Top Celebrity Progressive Dads

When we are exposed to alternative/progressive parenting in the media via celebrities, 99.9 percent of the time it is focusing on the mother – we all know these mothers…Alicia Silverstone, Mayim Bialik, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Natalie Portman, Ricki Lake, Jennifer Garner…the list goes on and on – but what about the men in their lives?

Who are the celebrity crunchy dads? Do you know any that aren’t included?

Tom Brady – The EcoFriendly-“Crunch”

Tom’s wife, Brazilian super model Gisele Bundchen, opted to have not just one –but TWO home births (which, in Brazil, is practically unheard of with a nearly 93 percent c-section rate!). 

Gisele and Tom's home uses solar energy, as well as lighting systems that reduce energy consumption and a rainwater recovery system. Another neat detail – nearly 80% of all the construction waste was reused or recycled. They also chose to use recovered stone/wood and household appliances with a green seal.

The icing on top…Gisele and Tom incorporated Elimination Communication into their routine and touted having completely potty trained their son Benjamin by 6 mo old!

Wowzers!

Brad Pitt – The Bed Sharer-“Crunch”

I'm sure you've seen the  picture taken by Brad on the cover of W magazine showing his support of actress/wife, Angelina, breastfeeding one of their twins. Brad also sports an Ergo from time to time (of course, with that many kids, one would have to consider baby-wearing at some point).

Brad has also been an advocate for cosleeping – or what he calls ‘family sleep’. He has gone on to say that they have a giant bed – which they all crawl into and watch movies and sleep – now that sounds awesome, count me in.

Woody Harrelson – The Community Conscious-“Crunch”

This might come as a bit of a surprise, but Woody’s wife, Laura Louie (who he met on the set of Cheers and later married) gave birth to all three of their daughters at home.

Harrelson’s wife is also a co-founder of Yoganics which is an organic food delivery service – hecks yeah!

Harry and his wife raised their daughter’s in a sustainable community of approx. 200 people on the island of Maui (sign me up please). The people who live there are all about biodynamic farming and building a close knit community.

Both Harry and his wife started ‘Voice Yourself’ which encourages people to protect pollution of air, soil and water – and both write blogs for topics they are passionate about.

Top it off – Woody refers to his three daughters as his “Goddess Trilogy”. Awww.

Scott Disick – The Communicator-“Crunch”

Scott might not be crunchy by choice, but he’s definitely by association. If you thought only hippies skip deodorant, make their own baby food and opt for birth au natural – then you have never seen one Kardashian sister.

If you’ve watched any of the shows, then it doesn’t take long to see that Kourtney is a mega advocate for natural living, co-sleeping and breastfeeding.

I think the biggest attribute to this crunchy father is the communication we see between him and his wife. Although she seems to push him just as far as he is willing to go sometimes – he is never shy about talking about his feelings and expectations in their relationship and family.

He may get a lot of slack – but good job, Scott!

Tobey Maguire – The Educarer-“Crunch”

Tobey is among a handful of famous parents who choose to raise their kids the ‘RIE’ way.

What exactly is RIE? The Resources of Infant Educarers is an approach based on allowing a child to “unfold in their own way and on their own time to discover, inspire and manifest the best in themselves and in others.”

Tobey tries to forego the onslaught of over-stimulation via baby toys and products – its much more ‘back-to-basics’ type of parenting.

I think we can all take a cue from this papa.

Joel Madden – The Spritual Heart-“Crunch”

Joel might not seem all that crunchy, especially compared to his wife Nicole Richie who skips battery operated toys and plastic for her kids, Harlow and Sparrow…and sugar, well, that’s a huge no-no.

But when it comes to spirituality and acceptance, Joel knocks it out of the park.

Joel has gone on record stating he would accept his children for whatever they choose to believe.

“I feel like we love people the way we want to be loved, right? So that’s like our way of communicating with each other. And I’ve gotten a lot of strength out of my faith, it’s given me strength in times when I needed it. So my own kind of wants for my kids is to have that foundation if that was where she wanted to go. I love my daughter more than I love myself, and that would be a selfish decision to punish her for not believing in something that I believe."