This post has been a long time coming. I see parents all the time wondering what it means to be a crunchy parent, as if to question whether they understand the idea or if they are doing it “right.”. As with all things, there is no right answer, and I’m surely not the mouthpiece for the entire attachment parenting community. That said, since I went and slapped the “Crunchy Parent” name on myself, and people come wandering over to CrunchyParent.com after searching for an answer to “what is a crunchy parent?” I suppose that I should at least offer up a few of my ideas on the subject. Anyway, time to quit stalling and commit to some words….

Where to begin? So many swirling thoughts….ok, I think that crunchy parenting is an approach more so than a result. I believe that crunchy parents are those who parent mindfully and open-mindedly; taking time to stop, gather information via research, discussion, or personal observation and then make an actual decision with respect to their parenting. I think that it is a departure from the more mainstream approach of generally doing whatever society happens to be doing. Now, I gotta backup already….crunchy parents aren’t just sitting on their pouffy philosophical clouds, adjusting their halos and spouting brilliant prose. They don’t have time to think through every choice, and they don’t start out on parenting day one as self-actualized beings, full of wisdom. Crunchy parents are human and flawed, and if they forget that, their children will remind them to be humble. Crunchy parents, like all parents, will have countless opportunities to re-evaluate their circumstances and make new parenting decisions that support their families and their sanity. At times, these choices may be closer to the attachment parenting end of the continuum, and other times they may come with a Happy Meal toy. Life just works that way sometimes.

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