Hippies, Sheeple, Guilt Trips, and Love

  When traveling through your parenting journey, you encounter guilt trips of all kinds.  Guilt trips from family members, guilt trips from your children (power struggle, anyone?), and the infamous guilt trips from other moms.  You know the ones: they have an opposing view to yours and will move heaven and earth to try to get you to see just how right they are.  What fun!  Glorious, enlightening fun!  Or not...

  You see, we all have those things that bring the passion out of us.  The key is sharing those passions without making other moms feel like complete dopes for not agreeing with us.  The key is to allow people to have different viewpoints without throwing out that dreaded guilt trip in an attempt to win whatever imaginary battle we're all "fighting" these days.

  The big hulabaloo I often see is which foodie lifestyle we should follow.  You've got vegans spouting off at those insensitive carnivores, and then you have cave men & women.... I mean paleo-faithfuls going gung-ho ballistic on people who eat wheat, or whatever it is they're against.  You've got the couponers buying boxed foods, raving about how much they save (which is awesome, mind you) while the organic hippies are looking down their noses in disgust at the toxins those couponers are force-feeding their children.  You get where I'm going here?  Everyone is right and everyone who doesn't agree with that particular mindset is wrong.

  I am very particular about following a whole foods diet as closely as possible.  I prefer organic fruits and vegetables, and use meat and treats sparingly.  That being said, you WILL catch me at McDonalds now and then and you WILL see me purchasing things like Cheez Its and frozen pizzas from the grocery store.  For a long, long time, I was utterly ashamed of myself for caving in such a way.  How dare I go against what I so fondly "preach" about.  But you know, I just don't care anymore.  I don't care that I like to take the easy way out of dinner when I don't feel like cooking.  I don't care that someone somewhere is going to find something wrong with something in my grocery cart 99.9% of the time.  I just don't care.

  Then there is the whole medical debate.  It's typically between those darn hippies and what they so lovingly call "sheeple."  I err on the hippie side of things, but you won't see me telling another parent what road to take when it comes to the health of their children.  I am all for doctors and the widsom they bring to the table, but I am also all for a parent's intuition, the plentiful goodness nature provides, and the Holy Spirit's leading, so I believe all of those wonderful resources can be combined to come up with the best solution to any medical problem we have.  Go with nature, pray, or put your trust in modern medicine... or be like me and have a swirled up combo of some sort.  It's your choice!  You have your children for a reason... you know what's best for them.  Who am I to tell you how to approach their health and wellness?

  There are so many other debates where parents are pitted against each other because of their views.  It is tremendously overwhelming at times and I just want to shout "STOOOOOOOOPPPP!!!!!!"  I think it is wonderful that people have that desire to educate each other, but there comes a point when we cross that line and things become ugly and hurtful and it needs to end!

  We live in a day in age where these sort of battles can haunt us to our core and I decided to throw it all out the window and go with MY (and the hubby's) gut on the decisions we make for our family.  I'm done hiding because someone will see I am not living up to that unrealistic potential I so longingly desire to achieve.  If I want to eat a darn cookie, I'll eat that cookie.  If I want to feed one to my kid *gasp!* I have every right to do so.

  Just get along.  When you see something that grinds your gears, take a breath, count to ten, do a little jig, and keep moving on.  If you feel the need to correct someone or educate them for whatever reason, do it with kindness and love.  Don't belittle them for being a dimwit.  Don't scorn them for being naive.  We get so much flack from so many places.  I want to make it a priority to speak in love to others, even when I disagree with them.  If, one by one, we can all start turning those scowls into smiles, and those arguments into healthy, friendly discussions, this world could be a much happier place.

  Cut each other some slack.  Respect each other.  Realize that God has gifted us with brains of our own and what works for some people might not work for others.  Eat that burger and large fry without shame.  Plant that organic garden in your yard.  Do what you feel led to do and be proud of it!  Share your thoughts and your dreams and your goals for your life in a way that is respectful to others.  It's possible!  It really is.

  Peace, love, and happiness, friends.

~That ever-growing hippie chick with a sheeple-ish grin. :)