10 signs you’re a modern-day hippie mom

I live in the state of California, which makes me ‘kind of hippie’– at least according to the rest of world. I live in the town of Ojai, which makes me ‘really hippie’- at least according to the rest of California.

I found the following definition of the term ‘hippie’- a person of unconventional appearance, typically having long hair and wearing beads, associated with a subculture involving a rejection of conventional values and the taking of hallucinogenic drugs.

Okay, well I do have long hair, I have a few pairs of earrings with some beads on them, I reject the conventional value of only eating dessert after dinner, but, my wildest form of drug is the coffee I sip every morning, and sometimes every afternoon.

The word hippie is just a word, and it has a slightly different meaning for everyone.

These are my personal telltale signs of a modern day “hippie” mom (what are yours’?)

1. We think the sun rises and sets on our kids. Because it does – in our world, our kids are valued, respected, and treated like the amazing little dudes and dudettes they truly are. That unconditional love transferred to them is passed right back to us and a healthy happy family unit is born.
2. We’re fans of kale, flax seed, and other such healthy stuff. We’re cognizant of what we put into our bodies and the little bodies we’re responsible for. Although the kids occasionally revolt and demand some cheese melted on carbs, we do our best to mix some extra fiber into those carbs.
3. We empower our kids to authentically respect themselves and others. Self-expression, challenging emotions and disagreements are not shoved in a closet or glossed over; they’re viewed as an integral part of life and encouraged to be openly felt, discussed and processed.
4. The outdoors is respected more than the screen. Don’t get me wrong, hippie moms (myself definitely included) utilize some screen time, but the adventure and curiosity that lives outside is appreciated and thoroughly utilized. And we make s’mores- sometimes with bananas instead of marshmallows.
5. A judgment-free zone is honored. We have friends that home school, public school, private school, vaccinate, don’t vaccinate, shave, don’t shave, deodorize, don’t deodorize, and make many other decisions that many people have vocal (or typed) opinions about. Sure, we have an opinion, but if the sharing of that opinion is not going to positively serve the person being spoken to, we keep our pie holes shut- at least that’s the idea.
6. We use terms like blessed, sacred, honored, hold space for, moon sign, new moon, aura, and yoga verbiage- there’s lots of yoga verbiage. Namaste.
7. We view the birth of our children as one of the most blessed, sacred and honored events of our life. (Oh, and exhausting.) We make intentional decisions on the path to birth and make sure we remind ourselves how bad-ass we are on a regular basis.
8. We know the postpartum options for the placenta, even if we never did anything with ours. Dried up and made into pills, mixed into a smoothie, sautéed, buried, and on it goes. Placentas are fascinating creatures that elicit much talk and awe in the land of hippie mamas.
9. We never put the “poisons” of alcohol, caffeine, sugar, processed foods, fried foods, or fun foods into our bodies. Just kidding.
10. We think you’re awesome, and that you’re likely one of us, even if you said ‘huh?’ to #6 or #8.

In this context, I suppose we could change the term ‘hippie mom’ to any of the following:

Mindful Mom

Awesome Mom

Present Mom

Cool Mom

Bad-ass Mom

Or any other catchy term that pertains to all the amazing mothers out there who are putting one foot in front of the other, doing their best, and loving their kids with everything they’ve got.

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