Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Hip(py) enough?

I tried to join the local Natural Families yahoo group/email list (membership is pending “approval”) and all I could think about was Stacie’s post about proving your credentials. I had to submit an introduction to the moderator, and I couldn’t tell for sure but felt like what I needed to do was prove that I was AP/granola/crunchy/alterna enough to join the group. I mentioned our cloth diapering, cosleeping, and breastfeeding, because I felt like I should, but really, those things have very little to do with our parenting philosophy. The CDing is a cost and environment thing, mostly. We’re currently cosleeping out of convenience (we started on a trip - the kids didn’t much like the hotel cribs so both eventually ended up in bed with us and it was pretty cozy - and they’ve been sick so we’ve just found it easier) and while I haven’t tried to stop BFing, neither have I tried to continue. Mostly it’s just laziness - the kids like it so much that I can’t see what it would take to stop right now. Point being, it all feels pretty circumstantial. And yet, I felt like I had to trot out my AP credentials to get in the door. What I’m hoping to get out of the group, besides the possibility of meeting other families, are things like recommendations for local services (a homeopath, maybe?) -- which seems more intentional than the others, but wasn’t what I felt I was supposed to say.

5 comments:

  1. Pending approval, eh? Interesting--wonder if it's more an admin thing or a true "vetting" of your natural credentials.

    I hope things go well with your application--this whole world of name-brand parenthood is so odd to me. I remember being put off by a message board for AP parents (which, like you, I guess I kinda am), which claimed that the group was for parents who didn't "take the easy way out." (By that point I was so sleep deprived, I would have paid good money for the easy way out!)

    In any event, any group who didn't let you join would be missing out, big-time.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow. They'd ride me out of town on a rail. I'm sure they just want to make sure that the group is composed of like-minded people (ie: no trolls), but still, I don't like the feeling of impending judgement any more than anyone else.

    ReplyDelete
  3. If Suz would be ridden out of town on a rail, I'm pretty sure I'd be burned at the stake! But I think your many months of cloth diapering ought to earn you access to a network of people who can recommend good services, right?

    And as someone who's currently preparing for pre-kindergarten "interviews," I can hardly scoff at impending judgement!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I had to do a similar thing to join our local natural parenting board. Since my credentials are pretty limited - I cloth diaper about 50% of the time and breastfeed - you'd think I wouldn't be crunchy enough but apparently I qualified.

    And, to Jen's comment, I want to know what the easy way out is and how do I take it?

    ReplyDelete
  5. It seems to me that someone who has made an effort to be natural/green in the past and wants to do better in the future would be perfect for that type of group. They'd be dumb not to take you! I'm sure they will, though.

    ReplyDelete