Introduction

My first entry in the new blog! I have to admit I am really excited to have a place where I can freely express my findings, feelings, and practices without sounding preachy. If you're here and reading it probably because you're a crunchy mama too! Or because you're my friend on facebook and I asked you to come here. Several years ago I was a part of an "attachment parenting" group. In that group I made dear friends that I still love today. Discussions within the group led me to do my own research and discover information for myself. Now, I know this is an online blog, not the same thing as a group, but I am really hoping good things will come of it. By the way, if you don't know what attachment parenting is you can either google the phrase or google 'Dr. Sears' and you'll get a good definition.

Since this is the first entry, I'd like to talk about my family and where we are in this journey. We live in Gainesville, Florida. We moved here in order to be a part of an organic church and express Christ freely. Kinda' like the pilgrims did when they came from England, then to Holland, then here, to America. Well, my husband Chris and I went from one place, one church to the next looking for a non-commercialized Christ. We believe God led us here.
It is easy to be ourselves in Gainesville. It's a really pretty town and a lot of former hippies live here. There are several natural medicine(herb)shops here. It's also a pleasure to be able to do my shopping at little mom and pop type stores rather than giant corporate chains. It feels good in my soul.
We do not vaccinate our children on the regular recommended schedule. I used to, until one of my children had a severe allergic reaction to the DTaP. He was in the hospital just hours after receiving the vax. We were told it was a coincidence so I went for the second round of vaccinations 2 months later. Wouldn't you know it... he had the same reaction and we were back in the ER that night. This is the child of mine that is on the autism spectrum. It was after this that I realized it was up to us as parents to decide what the recommended schedule for vaccination should look like. I am not against vaccines. I know that they are not safe for a small portion of society, but for most it doesn't hurt them. Unfortunately we don't know who will have a bad reaction until it happens. Every batch of vaccines is different, the chicken pox vaccine that a child got a year ago won't be the same one he gets this year.
Something else our family does is home school. We buy different curriculum intended for homeschooling families and then I use that as inspiration and write my own. My husband is encouraging me to organize it all and sell my own curriculum. Maybe one day I will! The only child of mine that will ever see the inside of a school will be my son who is on the spectrum. We do not qualify for the state's help unless he is enrolled in school. And because he can't pronounce beginning and ending sounds of words, we need speech therapy. I know my limits and I can't give him all that he needs in that area. Hopefully by the time he is in second grade I can bring him home.
Our home school journey is more than just reading, writing, math, science experiments, and history facts. With Christ as the center of our home, I am trying to give my children a love for learning, a love for each other, and a very closely knit home. Also, in the state of Florida schools have cut back on music, poetry, and art. Those things are very important to us. Another important reason we hs is because my oldest son is extremely energetic and active and I have no doubt that we would be forced to medicate him with amphetamines if I enrolled him in school.
The last things I will share before I must go tend to my mountain of dishes, is that I am a label reader. I have learned the difference between "all natural" and "organic" and I take that very seriously. It seems like a lot of the problems we have today were just not around 200 years ago. I believe that what we eat, breathe in, and put on our skin, nails, and hair plays a role in that. I used to clean my home with tilex, windex, pledge, and clorox wipes. And then breathe in the toxic fumes the omitted all day long... thinking that I was smelling "cleanliness". I have learned about the ingredients in those cleaners and how even a small amount is harmful to living beings. I am really excited to write a blog entry on buying and eating organic food... that may end up being my next one! I am diligent about anything that touches our skin for more than a moment, like lotion for example. I always treated my skin like it was the protector, barrier to my body and wouldn't let anything harmful pass through. Wrong. It is the barrier, but everything passes through. Our skin absorbs, not repels toxins. These are just a few examples of the ways we used to poison ourselves slowly. I am super excited to write in more detail. It's hard not to get too carried away here since this is just an introduction blog. Hopefully my readers will be able to add to what I write as I am always looking for input, feedback, and new knowledge.
Be healthy, live fully, and thanks for reading!
Love,
Jackie