This morning, I woke up in the bed where I co-sleep with my exclusively breastfed child, changed his hemp cloth diaper, and set about my primary objective for the day, which is cleaning my carpet with this non-toxic, homemade method. I ran out of salt, so I went to our locally-sourcing natural foods market, traipsed around with my kid in a sling while wearing vibram fivefingers, and took home my salt, plus some chocolate almond milk, for a treat, in my reusable canvas bags.
But I'm no hippie.
In college, I was frequently teased for being a fake hippie, because I was. I listened to phish CDs I bought at barnes and noble, rather than bootlegged myself on tour, in the Toyota previa I purchased, rather than a vintage VW bus. I ate vegetarian food I bought at target and Costco. I wore Birkenstocks purchased via amazon and had shipped to my air-conditioned house.
It has been a life of conflict and hypocrisy.
This is why I am grateful for the green mommy movement. Never before have my interests in Eco- and health-friendly lifestyle choices been so beautifully blended with my uptight and neurotic personality. Now I can keep orderly and extensive boards of recipes, DIY projects, and unschooling ideas on Pinterest. I can follow vegan cooking blogs on my google reader and read then on my iPhone while I'm nursing. It's AWESOME.
I am not alone.
Relatedly, if obliquely, I have had a few observant friends mention the obsolescence of my blog title. Touché, I am indeed no longer childless (though I have also not been a housewife for four years and nobody noticed; perhaps therein lies a commentary on female identity perception in the US). However, I am contemplating new options. The blog does need a new name. A couple that now spring to mind are:
1. Amy's breastaurant: all-you-can-eat, open 24/7
2. No Regrets: Trading a life of ease, luxury, and lunch dates for a life of domestic servitude without a moment's regret
As you can see, I'm having trouble coming up with something I find as punchy as Childless Housewife, but I'll keep working on it.
Friday, September 9, 2011
My identity
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5 comments:
I vote breastaurant...very accurate.
And I thought your Previa was totally awesome...as was your Mane and Tail shampoo :)
Seriously, though... what IS a housewife?!
I vote for something about your enormous boobs. "Head, shoulders, boobs and toes?" No?
The housewife formerly known as childless and employed? The glamorous life of a childed housewife?
Kelsey wins with formerly childless. Ha!
So glad you blogged.
I was going to vote for formerly childless, too, but I think you can be even more creative than that. Something about the practical + hippie sides of you.
Also, I noticed that you weren't the traditional "housewife," but really, who is? I am a housewife, but I also work for Alex, sew, bottle, and do a variety of odd things that don't necessarily fall under that umbrella.
I see no hypocrisy or conflict. You live deliberately. That is transcendentally awesome.
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