The parenting buffet.

My idea in starting this blog was to talk about my crunchy take on parenting. See how well that's worked out for me, don't ya? As with most things in my life, my desire to laugh (yes, I laugh at my own posts) and my ADD took me down a different path, but today I am going to talk about the crunchy me.

So. Me. Babies. Crunchy. Yeah. Well, first let's tackle where I fall on the crunchy scale. My overriding parenting theme is to parent my children with love and respect them as individuals. Here are some of the things I believe in and choose for my family:

I believe in the benefits of intervention-free childbirth and strongly support midwives & doulas. Monkey's delivery was rough (a**hole OB, unnecessary pitocin use, pushed into an epidural [excuse the bad pun], blood pressure issues and episiotomy), so I said "Eff that jazz, I am doing this crunchy mom style!" on the next go around. A ton of research, one midwife, two doulas and an acapella version of the Sesame Street theme later, I had a BabyBug and birth that I remember fondly. And since everyone asks, yes, it freakin hurt but, I would do it again! 

I am a breastfeeding mom. I've spent the last three years doing a really good impression of Elsie, the dairy cow. I've even been known to go on TV and make witty signs in support of breastfeeding. Boobies are serious business to this momma! I've experienced just about every sort of breastfeeding (extended, nursing while pregnant, tandem nursing) and though I always sometimes cry when I take my bra off, it is all worthwhile. Now if I could just find an plastic surgeon that takes liquid gold as a payment for a breast lift!

I am a co-sleeping mom. I co-slept with both Monkey & Bug from the beginning, mostly for the ease of popping a boob out breastfeeding. They have both transitioned into their own beds, but still wander into our bed to kick me in the kidneys & torment my sleep-deprived patience on a regular basis.

I am a baby-wearing mom. Baby K'Tan, Ergo (x2), Lucky Baby Sling and a Ring Sling have all been a part of our family. It is common knowledge that the Ergo is my favorite, but I still love on my other carriers from time to time to avoid a baby-wearing coup.

There are a variety of other crunchy ideas that I attempt to employ into my parenting style, but I do choose to dissent from other crunchies on one topic. I am pro-vax. (I'm not even going to defend the why, because this is my blog & that is an entirely separate post.) 

The reason I mention that is because this is where I feel a lot of moms, crunchy or smooth, go wrong. Somehow parenting philosophies have become the new religion, with all the accompanying pressure, closed-mindedness & judgement. That, in my humble opinion, is the completely wrong approach. 

Your parenting style should be completely unique to you and your children. Finding the right parenting style should be like visiting a buffet! Pick out your main dish, the items you know are important to you, like leading by example or parenting with love. Then pick out your side dishes, the habits or choices that will affect your children, but won't be a permanent part of your life, like breastfeeding or sleep training. Then sample a few things that you haven't tried but look appetizing, like organic cooking. The great thing about this buffet is it is "all you can eat" and you can change your plate as many times as you want. Get a big helping of "working mom" only to discover you hate it? No problem. Scrape that bad boy into the trash and go browse the buffet for a better choice! Feel free to browse other moms plate for anything amazing you might be missing, but please don't berate others because you don't like what they picked up at the buffet. Isn't there a strict "no judgement" policy at all buffets, so why should the parenting buffet be any different?