Once upon a time I was the young mom who seemed to be able to learn everything and anything and do it all. I was crunchy, nature minded, eco-friendly, and holistic as lavender and coconut oil. Oh my word how far I have come. How did I go from a super crunchy mom who bought organic everything and gave birth in my kitchen with midwives and so many others to a Mom feeling so old and so uncrunchy? Did I just get tired? Does this happen to other Moms?
I can say that having gone from country living with chickens and ducks and growing food and then to city living, I lost something, part of who I was. I gave up so many things perhaps thinking if I couldn’t do all the things I loved, that I need not bother with the other things. Lets be honest, being mainstream is the easier option! Did I just get lazy? Does none of it matter?
Don’t hate on the young passionate eco-friendly unicorn moms!
What does this have to do with the fabulous young unicorn moms with boundless energy to save the planet and do it all? They inspire. Like a lot of Moms, I am in a local group for other military Moms on the local military post. It can be hard being green on post when it feels like there is so little you can actually do. We can’t have chickens! Can’t even put in much of a garden. Some try around their homes but without actual yards with fences…. for us at least it seems like a risky option. Not only does housing spray poisons when ever they feel like it, I can’t trust they wouldn’t spray the green beans my kids will only eat fresh off the vine. IF we did manage to trust that, there would be the issue of the deer, who we love, eating what ever we manage to grow. Again, no fence here. Anyway, all this to say…. more excuses!
On the local group of Military wives are a few rare unicorns striving to better the planet. They ask questions about local organics, ways to green their current living conditions, and other questions that get them picked on actually. Some wives see their questions as congratulating. Some just think it is useless. You should have seen the hell that rained down on a poor girl who dared asked about green options when she drives a sports car that makes most of the hens pecking at her jealous! No one is perfect and that car choice was made before the young ambitious and inspiring green unicorn choose to go green. At least she is trying!
That is the point of my post. These young moms don’t so much think they know it all, but they believe they can learn it all and do it all and goodness I love the spirit they have. They inspire. I am learning about green options I didn’t know about before. They remind me that it isn’t all or nothing. I fall off the wagon, but we can try harder. These days they seem to be united in going zero waist. I can’t even imagine all the things needed to pull that off for my not so little family. We don’t have a compost bin here even! We can do better though than the overflowing bin we are supplying each week! We can do better. My kids deserve to have a family that has a passion for green again!
So while some are busy hating on millennial or other generations, I hope they can take a minute to step back and appreciate the inspiration and drive to do better and never stop learning.
(P.S. Since when are military wives groups so toxic? I am showing my age but we used to support one another back in the day, not take screen shots and post them online to call them names for others entertainment!)
