Seeking Calm with Bottles of Gooey Glitter

I'm still on my quest for balance.  First it was the Zen Garden.  Now, it's the calm-me-jar. 

.........Click here to finish reading this post at my new name, The Grey Seeker. 
http://thegreyseeker.blogspot.com/2012/06/seeking-calm-with-bottles-of-gooey.html

The Grey Seeker - same blog, different name.

Don't Judge Attachment Parenting By its Cover

Something strange is happening.  I seem to be embracing the term “attachment parenting” more ever since the Time cover.  I’ve never liked labels.  Labels by their very definition attempt to make everyone the same.  And everyone is not the same.  So labels, by their very definition, fail every time. 

So I never voluntarily called myself AP.  I never embraced that title.  Heck, I’ve never even read a Dr. Sears book, and probably never will.  But there did come a time, when I wanted to find other people who parented the way I was parenting.  I wanted friends - mom friends - and using the AP label was the best and fastest way to do just that. 

.........Click here to finish reading this post at my new name, The Grey Seeker. 
http://thegreyseeker.blogspot.com/2012/05/dont-judge-attachment-parenting-by-its.html

The Grey Seeker - same blog, different name.

Yes! I am Mom Enough!

According to the internet, Time magazine has put a question to every single mother in America: Are you mom enough? I'd like to take a moment to address that question.

When I planned my first natural birth, I was mom enough.  When I instead had an emergency cesarean birth, I was mom enough.  When doctors tried to tell me how to birth my second baby, I was mom enough.  When I had a VBAC at home, I was mom enough.

When I planned to breastfeed my baby because I knew it was best for her, I was mom enough.  When I had an enormous amount of trouble breastfeeding after my cesarean birth, I was mom enough. 

When I was told in the hospital to pour formula on my nipples to help my baby latch, I was mom enough.  When it took two hours just to GET her to latch on, I was mom enough.  When I got in trouble with the nurses because I let her sleep too long without nursing her, I was mom enough.  When I let her sleep on top of my chest, I was mom enough.

.........Click here to finish reading this post at my new name, The Grey Seeker. 
http://thegreyseeker.blogspot.com/2012/05/yes-i-am-mom-enough.html

The Grey Seeker - same blog, different name.

Zen and the Art of Renaming a Blog

Zen and the Art of Cloth Diaper Maintenance is becoming The Grey Seeker. 

I’ve been feeling a bit stifled lately.  I have wanted to start a blog for years, but only found the courage and will to do so when I started writing about parenting stuff.  I love writing on subjects like homebirth, natural parenting, and cloth diapers.  I still want to talk about those things because they’re still a big part of my life. 

But I also need to talk about other fascinations in my life -- history and philosophy, politics and society, spirituality and trees, lions, tigers, and bears.  We have an owl that likes to sit on our flagpole at dusk and hoots at his or her mate, perched in another tree in the neighborhood.  I HAVE to write about that.  I get so excited about my latest cooking and crafting adventures, but I can’t talk about cooking and crafting on a blog named Zen and the Art of Cloth Diaper Maintenance.  It just doesn’t work in my mind; it doesn’t compute.  The result is a semi-abandoned, yet truly loved (by me) blog.

It's more than that, though.  I'm spending more time coming up with catchy titles and themes than I am writing about what is on my mind and in my heart.  I'm stealing from paying homage to works of art I admire, instead of showing people who I really am.  I'm hiding, and I don't want to hide anymore.

It’s time for a change.  Not something to replace Zen and the Art of Cloth Diaper Maintenance, but something to include it and more.  The Grey Seeker.  A place where I can talk about cloth diapers.  A place where I can talk about my zen garden.  A place where I can talk about whatever I want and, as always, try to find the balance, the Zen, the Grey of life. 

So if you have liked anything you've read at Zen and the Art of Cloth Diaper Maintenance, please follow me on over to The Grey Seeker.  I hope to see you there.

The Twilight Saga's Bella Swan: Poster Mom for Natural Birth

I have a confession.  I'm a big fan of all the cute little pics that have not-so-recently popped up all over Facebook.  You know, stuff like this:

This is a big reason I get on Facebook.  To chill out and laugh at frivolous stuff.

One of the latest popular themes is twi-hating.  Pithy pictures making fun of the Twilight Saga and it's cast of sparkling and shedding characters have taken over my news feed.  I commented on a few; in one I actually promised I wouldn't go all crazy and write a blog dedicated to Twilight.


Whoops.....

.....Click here to finish reading this post at my new name, The Grey Seeker. 

http://thegreyseeker.blogspot.com/2011/12/twilight-saga-bella-swan-poster-mom-for.html

The Grey Seeker - same blog, different name.

Zen and the Art of Thinking Like a Toddler

I have this picture in my head.  A picture of what “thinking like an adult” looks like.  This picture is colored by many influences, both internal and external.  Often, I don’t like the picture I see in my head, yet I still feel strangely compelled to make it my reality.  When that happens, influences affecting me might include my own OCD, other people’s harsh opinions, or mainstream advertising. 

Unfortunately, this affects the way I mother my one-year-old.  When I’m “thinking like an adult,” I find mothering Scarlett to be exhausting and stressful.  She’s not following the rules.  She’s not listening to me.  She’s not doing what she should be doing, according to... somebody. 

I have this other picture in my head.  It is a picture filled with laughter, and fun, and unintentional learning.  It is a picture filled with Zen.  This picture most often takes shape when I find myself "thinking like a toddler."  No rules.  No borders.  No 'Your Baby Can Read' commercials. 

.....Click here to finish reading this post at my new name, The Grey Seeker. 

http://thegreyseeker.blogspot.com/2011/11/zen-and-art-of-thinking-like-toddler.html

The Grey Seeker - same blog, different name.

A "Spy Kids 4: All The Time In The World" Viewing Reveals I Am Officially a Car Seat ‘Nazi’

A word of caution: spoiler alert.

This weekend, we decided it was time for a treat.  So the whole family headed to the movie theater to see the fourth installment of Robert Rodriguez’s Spy Kids series.  I never would have thought that this of all movies would send me into an attachment parenting tailspin.  From my blog, to Facebook groups, to research projects, I have become so immersed in the natural parenting culture, I can't seem to get it out of my head.  I think I may have a problem....

Pregnancy and Labor

.....Click here to finish reading this post at my new name, The Grey Seeker. 
http://thegreyseeker.blogspot.com/2011/09/kids-4-all-time-in-world-viewing.html

The Grey Seeker - same blog, different name.