This blog is a joint project by my husband and myself. We wanted a way to record our progress with our various projects around the home, and this seemed like a fun way to do it. We might even help a few like-minded individuals along the way.
I am The Missus, a 30-year-old wife to the greatest man on earth (sorry, ladies, he's All Mine!), mother to 4 children 10 years old down to 9 months. We are members of the LDS church, and I homeschool my children.
In recent years, I've found myself being drawn to living just a little bit differently from the average mainstream American. In part, I feel that I am getting back to my roots. After all, I was raised in a family of 9 children, and my mother breastfed, co-slept, wore her babies, grew and preserved a large percentage of her own produce, and cooked most foods from scratch. I more or less thought that this was normal until around high school. Well, I really didn't make too many decisions about how I was going to raise my family myself until after I married my wonderful husband, and it seemed like we were fairly happy sticking to the mainstream way of doing things. My oldest son was mostly bottlefed, wore disposable diapers, ate commercial baby food, and wore clothes from Wal-mart. My second pregnancy came, and things seemed fine until my labor had several medical interventions escalating into an unexpected c-section. That surgery was a horrible experience for me, and one that left me with a driving need to find some answers. And after the first few months had passed, we realized that we would have to do something to address my son's continuing skin issues. I began to research environmental toxins in the home, switched laundry detergents, shampoos, and soaps, and tried numerous lotions and skin treatments. I found that the most effective solutions were often the ones with little or no chemicals.
My third pregnancy was a time when these influences began to take shape in my life in a more obvious way. With the encouragement of a friend, I decided to pursue a natural birth (unmedicated VBAC) rather than have another c-section. As I was researching birth information, I began to come across other ways of doing things that I hadn't thought about before. Before my husband knew what was happening, I was practicing self-hypnosis, buying cloth diapers, and sewing baby carriers. The act of seeking a more natural way of doing things really resonated with me.
As I continue to learn new information, I try to incorporate new ways of doing things for my family. I try to keep things in perspective and understand that there is no one "perfect" way of living. We have only a finite amount of time and resources at our disposal, and I try to make the best choice for our family's current needs -- considering price, health, sustainability, and time. And, I will admit, sometimes I just choose something because it sounds like fun.
This year, my husband and I intend to expand our gardening efforts and we hope to become just a little bit more self-sufficient. We've had some small successes in the past, but we feel that we really want to take things to the next level. I would also like to share some of the tips and tricks that I've learned over the last few years, and perhaps help someone else out in learning about these things.
I think that's about it for now. I promise, my next post will be much more exciting. Here's hoping for a rich harvest and a prosperous year. 'Bye!
No comments:
Post a Comment