Friday, April 5, 2013

How cloth diapers become an addiction (hypothetical case of a serious illness among young moms today)

Today started out a little rough. I was up early with my husband to take him to work so I could use the car today. After waking up, getting myself ready, then my gigantic 1 year old and loading ourselves in the car, we drove 30 minutes to my hubby's job. From there I went to my job to grab my paycheck, turned around and spent most of that paycheck settling my tab, then drove to Wally World to kill a little time (an hour and a half to be exact) waiting for the post office to open so I could send out my latest diaper order to a friend in NY. Bought a little bit of fabric for some cloth wipes and new soaker pads, some bread for my boss (I work in a cafe, inside a gas station) Went to the post office, mailed my package, swung back by work, made it home changed the baby put him down for a nap and settled in at my desk to do some homework.

   Of course this is where the smooth train ride fell off its tracks. My neighbor stops by to chat about some important stuff for a minute, my girlfriends far away are having disaterous events occur and I am scrambling my brain for my best cheering up advice (I hoped it worked!) and nothing judgemental while sending my heart out to her! Neighbor stops by again, a local girlfriend calls to tell me she is arriving early (maybe the best part of my day!) Then, my husband calls. He is almost done with his last run for the day and I have to go pick him up. It is not quite 11 am. YEAH. SO I call my local GF back up, tell her to be at my house at noon, grab me and the bambino and drive all the way up back to hubby's work. AANNDD he is not back yet from his last run (He drives a truck for a plumbing supply company) Wait 20 minutes for him to arrive wandering around the warehouse with my son and his coworkers. he shows up and I wait another 15 minutes for them to pack up his truck for Monday and for us to leave.

 My GF is sitting patiently in her minivan with her 4 kids and one of her daughter's friends. The kids pile out and into my house and my dog is excited and my baby is excited and it is the best kind of chaos I have ever seen. Then of course, it wouldn't be my house if my friends didn't pop in, asking a favor today, and chatting gets under way! This is the best part, we send the children outside to run amok with the dog and the babies (my son at 30lbs and 1 year old and my GF's youngest 7 mos and 17lbs) play inside on the floor and the conversation turns toward diapers, in all of their glory...

Cloth diapers are addicting because firstly they are adorable, secondly they are good for the environment and lastly because when you begin to cloth diaper you are now in "the club" It's the worst kept secret and the most fun you can have with your clothes on!

It, like all addictions, starts out small. If you are like me, living on a budget as most young parents do, you scrimp and save and wait for a deal and get yourself a small, workable, daily use stash. (I am crafty so I make mine, now I sell them in case you didn't know!) Maybe 10 diapers. And they sure are cute! Your house stays comfortbale in temperature so soon, your baby is naked except for today's fashion statement and perhaps his/her amber necklace for teething (Thanks SB!) Pretty soon your little one has grown out of three sizes of clothes and you think they are just growing fast. It gets even better because now your baby looks like a minature hippie in his tye-dye psychdellic or skull patterned dipey and his badass necklace! What an awesome accessory! And functional?! Tell me more..... (Google it)

So you told all of your girlfriends about cloth diapering and they looked at you like maybe you need to spend a few weeks in a ward, she's been eating too many strained peas.... Then out of the kindness of your heart, you spread your disease by GIVING away a coveted item from your sacred stash. She tried it and now she too it hooked! She starts to google in her spare time between chasing after tiny humans destroying her house and cleaning food out of her hair that may have possibly been there a day or two. She finds a co-op, buys a few dipes on ebay at a discount because they are used, and she brings one to your house on your next visit to replace from the one you so graciously bestowed upon her. And you simply LOVE IT.

You begin to search google yourself, find a few local moms who already CD, And you find local suppliers, people who will do a custom job for you and now your mind is racing with all of the incredible ideas rampaging through your head on how to cover your baby's poop shoot. This could get ugly....

You have now fully succumbed to your addiction. You cover your baby's bottom in the most adorable colors and patterns and you have made fast friends with a local creator and she is drawn to all of your amazing ideas because she is to tired and worn out from her own 80098472634 jobs (that's DAILY btw) that she can not think of them herself unless she has an incredibly long vacation from her life! The best part? With all of the money you are saving by using cloth diapers for each of your children and now you've strayed to cloth wipes, you can afford another 8 diapers from 8 different suppliers...

These things have happened to good people! It makes you feel amazing when you find a new color that you don't already have, or perhaps a style you have not tried. Each time you search for and purchase a new diaper you get to put on your thinking cap, evaluating, examining, testing and retesting. You don't need a reason to cloth diaper, but if there ever was one it is simply because your baby CAN look cuter, sans clothes in a cloth butt. (and maybe an amber necklace) Besides, when you are finished potty training all of your children you can donate your diapers to families all over who cannot afford to diaper their little ones. Regardless of how miserly anyone may be, giving to those truly in need and already doing their best feels AMAZING.

Happy Diapering!
 
Most of the babies in the chaos of my day :)

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