Why is Lakewood Spraying Chemicals in Their Parks?

Today while taking my son on a walk I decided to stop at Edward's Park in Lakewood to let him play. As I pushed the stroller to the park entrance I noticed some little white signs in the lawn saying "Keep Off -- Lawn Chemical Application."

I did a double-take. Lawn chemical application? Signs showing no kids or pets allowed on the grass? In a park?

The park reeked of toxins. I felt sick. And we immediately left.

Why is Lakewood doing this? Why do they feel the need to spray toxic chemicals in a park? Do they really expect kids to stay off the grass in a park? Do they know of any consequences of simply inhaling this chemical concoction?

I'd like to find the Park Dept.'s stance on using chemicals. Do all parks allow this? I'm going to contact my Councilperson and complain.

As I walked past Edward's Park on our way back home, the park was packed with kids all playing around the little white signs specifying "no kids allowed."

Just great.

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It's nice I'm not the only one pissed about lawn chemicals. A blogger on RealNeo posted some interesting facts about these toxins. I really think lawn chemicals should be illegal. Why do people care that their lawns consist only of 100 percent grass? Why do people obsesses over a tiny plot of land? Get a life!

[No, I didn't take that photo. It's brought to you via Clare Wilkinson.]

I'm Not Crunchy

What's the deal with this "crunchy" label that alternative moms like to bestow upon themselves? I never heard of moms calling themselves crunchy until I joined the MotheringDotCom (MDC) forum. MDC is the online community of Mothering magazine that's centered around alternative parenting, natural birthing, etc. Nearly of the moms call themselves crunchy in some point in time and list all their attachment parenting (AP) credentials.

[Hey, you aren't the #1 mom! That isn't even an organic stuffed animal!]

For example, "I'm a crunchy, babywearing, non-vaxing, non-circ'ing, homebirthing, organic food growing, breastfeeding, no TV watching, unschooling, radical mama of three."

Well, okay then.

I made up that example but I'm sure you could find many signatures on MDC just like this.

How did natural parenting become a list of actions (bling) to flash into other people's eyes? It's been reduced to a bunch of labels to strive for just to be more AP/natural than anyone else. I mean, I do many of those things (breastfeed, non-circ) and I like to tell people my stances on these issues, but I don't want to do these things just to do them. I don't want to be an AP perfectionist. I want to be the mom who makes the best choices for my family based on the circumstances that we're in.

Does that make sense?

And, if that's crunchy, can I be smooth?