" (child-led, interest driven, self-directed...) preschool with Bug, but I plan on following a homeschool curriculum for kindergarten.

When it comes down to it, I would love to be crunchier. Alas, convenience and the current main stream, North American way of life, take over. Maybe some day my grandchildren will come visit their crazy hippie grandma! =)

How crunchy are you? Take the crunch quiz: http://themoralesfamily.us/granola.htm I got 101

Cloth Diapers!!

I love the idea of saving money, going green, being different, and tapping into my "50's housewife" self. One of the ways to do that was... Cloth diapers! I was overwhelmed by all of the options and the prices at first. I wanted to start easy, so I called up my mama and chatted with her about diaper services. She swore by DyDee service from when I was itty-bitty. A Google search and some phone calls later, I learned that DyDee was still around! They supply it ALL; everything you need for cloth that is... You don't even have to swirl the poops into the toilet... Awesome!

Until...

We talked about cost. At that time I had an almost potty trained boy, a night-soaker girl, and number 3 was going to pop in a few months. The biggest factor for "going cloth" was the denero we could save. Having an amazing service would cost as much as disposable diapers, so that idea was out. I started researching and asking questions and annoying Hubby with all the info I was learning. (Some day I can go ahead and break down all the lingo and options, but not today)

Eventually I chose One Size (OS) pocket diapers. One size meant I didn't have to do the extra sorting for each kid, all clean diapers going into the same pile= easy non-sorting! Pocket diapers looked nice because you have the option of using it as a cover or sliding the insert/ soaker into the diaper. That means when someone isn't used to cloth, they just remove the whole thing like a disposable- more easiness!

I again ran to my good friend, Google, to find durable, affordable diapers. That's when the world of EBay entered my home. Piece by piece I built up my supply. I decided I would not pay more than $4 per diaper (costs usually range from $15- $25 a piece). It took about 6 months to get a full supply. I liked doing it this way because then I was able to ease into it, find brands that worked for my babies, and cut down on the whole overwhelming factor.

Fast forward to today: I still use disposable sometimes, but have cut diaper costs by $50 a month. If I crack down and use only cloth, we will save over $75/ month, and that is including the laundry/ water costs.

Did I mention how adorable Chicka Baby looks, with her booty in cloth diapers and skinny jeans?