How to Parent Naturally with Multiple Kids

Embracing a natural lifestyle in today’s market where happy meals are celebrated and sodas are worshipped can prove to be difficult. It often means you make your own takeout and ice cream treats, your own baby wipes, and your own beauty products. This takes time and energy, but of course, is so worth the payoff of optimal health in the long-run.

Now, add kids to the mix, and living naturally can get even harder. You may have to encourage picky eaters to broaden their horizons. You may have to spend more time and money on real foods and larger batches of it. But life with kiddos is hectic and definitely does not free up time. However, there is not need to fret! It is SO possible to live a thriving, natural lifestyle while raising children. This list details how to parent naturally with multiple kids.

“Three kids. Oh. Wow. We have to adjust and adapt. Lots of this lately:

Baby wakes up and has wet a little through onto the bed. Spit up. On me. The bed. I remove his diaper and think–where’s a clean one–while I’m fumbling for it, his lovely water fountain of pee erupts like a happy geyser. Me wet. Bed wet. Pillows wet. Still fumbling for a clean diaper. Cursing my glasses as I can’t find them. Get new diaper. Before I get it on, the churning of the poo begins and then me, bed, pillow (wet), clean diaper, and freshly awakened husband sprayed by a hose of poop.

Then things like this happen.

Big kids in tub with me and baby. SuperBoy decides to dump water on his sister who in turn decides to practice her swimming kicks–in his face. They’re both crying, the baby in my arms is trying desperately to get away from me, scooting scootching toward them, the fight, the thrill, the fray. I’m hollering for AA to come get the baby so I can deal with the big kids. When we do all get out of the tub, dripping in annoyance with each other, and I put her on the toilet, she promptly forgets her head is her center of gravity and falls off. Splat. Right onto her head by way of a stool catching the corner of her temple. Screaming. Everyone.

So you could say it’s a little busier around here.

We’re still determined to be as crunchy, natural, odd-ball as possible. Despite the new chaos, poooping, and scooootching. Here’s what we still have clung to. Or try to cling to.

As you read my blah blahings, remember that this isn’t a referendum on your parenting. Promise: It’s not. I won’t personalize your parenting, so please don’t take offense at ours.

Being “natural” is a touchy topic for parents, moms in particular. Moms who when they work feel like they have to justify the hours spent at work, and somehow make up lost ground by having perfect organic lunches or Pinterest worthy living rooms. Mom who stay home and feel like they have to justify the hours spent without showering, just wiping up snot, spit up, and also need to have those lunches and living rooms.

1) Healthy food.

When we had our second, I still brought healthy food to friends’ houses to feed my kids, and to share if they wanted. More often I avoided going over during lunch time so as to not make them feel uncomfortable that we don’t share food choices. We still made baby food for SweetPea, we still didn’t feed SuperBoy processed foods or dessert. A rare dessert? Yes. Made with raw sugar? Probably.

Now we’re outnumbered two to three. Somewhere in there SuperBoy turned four, and he gets a tiny sliver of a treat periodically that is NOT ORGANIC. Not cheese balls, mind you, but more like homemade chocolate cake. SweetPea? She gets a lick or three of organic ice cream, but not that much. I plan on making the baby’s food from scratch, mostly because it’s less expensive, healthier, and I have the time as I’m at home with them.

2) Very limited screen time.

We still don’t have our kids watch TV. They may once in a blue moon watch something on youtube about lions eating gazelles. I’ve written about how I avoid the electronic babysitter. It’s taking new innovations now that we have three kids but still working!”