What Is "Crunchy" and Why?

Ten years ago I found out I was pregnant.  As I scoured the internet for information about childbearing, childrearing, and the like I came across a website that sucked me in and changed my life in many ways.  I've always been a naturally-minded person, but suddenly there was this whole new world of organic, chemical free, and natural living opened up to me.

I ate it by the spoonful, licked the bowl clean, and begged for more.

Looking back now, I do realize that I took it to quite the extreme as I'm wont to do when I find a new shiny, but over the past ten years I've evolved into a rather moderate person with a motto that follows the everything in moderation mindset.

Still, I strive to be healthy, happy, and wholesome in the ways that I can.  I understand now that I will never be perfect and I will never be able to live that dream lifestyle of a gentle mother rearing her children in flower covered meadows viewing the broad vistas of a mountain range.  I yell.  I scream.  I've even spanked my kids in my lowest moments.  But I make the best of what I have and I do the best I can, which is all that people can do in this life.  I do, however, try to always do better the next time and when I do, I rejoice.  When I don't, well...I try not to beat myself up too badly.

After years of practically killing myself to be the perfect attachment parenting mother, the perfect housewife, and the perfect...well...perfection, I guess, I've learned to temper myself with doses of reality and I admit that I feel much happier most of the time.

I am now a single mother working a full time job and a part time job while attending online classes to just Get An Education!!! so I can Get Ahead.  It's exhausting and draining, but I try to keep life fun for the kids and for myself as well.  It's certainly a juggling act to balance jobs/kids/home/social life all at once, and sadly I do let some things go from time to time, but it's always a work in progress that I must focus on at all times.

I'll be posting many things that I do in my day-to-day life.  I don't want this blog to be an emotional brain dump for me, I want it to be fun and to showcase the fun things we do in our home, but I also don't want to promote this illusion of a perfect mom and perfect family.  Finding balance there will be hard, I'm sure.  I look forward to starting this up and keeping it going.