You're Just F*ing Crazy

Holistic Parenting, otherwise known as “You’re just F*ing Crazy” by grandparents, some friends, neighbors and the occasional acquaintance...

In the beginning, I didn’t even know that there was a name for this kind of lifestyle or that there were other parents out there that felt as passionately as I do about the inherent connection between our spirit, our minds, our bodies and our overall wellbeing and happiness.  

For me and many other parents, this holistic belief has us choosing parenting choices that might abandon convenience and common practices (choices such as co-sleeping, cloth diapering, natural childbirth, home schooling, etc).

There are many diverse paths we all travel in our lives and each person’s journey we encounter contains a lesson to impart on us – this is mine and here are the aspects of why I use a holistic (“crazy”) parenting approach.

Connection to the Self

The focus on personal growth is the foundation of what I find holistic parenting to be. Fostering your own curiosity, confidence and happiness has tremendous effects on children.

When I know who I am and what my purpose in life is, I can help facilitate that in my children – empowering them to choose their own course in life.

One way I do this is making purposeful decisions - to educate myself and make informed parenting decisions around such issues as childbirth, breastfeeding, healthcare/wellbeing, communication, nutrition, and education.

Connection with Others

It is important as a parent to appreciate human dignity – it’s about learning the values of respect, simplicity, sharing and cooperation. How can we expect our children to share and be kind to others if we don’t on a daily basis?

We can do this by learning to be sensitive to differences, to resolve conflicts without resorting to violence (emotional or physical), and to learn tolerance and acceptance of others.

We are all, indeed, connected to a greater Whole – more then we will ever be able to imagine in our current state of humanness. How can we attempt to learn more about our interconnectedness?

Spread good.

Give something good to every person you meet; a smile, a thank you, a positive thought.

Through our connection and interactions with others is how we learn and grow in our own selves (while helping others as well!).

Connection with Nature

Children seem to be the best teachers when it comes to their connection with nature - their innate curious spirit on how the world works. Being a parent, we are blessed to have a glimpse of the world through their eyes.  

It wasn’t so long ago that humans and nature closely coexisted – meaning that our very survival depended on listening to and feeling our connection with nature (relying on plants for medicine, navigating with stars and tilling the land with help from animals to plant our food).  

Our advances in convenience and technology aren’t necessarily bad (there have been some truly remarkable things we’ve accomplished), though we need to keep things in perspective: we are part of nature and can not be removed from it without consequences (be-it physically, mentally, or emotionally).   

Looking at parenting through a holistic scope starts with walking the path of discovery with our children and participating in their investigation of the mysteries of life.

(picture origin here)