things are different now...

As I sit here with my cup of organic, fair trade green tea, I am prompted to reflect on how life has changed for me in the past months. How I have changed. How we as a family have changed. I have been worried that my beautiful friends and family may think we have gone a little mad. Some of our changes have been very consciously made, others have just kind of flowed naturally following our decision to move to the beach. We are more focused on living in the world. Moving to this beautiful area, it was certainly a well-thought benefit that we would spend more time in the outdoors. Finding ourselves living in a tiny house with a not-very-useful backyard has forced us into nature. It still shocks and exhilarates me, to see how the sea changes every day. We drove around like overexcited teenagers following whales a few days ago. Amazing.
We are more free-range in our parenting. Maybe this is because we are up to number three, but I can see marked differences between the way we parent each of our kids. The big boy has it the toughest I think. He was on strict routines, even as a tiny bub. The baby girl is 'worn' a lot of the time. When she was unsettled last night, we just fed her and cuddled her, and allowed her to be unsettled rather than fixing it. I did prenatal yoga, and had a very different birth with the baby girl. Now my wish is to ease up on the big boy a bit, be more free-range with him (it's hard with the eldest, though, isn't it?). I am reading Buddhism for Mothers. Yes, I am.

We (well, really, I) am more conscious of the impact of our consumerism, on the world and on our lives. I have become more and more anxious at the thought of being overcrowded, drowning in stuff. I am certainly no green expert, but I am more aware of questions like "Where is this from?" "How was this made?" when I make purchases. I am certainly realising the benefits of buying better quality, looking after what you have and re-using or re purposing old items. And living by the family motto "Stuff that. I can make it for cheaper."
So, it sounds like I am turning into a massive hippy. I've promised my bestie that I won't be growing my armpit hair. But if we meet for coffee, I will probably have a chai latte. And be wearing my baby. And I might be wearing something I picked up in an op shop. I will definitely be having the chocolate cake though.
S.