[MysteryMama]

and what does NFL stand for besides "national football league"? sorry, if i seem ignorant, but thats why im asking... so i'll know for sure. im new to the concept of ap, but found thats really (for the most part) what i have been doing all along naturally.

 

[EVC]

NFL = natural family living

NFL is crunchy

 

[Kidzaplenty]

There are so many different definitions of "crunchy" but it is basically living as naturally as possible.

Here is the link for an old thread that is really good at defining "cruncy" for many. How Crunchy Are You? It helped me to understand what everyone meant when they said they were "crunchy".

Here is also a fun quiz that can rate your "crunchiness"!

1. Do you have homebirths?
15 points for "yes" (unassisted)
10 points for "yes" (with a midwife in attendance)
5 points for alternative birthing center
2 points for "thinking about/would like homebirth"
0 for "no" (wouldn't consider it).

2. Will you circumcise future sons?
5 points for "no"
-5 points for "yes".

3. Do you use cloth diapers?
20 point if you do Elimination Communication (no diapers)
15 points if "yes" (wash and make your own)
10 points if "yes" (wash your own)
5 points if "yes" (diaper service)
2 points if "thinking about it"
0 points if "no" (wouldn't consider it).

4. Do you observe your fertility signals using Natural Family Planning/Fertility Awareness and use that for birth control/trying to conceive?
10 points for "yes" (observe and use for birth control/ttc) or
you use ecological breastfeeding/lactational amnorrhea
5 points for "yes" (observe for trying to conceive)
2 points "thinking about it"
0 points for "no" (wouldn't consider it).

5. Do you breastfeed exclusively for the first 6+ months?
10 points if "yes"
5 points for "no" (use occasional bottles of expressed breastmilk)
2 points for "no" (use occasional bottles of formula)
0 for "no" (don't breastfeed by choice).

6. Do you co-sleep?
10 points for "yes" (all night every night)
5 points for "yes" (part/all of most nights)
2 points for "thinking about it"
0 points for "no".

7. Do you use a sling/soft carrier?
5 points for "yes"
2 points for "thinking about it"
0 points for "no" (wouldn't consider it).

8. Do you believe in/practice child-led weaning (even if that means breastfeeding for several years)?
15 points for "yes" (complete child-led weaning)
10 points for "yes" (up to 3 years)
5 points for "yes" (up to 2 years)
2 points for "thinking about it"
0 points for "no" (you'll wean the baby at 1 year or earlier).

9. Do you tandem nurse/nurse during your pregnancy?
10 points for "yes" (nurse during pgcy and tandem nurse)
5 points for "yes" (nurse during pgcy, but wean before birth)
2 points for "thinking about it"
0 points for "no"(wouldn't consider it).

10. Do you eat organic/whole/natural foods and limit your meat?
15 points for "yes" (grow own/buy organic, shop only at health
food store, grind own wheat, vegetarian, etc.)
10 points for "yes" (grow some of own food, buy organic, use whole
wheat flour, bake own bread, eat some meat occasionally)
5 points for "yes" (try to buy natural, whole grain foods, etc.)
2 points for "thinking about it"
0 points for "no" (wouldn't consider it).

11. Do you use herbal/homeopathic remedies?
10 points if "yes" (very rarely see a regular doctor)
5 points if "yes" (but use a doctor occasionally)
2 points if "thinking about it" (see a doc for now)
0 points for "no" (wouldn't consider it).

12. Do you homeschool?
10 points if "yes" (currently homeschool)
5 points for "yes" (will homeschool)
2 points for "thinking about it"
0 points for "no" (wouldn't consider it).

13. What's your take on childhood vaccinations?
15 points for no vaccines
10 for delayed, selective vaccination
5 points for selective, on schedule vaccination
2 points for thinking about not vaccinating
0 points for vaxing on schedule.

14. Would you/have you ever breastfeed/fed someone else's baby or have someone else bf your child?
10 points if yes (have or someone has bf your baby)
5 points if yes (would)
2 points if maybe
0 if no (wouldn't consider it).

15. Do you use cloth/re-usable products for mom?
10 points if yes (make own)
5 points if yes (buy own)
2 points if thinking about it
0 points if no.

Ratings

120 - 140 Super Nutty, Ultra-Crunchy Granola Earth Mama

90 - 119 Mmm! Love that whole-grain crunch!

60 - 89 Pretty Crispy

20 - 59 Sprinkled with Granola

5 - 19 Instant Oatmeal

0 - 4 Jell-O

 

[merrick]

In the years that I have been on MDC I have graduated from Pretty Crispy to mmm, love that whole grain crunch. Yay me!

 

[MysteryMama]

thanx ladies! i took the quiz, and im on the high end of "sprinkled with granola"

 

[User101]

If you visit here
http://www.mothering.com/mdc/webpurpose.html
you can see some of the "crunchy" things that might be advocated here on MDC.

Welcome!

 

[Jessy1019]

That was fun! I scored 104 . .. mmm, mmm.

 

[jlpumkin]

funny I didn't even think i was crunchy at all

- turns out I'm pretty crispy

 

[CryPixie83]

Somehow I scored a 127... but I'm still not nearly as "crunchy" as I want to be

 

[pinkmilk]

107!!!

yay............I think I'll use this quiz tomorrow in my NFL group!!!

 

[pookel]

I got a 21, but I kept wanting to add options. Like, "I think child-led weaning is great but I haven't had a chance to try it yet because I had supply issues with #1 and dried up at 9 months." Or "use cloth diapers sometimes but not all the time." Or "love co-sleeping in theory, but can't do it much with this one because he squirms too much." So I had to kind of guess my points on all of those.

Also, I think it should give 10 points (at least!) for "tried everything under the sun to be able to breastfeed exclusively, but didn't make it."

 

[CryPixie83]

Pookel

You just need to grade yourself differently

You totally get like 15 points for trying everything under the sun to breastfeed

 

[pookel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CryPixie83 You totally get like 15 points for trying everything under the sun to breastfeed

Ooh, I didn't mean to sound like I was claiming that for myself ... I was thinking of some other mamas here. My score would be more like "5 points for reading all the books and trying pretty hard, but made the mistake of believing my doctor and supplementing instead of getting an LC to show me what was wrong with his latch."

:

 

[rainbowmum]

Thanks for posting this quiz. I remember seeing one somewhere and then spent ages later trying to find it. Now I can send it to my sis!

I got 97

 

[Mrs.CEH3]

I got an 11!

:

Probably I have not found my 'tribe' yet, have I?

:

 

[lactivist]

I didn't realize how darn crunchy I really am. I scored 139. Who knew? I guess I probably taste pretty darn good with ketchup.

Wendi

 

[User101]

Dude, I scored 140. I had no idea. No wonder my family thinks I'm odd.

 

[witchbaby]

i got 110-ish. i planned a homebirth with a midwife but had a hospital transfer. that would take me down 8 if you don't think i'm allowed to say "homebirth with midwife"

 

[boongirl]

Growing up in a beach town in Southern California in the 1970s' and 1980's, I knew people who referred to themselves as hippy/crunchy. They wore handmade or hemp clothes and birkenstock sandals, smoked a lot of pot, listened to a lot of the Grateful Dead and saw them in concert a lot, ate a lot of burritos and other foods that were cheap and vegan or vegetarian, had long hair (preferably in dreads), did not shave, wore little cosmetic products except for patchouli oil, were very left leaning in their politics and proud to protest in support of their beliefs, looked down their nose at the yuppies, and worked very hard to protect the environment. In our very conservative, largely Republican county, this was the best way to rebel against the man, man. I definitely leaned their way, although I preferred Alt British Pop at the time.

I never associated "crunchy" with any type of parenting until I came here and read the comparisons.

I still don't think that crunchy=natural family living. It can, but it does not have to. I still know a lot of crunchy people who do not have kids and I know a lot of natural family living types who would not call themselves crunchy. I would never pass for crunchy if you saw me on the street but I live a pretty natural family life. I just don't look anything like the description above. I shave my legs and have thin, straight hair and don't have any hemp clothing or birkenstocks. I hate patchouli and I don't wear a lot of cosmetics but I do use natural deo. I am left leaning but don't protest much as I am afraid of being arrested. (I am a wimp, I know.) I work hard to protect the environment and am married to an environmental scientist. I love the Grateful Dead and saw them in concert a few times but I pretty much stood out in that crowd as I am somewhere inbetween yuppy and hippy.

Since I first learned the term crunchy 20 years ago, when it had nothing to do with family lifestyle, I still don't think of it that way. Crunchy equals hippy to me. Natural family living is doing some, or all, of what is espoused here at MDC. And, I scored a 95.

 

[boongirl]

This is a great test for the type of crunchy/hippy I grew up knowing. I grew up knowing many people who could and still would answer A proudly to every question and also have the birkenstocks, with socks, to prove it.

http://www.thephatphree.com/Features...7&LayoutType=1

Disclaimer: I mean no ill will by any of this. My husband and I and my brother and his girlfriend would be answering A to most of these.