Goose Island State Park-"Big Tree"

Goose Island State Park-"Big Tree"

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Lenten Ramblings

Baby was up at 5am, as was her big sister who was really upset about wetting the bed.  I haven’t had any coffee and yet am still attempting to get some meat out of “Interior Castle” by St. Teresa of Avila.   My eyes can barely focus on the words; I may try to read later after a few cups of java.
This Lent is off to a wonderfully horrible start.  (It’s supposed to be kind of crappy, right?) My car is having transmission problems so we won’t be able to make Ash Wednesday mass.  It would probably be crowded anyway; Ash Wednesday is the highest- attended mass of the year.   Alison has been doing this yelling/anger thing that is so utterly irritating that my only recourse is to run away to another room.  I should probably be putting her into timeout or doing some sort of constructive parenting but I have been beaten into submission and every thing I try discipline-wise seems to bite me back later. 

Ya know, Barney songs are pretty catchy…

I was good and remembered to read the girls their daily Bible story today.  The story happened to be about Cain and Abel—read, MURDER.  We had a short discussion on the terms “envy” and “jealousy” and also talked about sharing.  I think we’re off to a pretty good start! I need to get back to folding laundry. I’m excited about moving on to Noah and the ark tomorrow!


Friday, February 10, 2012

Common misconceptions about cloth diapers


It is a lot of extra work.  

FALSE. When people find out that I use cloth diapers, I usually get responses like, “Wow, how do you handle ALL that EXTRA washing?”  “Or gee, that’s great, but I don’t have the time for that.” First off, anyone who has kids knows that doing laundry is an inevitability in life.  Even if I were to disregard the number of outfits (and loads of laundry) spared because of the supreme leak-prevention of cloth diapers, I probably wouldn’t even notice the extra 2-3 loads of cloth that run through my washer and dryer.  If I actually ran the numbers, I’d bet my wool covers that I actually do FEWER loads in any given week because I don’t have to change my baby’s outfit a half a dozen times a day due to sposie-leaks. 

It is really GROSS. (much yuckier than disposables)

I’m going to classify as an incomplete truth.  Most parents will have to encounter poop, pee, vomit, spit up, and blood throughout the course of their parenting careers. “Gross” is an extremely subjective term.  If dumping a little bit of stink into the wash a couple of times a week is your idea of disgusting, then by all means, cloth diapers ARE icky.  However, if you’re like me and cringe at the idea of changing at least one poop blowout a day, wiping poop that smears up your baby’s back and peeling a poop-soaked onesie over your baby’s head, (and if you especially loathe trying to maneuver a soaked newborn onesie over a delicate newborn head) then disposable diapers are revolting.  This brings me back to the “extra wash” that cloth diapers supposedly cause.  I also enjoy not having a trash can full of human feces stinking up my house.





People who use cloth diapers are super hippie earth-loving tree-hugging nutcases who probably subsist on granola and wheat grass and don’t wear deodorant.

True.
Just kidding.  =)
Most of the cloth-diapering people I know are just regular, common-sensible people who want to save a little money and do something good for the environment.  Granted, most hippie earth-loving tree-hugging nuts DO cloth-diaper, but not all cloth diaperers are hippie earth-loving tree-hugging nuts.  My original motivation for using cloth was the fact that I’d save the exact amount for a manicure/pedicure every month.  Sure, I like the earth just as much as the next guy, but it wasn’t my primary motivation.

Cloth diapers are a pain to master. 

Gone are the days of crinkly plastic panties, pokey diaper pins and ninja-like origami folds.  While the “old-fashioned” styles of CDs still exist, but there are many different types of clothies on the market suited to fit a wide range of parental tastes and baby bottoms.  Parents can choose from the simplest flat or prefold diaper with a waterproof cover (these come in an almost infinite variety of adorable prints!) to frilly, all-in-one diapers that can be used just like a disposable—errr uhmmm, without actually being disposable.



Want to give cloth a try or learn more?  Check out these links:


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