My momma was a hippie

Image via Farmhouse Delivery blog.

Welcome to the March Carnival of Natural Parenting: Vintage green!

This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama. This month we're writing about being green — both how green we were when we were young and how green our kids are today. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.

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I always knew my mom was a hippie. She had long hair, didn't wear makeup, had Birkenstocks before I knew they were cool, and wore cut-offs like they were going out of style. But she was also an Earth Momma.

She used cloth diapers when disposables were all the rage.

She breastfed me when formula was pitched to mothers like it was oxygen.

She recycled old clothes by doctoring them with ruffles and lace to make them "girly" or to make them current.

And she taught me that the earth was the most precious gift we have and to enjoy it is to honor it.

We went hiking, camping, and exploring almost every chance we got. A favorite story of my mother's is the day she and my dad discovered I was NOT allergic to poison ivy. At 18 months on a camping trip I had toddled my way into an enormous patch of it and plopped down to play with the leaves with nary an itch to be found on my body.

Kids are so naturally drawn to the outdoors that I think it's such a shame when they prefer being indoors, their gazes locked on the television or video game in their hands. I'm all about reading, crafty-things, cooking, etc., all things accomplished indoors, but I think it must be balanced with the abandon that only a great blue sky can lend to the imagination and the body.

In my daily routine with Hollis we leave the house at least once a day. We play in parks, we go for walks around the block, we explore the easement and meadow behind our house. He doesn't care if it's raining or a thousand degrees outside (only Mama does) and his pleasure in and painstaking attention to sticks, rocks, and leaves is mind-boggling. It's precious.

Beyond that, I'm also hoping to pass on a sensitivity for our earth through my behaviors such as recycling, breastfeeding, buying organic and sustainable foods, as well as humanely treated food animals. Most recently I signed up for an organic food delivery run by Farmhouse Delivery here in Austin. I frequent the farmers' market, but can't always make it. This delivery program ensures that I get local food regularly and at a terrific rate.

I want Hollis to always know that there is more than just what he can see with his own eyes. There are ecosystems, animals, and people dependent on his choices in life. What does buying a Hummer say to the world versus a Civic? What does buying those tomatoes from Peru say versus buying them from the farm down the street?

There's a lifetime of education ahead of him, but I am most definitely up for the challenge.

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Visit Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Carnival of Natural Parenting!

Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:

• My Momma Was a Hippie — Jessica at This is Worthwhile is continuing her Earth Momma mother’s way of honoring nature by taking her child outside every day. (@tisworthwhile)
• Mom Did Know Best, About Diapers at Least — Guavalicious at They Are So Cute When They Are Sleeping has a dirty secret about cloth diapers: They’re easy. (@guavalicious)
• The Force that Drives the Water Through the Rocks — Shana at Tales of Minor Interest remembers her first spiritual connection with nature, granted to her through her father’s care for the spirits of the earth.
• Confessions of a Cabbage Patch Kid — Joni Rae at Tales of a Kitchen Witch Momma learned about landfills and recycling through gardening. (@kitchenwitch)
• Seeing My Grandmother Through Green Colored Lenses — Michelle at Seeking Mother was raised by a grandmother who wouldn’t let anyone throw out used clothing — ever — and who believed baths were water enough for two or more people at least. (@seekingmother)
• Through Green Tinted Glasses — Thomasin at Propson Palingenesis realized her family didn’t so much choose green as it chose them, since not being green would have cost a lot more.
• Green or Die! — NavelgazingBajan at Navelgazing remembers berating her family for not turning off the faucets — and notes that her efforts to save the planet for another 20 years must have worked.
• Natural Parenting Carnival: Green Living — Sarah at Natural Parenting is doing more to make her children’s generation green than what she had as a child.
• Natural Parenting Carnival: Vintage Green — pchanner at A Mom’s Fresh Start used to fill her own water bottles from a spring — before doing so was cool. (@pchanner)
• Getting Dirty — Molly at Molly’s Place is inspired by her mother’s camaraderie with nature. She’s going to get back in touch with the real food cycle, as opposed to the “shrink-wrapped nutrition” you can buy. (@KPMolly)
• My Vintage Green Raincoat — Mama at Maman A Droit is wearing her brother’s bright green raincoat — 16 years later! (@MamanADroit)
• Vintage Green — Darcel at Mahogany Way hasn’t realized it yet, but she is slowly turning into her parents. (@MahoganyWayMama)

• Vintage Green — mrs green at littlegreenblog reminds us that children can be green simply by being kids. (@myzerowaste)
• March Carnival of Natural Parenting: Vintage Green — Lauren at Hobo Mama was eco-chic before it was en vogue. (@Hobo_Mama)
• Growing Up Green — Chrystal at Happy Mothering honed her green instinct from an early age. (@HappyMothering)
• greener pastures — The Grumbles at Grumbles and Grunts has a list of ways she’s transitioning from green living as a novelty to green living as a lifestyle. (@thegrumbles)
• Vintage Green: The Hot Water Tank Is Not Sexy — Zoey at Good Goog had to go green when moss started growing around her feet. (@zoeyspeak)
• We Walked Softly — Starr at Earth Mama wrote a beautiful post about how her parents instilled a love of and respect for Earth and nature in her, and how she is passing that gift on to her own children.
• Save the Mermaids! — CurlyMonkey is learning from her daughter how to keep the mermaids happy. (@curlymonkey_)
• March Carnival of Natural Parenting: Vintage Green — Dionna at Code Name: Mama sees glimpses of her mother’s greenness frugality in her own life – but she draws the line at pantyhose soap. (@CodeNameMama)
• I Thought I Made Them Green, But Really They Made Me — Melodie at Breastfeeding Moms Unite! thought she made her parents green — until she took a closer look. (@bfmom)
• A Culture of Less — Alison at BluebirdMama explained why homebirth is the green childbirth choice. I love this thought! (@childbearing)
• 5 Ways to Embarrass Your Children While Going Green — Acacia at Be Present Mama shares some of the embarrassing things her parents did to her in the name of being eco-conscious.
• Ending Is Better than Mending? — Paige at Baby Dust Diaries is teaching us how to darn socks armed only with a light bulb. (@babydust)
• There and Back Again: A Green Girl’s Tale — Lactating Girl offers a gentle reminder that certain eco-conscious practices shouldn’t be “ideals,” but realities. (@LactatingGirl)