Welcome to SortaCrunchy! If you are curious about the name of this blog, you aren't the only one! Allow me to share with you the story behind the name, as well as the vision I have for my home here at SortaCrunchy.
(Much of what I am going to share comes from two posts - SortaWhat? and SortaWhat? Part Two.)
Why on earth would someone name her blog SortaCrunchy?
When I first started this blog, I had chosen "sortacrunchy" as my screenname on a private mommy board on which I am very active. I didn't take too much time back then to explain why I had chosen that name because all of my friends on that message board know that I really am pretty much a sort of crunchy kind of mama. So they know me, but I have been sort of lackadaisical in taking the time to share with any other readers who have clicked over here what makes me a sortacrunchy kind of lady.
Here's an excerpt from one of my very first posts that shares a snippet of background:
In this blog, I am hoping to be able to share some information on natural parenting practices that I have taken up in the past 18 months. Some of the NP stuff I am into include cloth diapering, babywearing, and extended breastfeeding. I hope to also share information on circumcision, vaccinations, homeschooling (and unschooling) and other topics relevant to NP.
So, what makes me "sorta" crunchy?
Natural Family Living Philosophies/Beliefs I practice:
* child-led weaning
I used to say "extended breastfeeding," but I have taken a step away from that term for now. Breastfeeding advocacy is very important to me, but at the same time, I want to emphasize that I believe in a mutual weaning process. I have friends online and in my community whose babies simply would have nothing more to do with the breast after nine months or six months or some age earlier than a year old. In these cases, the breastfeeding mother would have loved to have practiced "extended breastfeeding" (general term for breastfeeding past a year), but saw the need to balance her desire to breastfeed with her desire to respect and follow her baby's desires.
D self-weaned at just past two years. AJ and I are still going strong!
I found that Kellymom was a great place to start in researching common questions and concerns regarding breastfeeding past infancy.
* cloth diapering
I have a ton of posts about cloth diapering which you could easily access through my categories. When it comes down to it, I love cloth diapering because I think it is best for the environment, best for baby's skin, and definitely best in overall cuteness. :)
* babywearing
Although that particular label may be new to some, the art of wearing a baby is as old as time. You've no doubt seen mainstream versions of babywearing in the form of Baby Bjorn and New Native carriers, but those carriers are just the very tippy-top of the babywearing iceberg.
I had toyed with idea of buying a carrier before D was born; I had no idea the high-needs baby about to be delivered to me would make it a necessity rather than luxury to have some kind of device by which to keep her on me for the majority of the day. I have worn D in ring slings, pouch slings, Mei Teis (Asian Baby Carriers), and my personal favorite for toddlerhood - the Ergo. These days, AJ pretty much lives in the Ergo - shopping trips, fussy times, getting ready for napping. I don't know how I would have managed two wee ones without the art of babywearing!
TheBabywearer.Com offers a vast array of babywearing information. These articles say it all much better than I ever could!
* emphasis on whole foods (organic when possible)
I try to make the healthiest cooking and eating choices available to me and my family. Last summer, The Coach and I went vegetarian for a while and really enjoyed the change. D is a born vegetarian (seriously, the only meat the child will eat is turkey lunch meat and corn dogs from Sonic *blush*). We love to shop the local farmer's market and are thankful we don't live near enough to a Whole Foods Market to shop there because we manage to spend astronomical amounts of money on each visit to that holy mecca.
* shared sleep (co-sleeping)
We never intended to be co-sleepers, but again, it was one of those things that just sort of happened. Both D and AJ spent the better part of early infancy in our beds. We moved D to the crib part-time at six months and she didn't become a full-time crib sleeper until she was about eighteen months old. AJ is in our bed only part-time now, too.
The Sears site has some great information (including VERY important safety tips) on co-sleeping.
* mama cloth
I use it. Read more here and here.
* Natural Family Planning
I practice it (based on Toni Weschler's Taking Charge of Your Fertility).
* Attachment Parenting
One need not practice natural family living in order to practice Attachment Parenting, but by and large, the same parents who are drawn to natural living also find they connect with the Attachment Parenting philosophy. I will not try to reinvent the wheel here on what AP is. A great deal of information is available at askdrsears.com including What Attachment Parenting Is and What It Is Not. Some time ago, I also shared how it came to be that Attachment Parenting chose me.
Natural Family Living Philosophies/Beliefs I Do Not Practice (or Why I Am Not One Hundred Percent Crunchy)
At this point in time, we believe we are led to send our children to public schools. There are many in the natural family living community who choose to homeschool for a variety of reasons. The Coach and I feel a special call to have our children in public schools, but we are open to whatever God leads us to do at any given time for any of our children.
Also at this time, if we are blessed with a son, we will choose to have him circumcised. This is very unusual in the natural family living community as a whole, but it is an issue about which The Coach holds strong feelings and I am at peace in following his leadership in this area.
D has been vaccinated on schedule. You will find many families who practice natural living choose not to vaccinate their children. After much discussion and thoughtful consideration, we feel vaccinating is a good choice for us at this time. We have chosen a selective/delayed vaccination schedule for AJ.
Both of my daughters are Cesarean births. D's c-birth was medically necessary; AJ's was a scheduled repeat. As much as I fully support and strongly believe in the beauty and power of a natural vaginal delivery, there are factors that complicate and muddy my situation that have turned what could be a black-and-white issue into a big gray area for me.
So there ya have it! The "why on earth" behind SortaCrunchy!
Vision for the future of SortaCrunchy
For the first eighteen months of this blog, I didn't include many thoughts that are reflective of my spiritual beliefs. This began to feel unnatural and unauthentic to me because my faith in Christ is so pivotal to why I live the way I do. The simplest way I can think to state my vision for SortaCrunchy is that I would like for it to represent the intersection between Christian living/parenting and natural family living. Thank you for joining me on this journey. Ya'll are welcome back anytime!
(Last update - April 7, 2008)
