Do people roll their eyes at you too?

muksak

I have always wanted to have the most natural hippy parenting style with my children.

I am pregnant with my first born and I plan to be as natural as possible. Cloth wipes, eco-friendly diapers etc., natural products.

I even asked to not have a baby shower - one because I don't like that kind of attention and two because I already am getting things I did not ask for. 

Almost every person that asks about it and I say that I plan to be as natural and crunchy as possible just laugh at me or roll their eyes. 

Do people do that to you too? It gets kind of annoying and makes me feel like because this is my first that I am being stupid. 

zaraceligon

Yes,specially it you cloth diaper your LO,they will made a lot of negative comments about that. But on the other hand. I don't let it bother me, not matter how crazy they thing I am.i just see it on the opposite way and it may me feel good to be different than what they are.so be ready for people to judged you when you tell them about cloth diapers.

pammeelala

Oh yeah.  A ton.  I was even told that I would not last a month doing CDs.  More than 2 years later, we still only use sposies when traveling.  I use natural products for the kids and myself.  I clean with vinegar and try to keep my home as crunchy as possible.  There is judging but it's my life, my family my choice.  I do try to educate people whenever they will listen, so when I start getting the judging comments, I explain why we _____.  Some people are receptive, others, well, not so much

bennikki

Oh yeah I get the eye rolls.  As others stated, I really got them with the CDs and wipes, but now that we've been using them for nearly 7 months, the only comments I get are, "OMG, his butt is so cute in those."  Most don't question my natural cleaners because once I tell them how cheap it is, how I don't have to worry about spraying them around DS or the dog, and the fact that DH is a cancer survivor, most shut their mouths.  My come back is usually, "yeah, I'm really cheap, so I make my own __________."

northtamarack

Oh yes, I still get those eye rolls and DS is 2.  I hope that your friends/family become much more respectful to your wishes as time goes on - I still inwardly cringe when the IL's give DS plastic this and that.  Ugh!  They don't get it and never will.

As far as CDing goes, it really took people the opportunity to SEE it in action in order for them to "get it".  It is pretty awesome to hear, "Oh CD's aren't ThaT bad" or "They have changed so much!".

AlexisLA

It depends on where you live and who the people are. I lived in Santa Monica, CA where most people are healthy and up to speed on these things and it's the norm. Now that I live in Michigan a lot of people don't get it. My MIL didn't think we should spend the money on an arsenic removal system when it was found in our water. I just ignore their opinions and do what I know is best for our family.

momSylviaH

Sounds like we have a lot in common (except I'm all for a baby shower!) Anyways... I cannot help but feel like I'm doing something wrong when I tell people I'm "eco-friendly"...I've learned to just accept that people are going to judge whatever you do...but at least we're doing something beneficial unlike them!

lollybrubs

Yes!  The area we live in had black widow spiders and while we (think god!) dont get them in our house we do get them around our front and back door.  Since I am pregnant if I were to get bitten I would not be able to be given the anti venom and my husband is very sweet and if we get home after dark when they come out he goes up to the door first and kills any of them that are in range to bite me.  We were telling my MIL about this and she said we should just bomb the house for spiders!  I said not only am I pregnant but we are about to bring a baby into the house and I cant imagine putting all of those chemicals into our home.  She just gave me this look like I was a dumb as a brick.  

Lucky for me thought she did cloth diaper my husband because he has psoriasis and disposible diapers made his skin break out really bad and we are erring on the side of caution and assuming until we know otherwise that our baby will have it too.  Ironically its my once drop out hippy (supposedly environmentalist) mother who keeps saying that it will be more work than I want to deal with.  She apparently cloth diapered me when I was born but didnt stick with it because of the hassle of cleaning the diapers.  My parents did live without electricity or running water and so would go to my grandparents house to wash clothing but I think it is ironic to compare that to my MIL who was a poor teen mom who would hand wash the diapers in the bathtub every night.  Oh well.

I do anticipate trying to have our kid be as plastic free as possible being an issue.  My shower is this weekend and I registered for several wood and natural rubber toys hoping that people would take a hint but I anticipate having to exchange alot of stuff.  I decided that instead of making a big deal about the no plastic (the family knows that we dont use plastic in the kitchen and avoid it in other places in the house when we can) so it shouldnt be a surprise to them but that in the long run we will just accept gifts as they are offered and either return what we deem unsafe or sell them at the local consignment store.  We are also talking about only being very strict about no plastic toys when the kid is young enough to still want to put everything in its mouth and after that we may loosen up a little about toys.

MrsW80

I get the eyerolls too.  It's mainly from older relatives that had no problems exposing their kids to chemicals galore.  Their eyes almost always roll out of their head and across the room whenever I explain what I do for a living (I SAH, but I WAH too with a company that manufactures non-chemical cleaners, body/kids products), and they think it's some kind of weirdo scheme.  Gotta do whats best for you!

Meery82

Well, that's a bunch of bullshit. Why would people roll their eyes at that? You're not hurting anyone. You're doing your family and the environment a favor. Jerk-offs. But the spider thing is pretty scary. I'd probably opt to bomb them. @lollybrubs, where do you live? I hope the little bastards are gone now!

SidraJedi

People will roll their eyes at your, laugh in your face and give you negative comments. The best thing to do is try to cultivate a "thick skin", keep and open mind and gently encourage loved ones to keep an open mind too.

alyssa719

I've actually gotten supportive comments (so far), but my mom is/was a total hippie with us, and I'm not as "crunchy" (?) as some.  I

I know people were confused, or didn't believe I make a lot of our stuff because, well, I don't "seem" like the type... but we make our puppy's food and have since she came home, I make household cleaning products, weed killer (using Dawn so not 100% natural but better than roundup), I've made soap and lotion for years, I made my wedding dress.... so I think that we plan on cloth diapering and have planned our garden in order to make baby food next year won't be a *huge* surprise to people who know us well.

trudibell

My MIL has been extremely passive-aggressive about our crunchy leanings.  She has said on multiple occasions that my CDs are a "mistake" a "rip-off" and "disgusting".  She also was extremely upset that we did not start feeding him solids until 6 months and said that my home-made purees were "gross" "digesting" and a "waste of time and money."  At Xmas last week she said to my son, loud enough so I could hear, "I bet you'd rather have a sausage ball than that digesting sweet potato!"

So yeah, eye rolls abound.

Meery82

trudibell said:

My MIL has been extremely passive-aggressive about our crunchy leanings.  She has said on multiple occasions that my CDs are a "mistake" a "rip-off" and "disgusting".  She also was extremely upset that we did not start feeding him solids until 6 months and said that my home-made purees were "gross" "digesting" and a "waste of time and money."  At Xmas last week she said to my son, loud enough so I could hear, "I bet you'd rather have a sausage ball than that digesting sweet potato!"

So yeah, eye rolls abound.

I bet she's a healthy gal. What an asswipe.

Blackvelvet

I get the eye rolls even from my own mother.  She thinks aliens replaced me with a clone that is a bit off.  I have tried to educate people and even convinced a few to use cloth diapers on their kids.  It's harder not being normal but I think it's better.

schnookee

All the time and I'm not even as crunchy as you. I can't even tell you the hell I caught about breast feeding my first. It was ridiculous! Sometimes I find myself avoiding telling people things or kind of dumbing things down in conversation that I am very knowledgeable about (like toxic products, etc) just to avoid hearing the comments. It's actually something I've deciding I need to stop doing because I think it's bothering me more than hearing the comments would. One of the best comments I got was one time my daughter was sick and my stepmother said maybe its because you use all that crazy stuff to clean with and it's not cleaning well. Yeah because bleach and pine sol are "normal" cleaning products that will keep you nice and healthy.

J&NL

Yes. My husband was just watching something on TV and the lady asked "do these chickens come from an organic free range farm?" and his eyes darted straight to me. Lol I don't care though. My body, my health, my life. If people want to judge then let them.