What Am I?

I don't know whether it was an encouragement or a statement to make me stop in my tracks and THINK, but anyway, my husband called me a "hippie" this morning! Okay, let me back up. I had to make a 9 am doctor's appointment and let me say that "9 am" comes pretty quickly when you have three mouths to feed, two bodies to clothe and one bottom to clean. Something had to give and the only thing I could reasonably omit was my shower. When I came downstairs and told Mike that I hadn't had the chance to shower he said, "Oh, well, you're a hippie anyways".
I asked him if he was serious and he said that he partly was. We had a mini conversation about which aspects of my/our lives gave us hippie status. Mike wittily rambled off three pretty valid reasons: our beliefs in regards to how we eat, our homeschooling dynamic and the fact that I practice extended breastfeeding (I was really impressed! He was really on point with some of our core values as a family. Yeah Mike!).
We had a good laugh and then out the door I went (leaving him behind with those same three little mouths). But I have kept playing his statement over and over in my head today. At times laughing about it and at other times really contemplating about what exactly defined a "hippie" and wondering if being one was something that I wanted to be.
First let me post a disclaimer: I have many friends who would fall under the category of "hippie", my parents are former "hippies" and over the weekend helped a very "hippie dippie" (as they called themselves) couple give birth to their baby. So, I know and love many present and past free spirits.
So, I thought it would be fun to make a list, sort of like a "pros" and "cons" list when you are trying to make an important decision. Warning: more information may be revealed than you wish to know. If you wish to know, then read on. If not, outclick now and pretend I just ended the post by saying that I have since gotten over and forgot all about the hippie statement.

On one hand, I have given my kids raw milk and seeing them eat
raw fruits and veggies makes me giddy.
But on the other hand, I have a pack of hamburgers in my fridge and
have good intent to feed them to my family tomorrow night (I eat "flesh").

On one hand, I believe in the power of breastfeeding and currently
have 45 months (and counting!) of cumulative breastfeeding experience from nursing my three children (a "lactivist" of sorts).
But on the other hand, I DO wear a bra.

On one hand, I have gone against the "system" and kept my child out
of school so that I can educate her in the way that I see fit.
But on the other hand, I really like having a "system" in place for doing just about EVERYTHING!

On one hand, I think of my home as a place of exploration, a place for
my chlidren to experiment and grow by trying new things.
But on the other hand, I try to keep the experimentation within limits and really
dislike when their explorations end up on my kitchen floor. ("Now kids you can create ANYTHING you want with your homeade playdough... just as long as you don't get any on the floor!").

On one hand, I love exploring the world around me, visiting new places, meeting
and talking with interesting people and trying new and exotic cuisine.
But on the other hand, I will do any of these activites just as long as I have clear and consice directions to my destination AND I can safely return home in time for naptime or bedtime (yah, real free-spirited Jill!).

So, as you can see, I am probably not what most would consider free-spirited. Anyone who knows me well knows that "sweeping" would probably fall under my category of "hobbies" based on how much time I spend doing it. I also really enjoy hospital corners on the beds that I make and am a real stickler about only going to bed when my kitchen sink is shining. I really don't think that I fit nicely and neatly into ANY one stereotype/category (although I am probably falling quite nicely under the category of "total OCD" right now). It's kind of silly to try to change myself just so that someone has a title to slap on my head, right? So for now, you can just call me "un-bathed" (yeah, I still didn't get that shower. Tomorrow's a new day right?).