Hippie Fail

This weekend was a weekend of hippie-values faildom. Don't get me wrong. I fail at my own hippie values all the time. We eat out 2 or 3 (ok even 4) times a month, and one of those times is always the fast food that I supposedly have given up. I never find the time to hang-dry clothing. I always end up buying most of our bread products. Hang drying clothes in the warmer months and making all my own breads are both goals that I re-start over and over again to no avail. I don't cloth diaper, I don't eat local or organic; I haven't even really tried on either of those. Even though I've given up Walmart for years now, despite moving within a mile of one, I quite often buy things big-box that I could probably get local, and new that I could probably get used. I talk big about homeopathic and herbal remedies but when I get allergies I scoff at the local honey I bought and run to my drugs disappointingly fast. (although I will say local honey is doing wonders for Zekes, much less severe, allergies)

I am only actually good at 2 things. I have succeeded in switching all my cleaners to home-made, non-toxic, earth friendly ones. And I recycle, re-use, compost, and donate like mad; we can still use the small garbage can despite 2 kids in diapers.

But then weekends like this weekend happen. Let me set the stage:

Its 2am. I am sleeping, quite peacefully. So is Josh. So is Mal. I am assuming so is Zeke.

But then into our room he stumbles.

No one wakes up.

And into our bed he climbs.

No one wakes up.

And then he throws up all over Josh. (Reason #345 that I chose the far side of the bed)

We clean it up, we calm him down.

Repeat every 20 minutes ALL NIGHT LONG.

Zekey continued to throw up all day Saturday, though he did slow down to every hour or so and then every few hours. And of course on Saturday our new pastor comes to visit us. "Hello, welcome to my filthy home, I swear its usually quite neat and doesn't smell like vomit."

Today Zeke only threw up when he begged to eat things he really shouldn't have. But of course now Josh has started.

So hippie fail #1: Zeke has watched the entire first two seasons of Blues Clues and 3 Veggie Tale movies (Jonah, An Easter Carol, and Pistachio) in the last 2 days. I don't even want to add up how many hours that is. Let's just say we've proved that our Netflix subscription is well worth the money just for the "Watch it Now" feature, even though we sometimes keep our disc for a month at a time.

Hippie fail #2: Screw home-made cleaners. I just spent the last 2 hours since Zeke went to bed with Mal in the ring sling, using bleach wipes on every hard surface I can get my hands on and using the heavy-duty Resolve on every soft one.

I've also done about 4,3o5 loads of laundry. None hung dry.

I will be a better person when I have children that can control their vomit.

Also, this experience is making me re-realize how very lucky and how very very thankful I am for a husband that truly co-parents. We have an old-fashioned "man-is-head-of-the-household" marriage. Partly because of our chosen roles as bread-winner and home-maker; and partly because that is what we prefer and think works best for us. I wont get into that because its a can of worms for many many people.

But in no way is Josh the cliche absent father that our rather old-fashioned marriage brings to mind. He has always changed diapers and rocked babies and been right there with me in all things parenting. He spends nights awake with cranky or sick kids just as often as I do (and probably even more), he has been an endless support in my breastfeeding and co-sleeping, the support that has allowed me to keep those practices up as long and successfully as I have. His sadness at Zeke's newly acquired skill of putting himself to bed without cuddling or rocking is touching to see.

So here is props to my husband. Still the best father out there.

6 comments:

Holly said...

I thought it was great to read this because it went from talking about failures in being a hippie to talking about success in your husband as a father. The post ended really well and I would say wasn't even really about hippie failure.

P.S. I have NEVER thought of myself as a hippie but if all the things you mentioned make up a hippie, I might just be very partially hippie. Haha!

Rachel said...

Holly, I think of the term as "neo-hippy" ... And some also use "crunchy" and "granola."

Courtney, can of worms meh? I love how people always have to have an opinion about things that are really rather pointless things to have opinions about... like the home and romantic relationships and lifestyles of two informed and consenting adults which do not directly involve themselves. If you and Josh want the old-fashioned, man-is-head-of-the-house lifestyle, all the more power to you, it's YOUR lives!

I also agree that Josh looks like a great father. I have only seen him with Zeke a handful of times, but he's great with him. You have no shortage of photographic evidence on your blog either. :-)
and, he always leaves work on time, if he has any say in it, so that he can be with his family. That is not something I can claim myself (and I feel guilty about it, then again, I don't get in to the office until 9...).

Jen at The Places We Live said...

Nice post. There is no doubt that you and Josh are excellent parents regardless of puky days.

Anonymous said...

I am so sorry that your son is sick. But unfortunately kids do not learn to throw up in a toilet for a long long time. =(

I have always driven to be more "hippie" as well. Some days it is harder than others like the unfortunate day that you had, but allow yourself a break from it. Have you ever seen No Impact Man? You can stream it live from netflix. It takes a family with a small child to the extreme of not using any modern convenience. They go so far as to not use toilet paper, eventually no electricity, only buying things that are local and organic(which during the winter was only root vegetables) It is nice because it shows the struggle that they have with every change and doesn't push changing everything or nothing. They try the experiment to see if is is doable, at the end of the year they realize how simple some changes are and how they would rather not change some things like the toilet paper. It is a good film to watch especially is you are striving to make a little bit more of a change in the world.

Also I think that eating organic and local as much as possible is one of the most important things you can do. Food Inc. is a great documentary that might persuade you to do so. Especially with meat and dairy.

So that is all, I really hope you guys get all better. I know it takes a few days for the puke smell to go away, yuck.

Annali said...

Hilarious about what Z watches on Netflix. Those are the exact same ones Henry watches...and they are the only reason we still have our subscription! One of these days I will just break down and buy them.

Kari Marchelli said...

Poor Zeke. I hope he feels better soon!