Soggy When Wet?
Crunchy? Soggy when wet? Frugal?
I've been getting some sort of off-handed remarks from people recently about being "crunchy" regarding some of my parenting choices. My MIL included. I know hippies, and I'm not one. I do try to educate myself of different options, but a lot of the decisions I make are because I'm cheap! Seriously.
Cloth diapering-- cheaper. We use a combination of Thirsties covers with prefolds/fitteds and Bum Genius one size all-in-ones. I wash them myself and put them in the dryer or hang them out, depending on my mood. Since it's like 3,241 degrees here during the day in the summer (ok, I exaggerate. It's only 115-120 on average) the diapers dry really quickly outside, so I can save the 'lectric bill budget for the a/c.
Breastfeeding-- free. Well okay, there was the lactation consultant that came to the house twice. Insurance covered 80%, so I paid less than $60. And, I did buy 3 nursing tanktops and 2 bras (Target accidentally doubled my order and let me keep it without charging!). And the pump. But still, that's a lot less than I would have spent on formula. I worked so hard for the first 4-5 weeks to get breastfeeding going, I'm not stopping now that she's one. My new nursing goal is 18 months, although I'd really like to go until closer to two. None of my friends with kids here are nursing. From the 4.5 month old on up. I think that the two who are currently pregnant will nurse their new ones, but neither was when I met them and their youngest was 14 months.
Baby-Led Weaning-- no buying/preparing special baby food. This has been a cost saver and a weight loss tool for me! I have been preparing the same amount of food as before, and feeding LO from my plate. Now that she is eating more, I have increased some quantities when I cook-- I now scramble 3 eggs for us instead of two.
Reusable grocery bags-- not related to parenting, but something I get teased for sometimes. There isn't much of a financial benefit, just points towards a store rebate or 5 cents off/bag. I've only bought one of my bags. I got the rest from store promotions, coupons, and hand-offs from others. I also like that I don't have to worry about the box of frozen waffles tearing a hole in the plastic bag sending the contents across my garage floor.
I don't, or at least try not to, use the microwave. We do nuke the sponge every other day or so for 2 minutes to make the sponge smell go away, but that's about it. I don't like what it does to the taste and texture of food, and have adapted just about everything to the toaster oven or saucepan. In our last house, our microwave was broken for over 2 years, and we only replaced it because we were renting the place out! It drove our parents nuts, which was honestly part of the fun.
I'm sure there's more, but that's all I've got for now.
I've been getting some sort of off-handed remarks from people recently about being "crunchy" regarding some of my parenting choices. My MIL included. I know hippies, and I'm not one. I do try to educate myself of different options, but a lot of the decisions I make are because I'm cheap! Seriously.
Cloth diapering-- cheaper. We use a combination of Thirsties covers with prefolds/fitteds and Bum Genius one size all-in-ones. I wash them myself and put them in the dryer or hang them out, depending on my mood. Since it's like 3,241 degrees here during the day in the summer (ok, I exaggerate. It's only 115-120 on average) the diapers dry really quickly outside, so I can save the 'lectric bill budget for the a/c.
Breastfeeding-- free. Well okay, there was the lactation consultant that came to the house twice. Insurance covered 80%, so I paid less than $60. And, I did buy 3 nursing tanktops and 2 bras (Target accidentally doubled my order and let me keep it without charging!). And the pump. But still, that's a lot less than I would have spent on formula. I worked so hard for the first 4-5 weeks to get breastfeeding going, I'm not stopping now that she's one. My new nursing goal is 18 months, although I'd really like to go until closer to two. None of my friends with kids here are nursing. From the 4.5 month old on up. I think that the two who are currently pregnant will nurse their new ones, but neither was when I met them and their youngest was 14 months.
Baby-Led Weaning-- no buying/preparing special baby food. This has been a cost saver and a weight loss tool for me! I have been preparing the same amount of food as before, and feeding LO from my plate. Now that she is eating more, I have increased some quantities when I cook-- I now scramble 3 eggs for us instead of two.
Reusable grocery bags-- not related to parenting, but something I get teased for sometimes. There isn't much of a financial benefit, just points towards a store rebate or 5 cents off/bag. I've only bought one of my bags. I got the rest from store promotions, coupons, and hand-offs from others. I also like that I don't have to worry about the box of frozen waffles tearing a hole in the plastic bag sending the contents across my garage floor.
I don't, or at least try not to, use the microwave. We do nuke the sponge every other day or so for 2 minutes to make the sponge smell go away, but that's about it. I don't like what it does to the taste and texture of food, and have adapted just about everything to the toaster oven or saucepan. In our last house, our microwave was broken for over 2 years, and we only replaced it because we were renting the place out! It drove our parents nuts, which was honestly part of the fun.
I'm sure there's more, but that's all I've got for now.
Oh I feel you. I am the designated weirdo in both of our families. We cloth diaper, extended BF, don't use the microwave much, etc....It's just common sense and conservative - which they all claim to be! Ha!
ReplyDeleteI do all those things, except not using the microwave (my life is too inconvenient without it). I don't think of myself as hippie... I certainly don't look hippie... I just like to do things for Noah as naturally as possible. It just makes sense to me.
ReplyDeleteSoggy when wet - love it. I think I might have to steal that one.
ReplyDeleteI'll probably be a bit of a crunchy parent myself. BTW out of curiosity, how many cloth diapers did you buy? I've been wanting to get the BumGenius diapers but my mom seems to think at $17 a pop it is "defeating the purpose." Then again she hasn't been a new mom in well over 20 years and her thought of cloth diapers are just a plain cloth that you fold differently depending on baby's size. I'm still so clueless when it comes to this!
ReplyDelete