Crunchy Kids : Jessica’s Story

In The Book of Choice: Why More Is Less by Barry Schwartz, he postulates that the overabundance of choices in this day and age actually leads to more unhappiness with the decisions we finally do make.

Parenting styles are no different. It’s difficult enough to make up your mind about your own choices, let alone pass those choices and decisions on to your children.

Jessica, of Adventures with Three Girls, however, has made one very important choice. She wants to raise her three beautiful girls crunchily.

Wanna know why? Read on!

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I was so excited when Leslie asked me to guest post!   She is my biggest bloggy crush and I kind of stalk her virtually.   Being invited into her home is a dream for me.  So thanks Leslie!  I’ll try to behave myself and not steal anything to keep as a souvenir.

So, a little introduction for those who don’t know me.  My name is Jessica and you can usually find me over at Adventures With Three Girls.  As the name suggests, I have three little girls.   They drive me crazy a lot, but they’re also the best.

There are so many things I want them to learn and experience as they grow.  Some of them are big things like compassion, kindness, and love.  Some of them are littler things like cooking, a love of reading, and to never wear leggings.  That went out in the ‘80’s and it should stay out.  Learn from my mistakes.

One of the bigger things I want to teach them is how to be Crunchy Bettys.  For me, being a Crunchy Betty isn’t just about smearing food on my face, it’s about embracing a green lifestyle and finding inner beauty while pursuing a little outer beauty.  There are a number of reasons I want to teach this to my girls.

1. Concern for their health: Everything I’ve read lately talks about the rapidly rising rates of a lot of serious diseases, like cancer, infertility, autism, and ADHD.  Are these increases related to all the chemicals we put on our bodies and ingest in processed foods?  I don’t know for sure, but it seems possible.  If I can prevent my girls from having to deal with any of these diseases by teaching them to use natural, earth friendly products instead of a bunch of chemicals, then I’m going to do that.  Also, if I teach them to eat whole foods instead of highly processed ones, they are less likely to have to deal with weight issues as they get older and all the diseases like Diabetes and high blood pressure that goes along with being overweight.
2. Concern for the Environment: We have really done a number on the Earth.  I believe we can make a difference in repairing the damage if we become conscious of how we consume.  I try hard to make earth friendly choices.  I buy organic and local, I recycle, I compost, I make my own household cleaners, and I buy green products whenever I have the choice.  It’s a lot of work and a big process for me to switch to a more natural lifestyle. But, if I do it now, that’s what my girls will learn and will do naturally as adults, without having to think about it.   Then, they’ll raise their kids to do it in turn.  Raising crunchy kids is probably the single biggest thing I can do to make a positive change for the environment.
3. Concern for their body image:  I want to raise girls who become self-confident women with healthy relationships with their bodies.  Every woman is beautiful.  But beauty is not only what we see on the outside, it comes from the inside, in how we present ourselves to the world.  The most beautiful women are those with a strong sense of self-respect.   It shines through in everything they do and it shows on the outside.    If my girls grow up treating their bodies well by not putting harmful chemicals in or on it, they learn respect for themselves.  If they make earth friendly choices, they learn respect for the planet.   Respect is a beautiful thing. If I can teach them how to nourish themselves, inside and out, and lead by example, I can raise girls who know they’re beautiful.
4. Concern for my pocketbook:  I won’t pretend money isn’t an issue.  I’m going to have three teenage daughters in twelve years.  I’ll have three girls in college at the same time.  Simple green things are actually a lot less inexpensive.  It saves me money now to make my own green household cleaners and beauty products so I can save more money for the future.  Hopefully, my girls will love making homemade beauty products and not want to buy a bunch of expensive store bought products or go to a lot of spas when they’re older.  That leads me right to my last point.
5. It’s fun: I enjoy putting food on my face, mixing little concoctions in the kitchen, and seeing how my skin looks after.  I love the softness after using honey and the tingle of mango.  I envision my girls and I having fun mother-daughter spa nights and teaching them to put baking soda on their zits.  Maybe they’ll even have sleepovers where they teach their friends. It’s good, clean fun and I hope to enjoy it with them as they get older.

What are some of the important choices you’re helping your children make?

What do you feel are the most valuable pearls of wisdom to pass down?

In crunchy urchin love!

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