Cloth Diaper Decision: Done!
This may seem like a meaningless post to some, but if you're in the childbearing/childrearing stage, you'll understand why I had to write about it. There are just so many decisions out there!
This past week I realized through some discussion that I will not do cloth diapers. At least not right away.
Ahhhhhhhh, what relief!
I started to research them and found myself overwhelmed with the entire cloth diaper world. There are so many different kinds, different things that can go with them (inserts and covers just to name a few) and different "systems". I could not make a decision and I started to feel like time is running out--what pressure!
Then, over brunch at Ouisie's house (which was so delicious), I asked my friend Audrey about her decision on diapers. Audrey is a pretty "natural" Mom and I value her opinion; I feel like we share a lot of similarities in personality and life in general. She basically said that she has to decide what's most important to her regarding childrearing, and she just isn't sure that using cloth diapers are that important to her right now.
It wasn't until that point that I too began to think about what was most important to me. Cloth diapers were not on the top of the list, in fact, they were no where near the top. On our drive back to MD, Jeff and I talked about what was important to us: Godly values, reading and singing to our children, music, good nutrition, a love of learning, manners, independent play and quality time each day as a family. Jeff then said that all of those things leave a lasting impact on the child, and frankly, using cloth diapers does not.
Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of having cloth on my babies' bums and like knowing my small contribution would be helping our fragile environment, but at least for right now, I will be going with the rest of mainstream culture and will use disposables. Saying mainstream culture kinda makes me cringe.
In my quest to (prepare) be the best Mom I can be, I often try to make things black or white, right or wrong so that my decisions are easier to make. This is not always the good thing to do, but it makes things seem a bit "cleaner". Hearing Audrey (a great Mom) say using cloth wasn't for her right now gave me the freedom to say that myself, and still know I can be a good Mom.
I may change my mind at some point, or I may always use disposables. Who knows. But for right now, I feel such freedom! I know that the time I would've spent obsessing over which diaper brand, which colors, which cleaning process would work for me will be spent on other, more productive things. And when the babe comes, the time doing diapers will be spent doing something else I know I want to do, like scrapbooking, or making cards to light up people's day, or cooking. This makes me oh-so-happy.
This past week I realized through some discussion that I will not do cloth diapers. At least not right away.
Ahhhhhhhh, what relief!
I started to research them and found myself overwhelmed with the entire cloth diaper world. There are so many different kinds, different things that can go with them (inserts and covers just to name a few) and different "systems". I could not make a decision and I started to feel like time is running out--what pressure!
Then, over brunch at Ouisie's house (which was so delicious), I asked my friend Audrey about her decision on diapers. Audrey is a pretty "natural" Mom and I value her opinion; I feel like we share a lot of similarities in personality and life in general. She basically said that she has to decide what's most important to her regarding childrearing, and she just isn't sure that using cloth diapers are that important to her right now.
It wasn't until that point that I too began to think about what was most important to me. Cloth diapers were not on the top of the list, in fact, they were no where near the top. On our drive back to MD, Jeff and I talked about what was important to us: Godly values, reading and singing to our children, music, good nutrition, a love of learning, manners, independent play and quality time each day as a family. Jeff then said that all of those things leave a lasting impact on the child, and frankly, using cloth diapers does not.
Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of having cloth on my babies' bums and like knowing my small contribution would be helping our fragile environment, but at least for right now, I will be going with the rest of mainstream culture and will use disposables. Saying mainstream culture kinda makes me cringe.
In my quest to (prepare) be the best Mom I can be, I often try to make things black or white, right or wrong so that my decisions are easier to make. This is not always the good thing to do, but it makes things seem a bit "cleaner". Hearing Audrey (a great Mom) say using cloth wasn't for her right now gave me the freedom to say that myself, and still know I can be a good Mom.
I may change my mind at some point, or I may always use disposables. Who knows. But for right now, I feel such freedom! I know that the time I would've spent obsessing over which diaper brand, which colors, which cleaning process would work for me will be spent on other, more productive things. And when the babe comes, the time doing diapers will be spent doing something else I know I want to do, like scrapbooking, or making cards to light up people's day, or cooking. This makes me oh-so-happy.
posted by Kelly | 3:24 PM
1 Comments:
Kelly,
If you can figure out how to fit scrapbooking in to life with baby, please let me know! I'm glad you are experiencing freedom in the decisions you are making as you await your little one. It's alot more fun than guilt which seems to be the #1 mainstream over disposable diapers these days!!!
Becky
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