Do you have any AP friends near you?

not really, but I move too much to make any friends at all. I really want to once I settle down again. I'd love to talk to someone about gentle discipline and natural living in real life without hearing about how weird or gross I am lol.

Yes, I do have a lot of AP mom friends near me. For a while I didn't know others like me. I have joined a few different AP/NL local parenting groups over the past few years since I had my first son. Some of the groups have come and gone but the one I am in right now is a really solid awesome group. We have 100 members all in my local area. The area does cover a huge range though, but we are mostly seperated by two sides (with water and a bridge tunnel between us). Some of us do cross over the sides but I do feel like we are kind of two groups within a group and even if we don't often see the mamas from the other side we can still interact with them on our message board and I'm thankful for that because each and every one of them brings so much wonderful knowledge. Also, not all 100 members are active, but we do have a good bit who are active. The group is fairly new but it was sort of a spin off from a more mainstream group. Most of the mamas in my local AP/NL group do extended BFing and we have quite a few who are currently tandem nursing. Most cloth dipe, don't circ, many only do wood/natural toys, we all do gentle parenting (main reason for starting the group was having a place where our children won't exposed to spanking), most do natural birth with quite a few homebirthers, we all babywear and even spawned a NINO chapter, use homeopathy or naturopathic etc.... I almost feel like I'm living in a little bubble b/c I technically live in the "south" but also on the east coast (VA). This area is really NOT very crunchy at all. There is such a huge military presence that we have a very wide variety of people from all over. I'm a local. In my world nursing a 3 year old is normal and I really like it that way. Occassionally I step outside my bubble and realize how much my world is not normal even where I live. Then I step back in my bubble and keep on keepin on, lol.

I belong to an AP playgroup in my area. We have a Yahoo group to chat online & plan activities. Search the internet, I'll bet you'll find more than you think.

I'm completely with you, I'm definitely the "oddball" mama around here. It's getting to a point where I dread meeting with our playgroup because all the other moms are so solidly in favor of CIO, that's all I hear at every. single. event. Thank goodness my daughter is past that so I'm not actively involved in the conversation, but I'm sure when we have another child...I'll have to rethink my present company! Like you, though, I am fortunate to have a strong support system online - mostly through Xanga, some through a private parenting/message board that I belong to. I'm not sure what I'd do without all these other ladies that "get it", and I'm glad you've found some online too!