amitymamaThe Attachment Parenting Community

Thmom · 03-13-2005, 04:37 AM

while writing my alternative med vent/post I got to thinking... my main problem is that I want to do it all. lol
I want to be health conscious and aware of what products I should/shouldn't use in my house
I want to be aware of alternative medicines and how to use them appropriately
I want to be earth conscious and doing things that are benifical for our enviroment
I want to be morally conscious, aware of companies with bad ethics etc.
I want to feed my family the best food I can, organic home grown when possible, I want to know what companies are humane in animal treatment etc.

on top of that I want to unschool and provide wonderful learning experiences for my children

and I am driven to educate myself about natural birth and the oppositions to it.

and then I want a clean house, with the laundry done lol

so do you "do it all" or do you focus your crunch on an area that matters most to you?

I guess I could say I focus my crunch on natural birth, but I feel that this really isn't helping my family and I should be doing so much more for them. I mean I do some of these things... I buy organic when I can, though it's hard. Although I'm sure if I was able I could do more research into coops etc in the area or that deliver here and I could do more. We could recycle, the trash collection here doesn't have a seperate recycling so we'd have to take it somewhere, but I try to reuse as much as I can. I have tried to elimante harmful products from my home, using mostly wood toys, non-toxic cleaning products etc. but again I know with more research I could do more.

So what are your thoughts? How do you do it?

~Meeshi~ · 03-13-2005, 08:10 AM

Hey Camie, nice to see you!

We definately don't *do it all*, we realize that we are human with limited time and resources.

Our family focus is trying to make each choice with a lot of thought.

We simply cannot buy 100% or even 70% organic right now, because of funds. But we make an effort to try to make the best possible nutritional decisions for our family.

I try not to focus on what we aren't doing, or where we're coming up short, and instead try to think of how we can be better, when the time/money allows.

Really, you could spend 10 hours a day, every day, researching companies to find out what kind of business practies they allow, 6 more researching natural cleaners, 4 hours trying to find out what food are most nutritious, and so on..... But it wouldn't leave you much time to live.

I try to learn a few new things every day. But, I realize that I could never do it all or know it all.... I agree with you that the more you know, the better armed you are to make decisions. However, like you said, there's laundry to do and kiddos to cuddle.

My immediate focus is on the well being of my family and the environment. If I can go to bed at night knowing I took good care of them, I am a happy Mama.

harvestgirl · 03-13-2005, 09:29 AM

good post camie ~ i feel the same way.

not even sure where i focus

lately.::sigh::

i'll watch this post.

Chantelle · 03-13-2005, 11:09 AM

I definitely focus my crunch on my dd and things that directly influence her, like food, cleaning products, etc. We cosleep, did child-led weaning, she eats organic foods, etc. Some of that, obviously, has crept into our (dh and myself) lifestyle as well.

.:Becca:. · 03-13-2005, 02:50 PM

Camie, I definatly hear ya. I have been getting down on myself for the lack of crunchyness that I have allowed our family to get to. But, I finally realized.....There will always be more ways I could be more crunchy. Even when I am at my crunchiest.... There is always still more that I could do. I don't want this post to be like a bragging post. I just want to show you that we may do alot, but there is always more we could improve on. And we started out small.

I'll list off what we do and how we got there.
~We grow about 70-80% of our veggies and "garden" stuff for the whole year. We started out real small, about 5-6 years ago. We just learned more and kept getting bigger. I found easier ways of storing and preserving our food. Now it's just second nature (lol) to get out and garden and plan on what we will need for the year.

~We compost, when we have a pig, all our food scraps go to him. When we don't, our meat scraps get dumped outside and the compostables get composted.

~We use biodegradable cleaners. I never thought I would use these, but once we bought our own home, we had a septic system that runs through the yard (it's burried deep and no chance of danger for our kids). I didn't want toxic chemicals to be going through our yard. So, we switched.

~We "harvest" our own meat. (no flames please) Dh hunts 1-2 deer a year, he fishes for our salmon (we have about 50lbs in the freezer) and other fish, he clams, and crabs. We get some beef from my parents who raise grass fed natural beef, we raise our own pigs. We used to have meat rabbits, but they don't breed half as good as they say they do, lol. When we have a surplus of any of our foods, we give it away to our neighbors, friends or family. Oh, we also get eggs from a neighbor (our girls got to old to lay, so they are retired at my parents farm).

~We drink raw or organic milk. Only because I've been to livestock auctions where they brought in their "retired" dairy cows. OMG! They had open sores all over their bodies, and were SOOOO thin. I felt so bad for those girls. I will not support those discusting companies.

~We use homeopathy & herbs for medicine (Dh still doesn't tho). Only because I was given some valarian root after a car accident, and I was hooked on herbs. And after antibiotics stopped working for my UTI's.

~I sew most of my kids' clothes. Well, exept for jeans and stuff like that. Only because I came to this forum and realized that people still do that, lol. I had fabric and a machine from quilting, so I got started. I also knit and crochet alot too. I do try to use mostly wool or cotton yarns for that.

Now for what we don't do:
~we don't recycle
~we don't homeschool (tho they go to a VERY rural farming school)
~we don't always buy organic or humane foods

~we don't buy organic chicken

But, we buy a whole bunch Foster Farms when it's on sale... I'm still checking into the humane treatment of their birds.
~we watch tv
~we play video games
~still use plastic kitchen stuff
~I don't buy ONLY organic fabric

Even tho it's sounds like we do alot, there are still things we don't do. I'm not going to beat myself up to much about those things. I need to learn to accept them. Good luck on your quest! And just start out small. Subscribe to Mother Earth News, Countryside, and Backwoods Home magazine (or go to the library and read them.) I get tons of information from these guys.

Again, good luck!

arasmama · 03-13-2005, 03:45 PM

Birth or anything "medical" related (not that I think birth is medical...), definitely. I'm pretty hardcore about that. My kids have never had tylenol or antibiotics. We don't even have any allopathic meds in our house.

Toxins - we eat organic, although we don't always eat perfectly (too much sugar!!!), no cleaners in my house, spend the extra money on healthy mattresses, furniture, flooring, etc. I feel like we are so inundated with toxins that we have no control over, I will spend a lot of energy trying to control the ones I can.

We recycle, but I do a half @ss job of composting. I drive a new minivan and I only have 2 kids (although, in my defense, it gets much better gas mileage than my station wagon did). We don't walk anywhere (except for fun) because we live in suburbia and there is no where to walk! We never take the bus. See, I am a gas hogging, polluting fiend. And I don't garden.

IBelieveInFae · 03-13-2005, 05:03 PM

We focus right now on recycling. I am trying to only buy products that come in containers that are recyclable here. I may have to start making my own yoghurt because *none* of them come in a recyclable container.

mamabear · 03-14-2005, 09:58 AM

We focus on health and alternative medicine, because it's my passion, and because we are inundated with major genetic weaknesses and Jake has many issues. So I spend a lot of time and money on homeopathic care, remedies, supplements, giving my family massage and craniosacral treatments, reading and researching. However I also *have* to take my son for regular "medical" care for cystic fibrosis, else he would die, so I have learned the hard way that an absolute stance on anything (ie saying things like "Western medicine is evil") is a dangerous position to put oneself in.

Of course this means also food - Let thy food be thy medicine. So we are constantly evolving as far as what we eat. We are mostly wheat and dairy free (Jake is totally). And we try to buy organic whenever we can. I will spend a lot of our money on wild-caught salmon from Alaska. It's tough here - not that much access to organics and it's all pricey even through co-ops. So I will often buy low-contamination, non-organic produce in the store and clean it well. And we eat a lot of frozen organic veggies, which are cheaper. I want to garden but with our yard it is a major challenge so I haven't gotten there yet.

We do also limit toxins in our home...allergenproof bedding, HEPA filter in the bedroom, hard floors with the lowest formadehyde emissions possible (laminate), etc. This has taken a lot of time and we couldn't do it all at once. Oh yeah, and only use baking soda/vinegar/essential oils to clean, and only cloth napkins and towels/rags to clean. This whole process took about three years to get to where we are now.

We do recycle and try to limit what we bring new into our home.

My husband just went out yesterday and bought Cheetos, hot dogs and buns, wild cherry Pepsi, and oh yeah, got Dunkin Donuts for breakfast.

Now, that is completely untypical, but there ya go. He "just wants to be normal for a day."

What am I supposed to do? He goes on these junk food binges every once in a while. To his credit, he made yummy Spanish rice and turkey and bean chili for dinner.

More ways we are not crunchy - we use white rice for said Spanish rice, my husband does occasionally buy potato chips, beer, or other packaged foods. I send my kids to school with fruit snacks in their lunch.

If we are out and it's a special occasion, they can drink soda. <gasp!> I drive an SUV....but a very small car-based one that gets *way* better mileage than my minivan did. I drive 30-60 miles a day to take them to their school (the best place around for autism education for my son). We have some plastic kitchen stuff left, mostly lunch containers for school. I don't compost (yet, we are trying to start this and a garden this year). We just threw out a huge pile of plastic crap that we had bought not that long ago and I feel horribly guilty about it.

My kids watch TV, they have seen Spongebob, love the Simpsons, and my dd has even spent a few afternoons in front of Cartoon Network.

Oh and right now my kids are in school, and when I'm not working, it definitely makes the house cleaner. For me the two incompatible things are homeschooling and clean house.

Clean to my standards, anyway.

So, no, I definitely don't "do it all." I just try...I see it as constantly evolving. I actually think yesterday's "binge" was because I got all worked up over what we *weren't* doing right (eating too much sugar, watching too much TV) and put my foot down, hard, and dh rebelled. So I have to go at my family's pace, too...it's hard not to have control over everything, but I'm trying.

MotherMoon · 03-14-2005, 10:51 AM

For me, it is about making the choices that are best for us at the time. With that in mind, I focus more on food than most anything else, I think. Well, health in general. Like Lauren, we have some genetic issues that cause health problems. So, I focus on those. But, I also try to make purchases, not so much with company ethics in mind but with quality and imagination in mind (for the girls' toys). But, I do not stress about the time I spend "wasted" money on cheap junk, if it is rarely. I spent money at the Dollar Tree yesterday on "junk" stuff for Beth's class Easter egg hunt. I wish I could have done things more natural but money would not allow it. But, I did NOT do candy, which makes me feel good. (Beth decided she wanted rubber snakes and lizards in the eggs, not stickers. My mom is horrified.)

I am rambling. First off, my choices are made with my family well-being in mind. Then that of Mother Nature, including her children in sweat shops around the world.

branwyn · 03-14-2005, 11:14 AM

i do not think of myself as crunchy, in any way, but i found yours an interesting post

we focus on health - meaning physical wellbeing as well as spiritual (we are of the mindset that if we are spiritually lacking then it will show physically). being a homeopath and being the alternative medicine community i have learned there are no absolutes. allopathic medicine has its time and place. we draw from everything - chiropractic care, homeopathic remedies, herbals, allopathics, meditation, bloodletting, etc.
we have been severely lacking in the healthy diet area for the last 6 months (with my being ill and andy losing his job - quite frankly its just easier to afford and make homemade mac and cheese lol). i hope, after my recovery that i will be able to get on my feet and back to whole grains, shooting our own meat, etc.

we do not recycle, in GA you pay extra for recycling but it is taken and dumped with the rest of the garbage - so we focus on trying not to buy too many throwaways.

um, lets see - we are very happy unschooling - though it has taken everything i have to explain to my parents (dyed in the wool traditional homeschoolers) that the children will be okay without sitting them down at the table every day.

we got rid of our tv 2 years ago and 6 months later i told andy we needed it back; with my OCD i need the veg time or the ocd gets to a point where i cant control it myself. i LOVE tv - i love discovery channels but then i love fluff shows like "buffy", "angel" and "charmed".

we do cloth diapers most of the time (when my mom is here she does disposies - and i am not going to argue, my mom has put everything aside to live with me and take care of my children while i cannot. im not going to pitch a fit bc disposies are easier for her).

um.. i have never had a natural labor, not even close - all my children were csections and i am using surgery to help rid my body of cancer. as i said above, i believe in using all methods that are available.

in short, my opinion is what is best for our family, is what we do. part of my wishes i could be super granola, but thats not me. i love technology (computers, cars, tv, central heat and air, ipods, etc, etc. ) and living in the wilderness without those is not for me. not using cleaner methods, thats cool. but giving them up completely? nope.

Roses · 03-14-2005, 02:16 PM

The area we focus on the most changes, but mostly we focus on all areas a bit! We do cloth diapers, cloth wipes (for baby & me), cloth pads/diva cup whenever af comes back, cloth napkins/dish towels (no paper products other than tp for dh & older ds). And we try to use more homeopathic remedies than conventional when we're sick. Don't use plastic for food or water. Clean with only vinegar/baking soda/dr. bronners. Use natural/organic hair/body products mostly. We recycle as much as we can right now. We are unschooling (eclectic?) the boys.

Areas we want to improve on though, are what I'm focusing on (reading about/researching!)..gardening, composting, further recycling. I've gotten the hang of eating better/less packaged food, so I'm not needing to "focus" so much there, it's natural now. It's been a few years process to get here, but I'm happy with where we are now!

chinacat · 03-14-2005, 05:09 PM

i think our biggest focus would be foods/health care. We try to buy organic some weeks we can only buy certain things organic....always dairy, fruit and veggies organic. I try to cook from scratch as much as possible and bake our own breads. Food is a big one for me personally, my kids eat so much that i feel i should keep it as pure and toxin free as i can...even if that means avoiding the phone bill one month..lol

as for health care, i steer clear of allopathic medicine unless absolutly nessecary and treat my family with herbs .
We don't use any toxic cleaning products only vinegar water and baking soda, all of our bathing products are also all natural. We have many bars of natural soaps that we use for hair body..i rarely buy shampoo...

The city i live in has a really good garbage/recycling program. We have 3 different bags one for compost one for recycling and one for the dump. The dump one gets picked up every other week. If you don't sort your bags properly they don't take it.

I try really hard to buy canadian made/grown when possible, even if it costs alittle more...

We do what we can , some things can use some work like our beast of a van my husband drives to work 3 days a week. We live right dowtown so i walk everywhere or take the bus. But honestly i would drive more if i had a licence!! lol

Julia

choleblack · 03-14-2005, 08:31 PM

I think that for some times it's easier for me because I was raised doing some very crunchy things by my environmentalist mom. So things like natural childbirth & recycling/reusing and avoiding most brand names come very easily. Also I have the advantage of being an educator so DD's learning comes easier (though not 100% easy!)

Other than that I "focus" my crunch on adding more crunch when I can. For example, this will be the first year that I am participating in a CSA. I'm so excited too. Before now I just wasn't able to do as much organic and local foods as possible. We now live in an area with a farmers market, near other farms & in an area served by 2 CSA's. So food was my most recent new addition.

In the past I added focusing on alternative medicines. I spent some time going to a homeopath & ayurdevedic nutritionist and learning/ reading/ practicing with EO's. I now feel much more comfortable with them & don't have to think hard about every health decision like I did at first.

My next goal is to limit transportation & use as much alternative transport as I can. It's not easy in a cold winter climate but come summer I expect to leave my car in the garage & plan to set goals for how long I can go between uses. Again, this was less doable in the previous city but now I live where there is public transportation & within walking & biking distance of everything I need regularly.

So as I said, in a long winded way. Taking baby steps is my "focus". I figure in 20 years I'll be super crunchy.

Chole

naturesmom · 03-14-2005, 11:46 PM

Right now my big guilt trip is over not using cloth tp, My dh and kids put thier foot down on that one. They all said "no way."

I try to focus my crunch in all areas of life but end up feeling guilty over the things I want to do but can't kwim??

flamboozle · 03-15-2005, 12:34 AM

For my family being crunchy is primarily played out in our diet. We avoid sugar, chemicals, dyes and anything else fake or artificial in our food. Most of what we eat at meals i make myself. DH is allergic to wheat and DS #1 allergic to dairy, so that cuts out most of that. We try to eat 70% raw which besides being much healthier saves me a lot of time and energy. I try to buy as much organic as i can afford but some items are just too expensive - there is some produce that I won't touch if it is not organic. I feel this helps keep us healthier and happier so I don't find a need for herbs or medications too often.

i am a big believer in natural homebirth, although with a "lifeguard" present because things can happen.

Almost all our cleaners are natural as well as body care products.

I would like to do more care for the environment crunchy things but I feel I have to focus I my families health and well-being first. I am not sure how i could incorporate composting, or recycling. I am trying to CD but I have a tendency to fall behind in my laundry which is not a good combination.

I look at all this stuff as a journey and try not to get too stressed when I find I have strayed or have taken the wrong one. At the same time i feel that holistic medicine is not adequate when it comes to emergency care or certain conditions. I find that rarely are decisions in like so clear cut and simple as to what is the best decision to make and even when it is simple there are usually complicating matters.