How Crunchy Are You?

Today I learned what “crunchy” means when applied to motherhood, as well as other applications. It’s not the result of battering chicken in flour or fish in cracker crumbs, and it’s not an alteration in the form of crunk dancing. Crunchy apparently refers to crunchy granola, and translates to a hippie-like parent (usually a mother) or person who lives an eco-friendly, earthy lifestyle, partakes in attachment parenting, and would likely be found in a yoga class or homeschooling children in a large farmhouse or planting and reaping an organic garden rather than, say, talking on her cell phone on the way to a nine-to-five job, dropping off her child at daycare.

You can obviously tell that I have a lot of respect for so-called crunchy parents, for the most part, and it’s not just because I am (largely) one. I think they counter every bit of corporate control and traditional roles that the government imposes upon us from day one, and they do it with every aspect of their lives—from what they clean and cook with, to how they educate their children, to what they do for a living, to what they drive and more. These are the people, I think, who are really changing the world, and though many of them get a rap for being conservative time travelers from the fifties, the reality is that many are simply progressive individuals who are tired of environmental destruction, chemical addiction, and general corporate control. While I have found that some of them may go too far, especially when it comes to judging others, most “crunchy” people that I know are well-read people who simply research everything before blindly accepting anything as a universal truth.

I would say that I’m about 70 percent crunchy. I work from home to unschool my daughter, I have used attachment parenting since birth, buy organic and local when I can (and grow some foods, though I’m not very good at it yet), and I resist and often boycott many corporations and government actions when and if I can. That said, I’m not the greatest cook, I still watch television, and if I tried to do yoga right now I’d probably throw my back out. How crunchy would you rate yourself?

All of this said, I can’t help but laugh at the jokes about crunchy moms as well. Have you, for example, seen any of the S*** Crunchy Moms Say videos? There’s also a crunchy moms meme featuring Ryan Gosling’s popular “Hey Girl” photos, which cracks me up. I think having a sense of humor about who you are is a part of any positive lifestyle, crunchy or otherwise.