Children Are Our Future

The title is kind of a tongue twister isn't it?

As a teacher, I have said this saying many times, but now as a parent, it means even more to me. 

As a newbie in the world of blogging, I joined a writer's workshop hoping to improve my skills so people will actually want to read what I'm putting down. 

My first assignment: Write about a quote that means something to me. Well, there are tons of quotes that I have enjoyed over the years, but I wanted something that would pertain to my topic on this blog. I asked my friends on Facebook for their favorite quote, and out of my 200+ 'friends' I got three responses. Okay. So I turn to someone who is always there for me, my good friend, Google. I searched for environmental quotes and read through only a few before this one gave me goosebumps:

Because we don't think about future generations, they will never forget us.  ~Henrik Tikkanen

Deep, isn't it?

Anyone that knows me personally, knows I'm a bit of an environmentalist. I try my best to make good choices so that our Earth remains in tact for our future. 

Do you remember that movie, Wall-E? I took my nieces to see it in the theater and I am one of the only people I know who really enjoyed it. I was entertained and it opened my eyes even wider to the problems we are facing if we continue to abuse our Earth like we do now. 

When Jaelyn was two months old, we went on a two week vacation to visit family and friends in Oklahoma and Texas. I was nervous to use cloth diapers and travel so I decided that it would be easier to use disposables. Boy, was I mistaken!!

Almost as soon as I got to my aunt's house, Jaelyn had a blowout-her very first poop outside of the diaper experience. Disgusting, dirty and embarrassing! This was some of my family's first time meeting our baby and she was a stinky mess!

During the week, the trash was overflowing with used diapers and I could see how much actual waste paper diapers cause. Taking out the trash once a day and making sure I had enough diapers on hand so that I didn't have to run to the store was very annoying. 

The following week was more of the same-blowouts, washing little baby outfits in the sink, and taking out the trash. I was so ready to go home and use my cloth diapers again by the end of the trip.

I wonder if parents who use disposable diapers because they think the laundry is a hassle, or the poop will be too gross, or they are scared of leaks in public look into the future to imagine what the world will be like for their children. Most people say they want what is best for their kids' future, but it seems that's true as long as it's not an inconvenience today.

What would you rather look at? 

Disposable diapers at a dump

-OR-

Jaelyn's diapers line dried on our second vacation in Oklahoma

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Lazy Launderer?

A common reason people say they won't use cloth is the laundry. The laundry is already piling up, spilling out over the basket, covering the floor, and a host of random missing items have made their way into the mess. Why would anyone want more laundry to do?

Diaper laundry is not in the same category as your regular laundry. 

First, you don't have to sort it. You take your pail liner or wet bag, put it in the washer and turn it inside out. You don't even have to touch a dirty diaper. You wash your diapers-there are many ways to wash cloth, and most people have their own routines, so we won't get into that now. 

Once your diapers are washed, you dry them. I personally like to dry my diapers outside. This is a little extra work for me as I have to lay them out instead of just shoving them in the dryer, but it makes me feel better about my carbon footprint. Luckily, I live in the desert, and my diapers dry faster outside anyway.

After my diapers are dry, I have to stuff them. That means I put the microfiber insert (absorbent part) into the diaper (waterproof part.) This may take a few minutes, but I do it when my daughter is playing in the room and sometimes she helps. 

Jaelyn sitting in the basket of clean diapers 'helping' with the laundry-4 months old.

When they are stuffed, I put them into the baskets which are under her changing table and they are ready to be peed and pooped in again.

The important thing to remember about diaper laundry is that if you don't do it, you don't have diapers readily available to put on your child. You can leave clean socks, shirts, underwear and pants in a pile on top of your guest bedroom bed for a week, and nobody will be inconvenienced too much. If you run out of clean diapers, you might have a naked baby running around the house. That's okay here-I have tile.

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Going Bananas!

A couple of weeks ago, I went to change a stinky diaper and I found the grossest poo since my daughter first began solids. It was almost a blowout which made me so glad I use cloth! 

After cleaning up the bombed area, I had to go use the diaper sprayer for the very first time. I had been so lucky for the last three months of solid food and now I had to face the inevitable. Disgusting, but necessary. Before cleaning the diaper though, I decided to take a picture and send it to my husband, Lee, at work-just so he knew what I was dealing with at home. 

Lee and I debated what could have caused this. We decided it must have been the black beans I gave her when we went to Chipotle for dinner the night before. Sure enough, she had another explosion, and after a quick inspection, those little black beans were there. 

For a couple of days, these types of diapers appeared and had to be dealt with. I got worried it could be some sort of illness, so we called the doctor and took her in.

What an interesting experience to say the least! Trying to explain baby poo to the doctor was not an easy task! 

Dr: Was it more like water or peanut butter? 

Me: In between.

Dr: Was it like apple sauce? 

Me: Kind of, but not that runny. 

Dr: What do her normal poops look like?

Lee: Twinkies

Dr: Are they soft or are they hard?

I answer soft and Lee answers hard.

Dr: If you squished them with your finger, would they crumble or are they more like peanut butter?

Me: They would squish if I were to stick my finger in there.

Dr: So her poops are normally...

Lee: Like a Snickers

Me: Could we please stop using food I like to eat to describe her poops?

Dr: If the poops aren't watery, it's not diarrhea.

Lee: Show her the picture.

I bust out my phone and find the picture of the very first explosion our baby had. The doctor is very excited we took a picture and upon inspecting it she tells us this is in the normal range for bowel movements. This is not diarrhea. If we want her to stop having these types of bowel movements, we needed to go back to the diet she had previously eaten. 

So I thought: What has changed in her diet?? I came to the conclusion that, among other things, she hadn't had as many bananas as usual lately, so I decided to buy some.

As soon as she had a banana, her diaper changes were normal again! I didn't need to use the sprayer, I could just plop that thing in the toilet and flush it away. This was good. I was beginning to worry about what to do because Jaelyn was starting to take an interest in the toilet, and I cannot be having that!

The bad thing is, I'm out of bananas again. Time to go grocery shopping!  

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