Kind of.. Lumpy??

"We may be different from the rest

Who decides the test
Of what is really best?"
-"Misfits" from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

    So the past 3 years (since Noah was born, to be exact) I have turned from my smooth-as-butter ways to a bit more crunchy.

    "HUH?" you ask? Well if you aren't familiar with the term "crunchy" in the parenting world, it's a more natural, eco friendly, holistic way of parenting. Often paired with co-sleeping, extended breastfeeding, non vaccinating, not letting baby cry, baby wearing, cloth diapering, baby food making, oh and plenty more, but I think you get my drift.

    So yeah.. Noah somewhat converted me. I have no idea how or why, but he did. Compare me to the mom I was with Claire and then with Noah and in some ways its like night and day. My love was all the same, of course but I did things differently.  I think some reasoning behind it was because I knew Noah was going to be my last so I wanted to try it a different way. Also with having 3 kids, making baby food, breastfeeding and cloth diapers just made sense and saved money. Then something happen. I actually started to like it.

   But here's the problem.. I'm not actually a "crunchy" mom. I'm kind of like a misfit here, living in my own little misfit land where I don't belong in the "Crunchy Mom" group, yet don't belong in the "I Think Crunchy Mom's are Crazy" group either. It seems you have to be one or the other- who knew?!

    Luckily as I am getting older (or maybe moreso since my kids are getting older) those labels aren't so defining, they don't seem to matter as much. But just tonight as I was slathering myself with coconut oil and drinking a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar and listening to my hippy music (lol, just kidding, I don't have hippy music.. or do I?) it just got to me. Why must we have labels? As moms we need support from each other so badly and while its so great to find others that have your interests, these labels make it so darn hard. Especially for a newer mom. At this point in my life as a mom I really don't give a what, but I did a few years ago. I was a impressionable young mom who didn't know what the heck she was doing and didn't really have any friends with kids. so every comment I heard about other labels really stuck with me.

Now I don't care much about these dumb labels and not feel pressure to be "crunchy" ..or smooth(??)  because I guess I'm a little bit of both. I have found (am finding) what works for me. And it's fun! These crunchy mom have a lot of neat-o ideas, and maybe, just maybe I can talk to them about how badly I want to have my own chickens in my backyard, (lol) without them looking at me like I'm crazy. But alas, I know I am not a crunchy mom. I'm just a mommy misfit. and that is Ok ! 

 To my fellow mommy misfits: let us break down those labels and just be moms that support and love eachother.. how about it?

"We're a couple of misfits
We're a couple of misfits
What's the matter with misfits
That's where we fit in! "