Sometimes the most progressive ideas are the oldest and
simplest, the ones that took place 100 years ago, when no one saw anything
revolutionary about them at all. Today
there are so many parenting options, so many ways to feed, clothe and care for our
children. Many spring from media moguls
and business tycoons, others are born in laboratories and research centers. In the midst of all these high tech, color coordinated,
safety tested, pediatrician recommended options, the most radical choice can be
to simply say, “No thanks.”
When we trust our intuition, and look within, rather than to external sources for the answers, we will often find that the simplest solutions are best. Why feed our babies deconstructed, vitamin-fortified, puffed cereals when we can simply cook up some nice, hot oatmeal, vitamins all intact? Do we really need an entire car seat/carrier/stroller system that makes it entirely possible to go hours at a time without ever touching your baby? Hold that sweet babe tight to your breast, wrapped in a simple cloth as millions of mothers have done before! The latest parenting books urge us to let our babies “cry it out,” when every cell in our body tells us to fold them into our arms and soothe them to sleep. Listen to your body! Forget the cribs, the baby food, the play pens. We women have been doing this for eons. Choose to follow the examples of our pioneer forbears; live simply, live close to the earth and close to your loved ones.
There is a line of reasoning called Occam's razor that states that when faced with multiple theories, the simplest answer
is usually the correct one. So it is with mothering, and life in
general. When all the world is turning to the latest gadget, the
latest expert advice, the latest health fad, we can pioneer the way
back to our roots, back to simplicity.
