Monday, February 15, 2010

Apparently I'm a hippy??

I find it amusing that my husband and I are referred to as European and/or Hippies by our friends who are less liberal then us.  I admit we are fairly liberal and more crunchy then a goodly number of our friends in many aspects.  But does that make us hippies?  I'll lay it all out and let you decide!!

We birth our children at home, with no interventions (and almost with no midwife due to the speed of labor).  I breastfeed exclusively until 8 or 9 months before offereing solids, skip infant cereal altogether and go straight to relatively bland table food (nothing jarred).  I breastfeed in public without the aide of a blanket or cover.  I also get into heated debates with people (online and in real life) who would try to tell me what I am doing is immoral or wrong.  My children have all breastfed their toys (including my son) and I ENCOURAGE it!!  I dabble in cloth diapers with a very on and off attitude.  I did Elimination Communication (infant pottying) with 2 of my children; 1 of whom was fully out of diapers by 18 months.   All my kids are pottied by the age of 2 because I don't agree with the "wait till they're ready; after age 3" mentality.    My youngest child is not Vaccinated, but the older 3 are. 
We don't ofen eat prepackaged foods or frozen convenience foods.  We do eat a lot of whole grains and raw veggies.  My kids even enjoy snacking on veggies.  I have never bought koolaid for the purpose of consuming it (but do use it to make an awesome smelling playdough!), my kids don't get anything but water or milk to drink until after the age of 2...and then fruit juice is a rare and special treat!  Pop is unheard of except with the grand parents!
We don't have cable television (except during the Olympics right now!!) but we do watch a lot of movies.  With the kids (all under 8 remember) we have watched everything from disney classics to Transformers, Superman, and now the newset Star Trek.  There were some who thought that that might be a little violent and maturely themed for young kids.  But our kids LOVED it, and I have not noticed an increase in violence in our household. 
I have noticed an increase in attitude and contention in our house though.  I cna pinpoint that to our children starting public school.  (Oh yeah, we are homeschoolers trying out the public school system.  To which I am really NOT loving it.) 
HOWEVER....We do have lots of toys that are made of plastic and require batteries.  My kids play video games.  I use sunblock and bugspray.  I regularly shave my legs and pits.  I spank my kids when necessary, and insist they sleep in their own beds in their own rooms.  I wear them when needed, but not ALL the time.  I encourage independance at an early age.       

So that's us; what do you think?  Do we deserve our hippy/European title?

2 comments:

  1. ummm if that makes you a hippie I must be a crazy off the wall tree hugger because even the last points I am guilty of ;)
    Glad to see you blogging again :-)

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  2. You sound almost exactly like me, so I guess I'm a bit of a hippy too :) 'Course I come from Oregon, so maybe it's expected of me :)

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