It's Been a Chard Day's Night

Last night I used chard for the first time. I never really thought to use it until I'd seen my friend's fritata post on Late Nite Kitchen where she used rainbow chard. I'm definitely an aesthetic person, so seeing the bright red stems against the deep green of the leaves in the produce department this week was all the further convincing I needed.

Back in the swing of the Game On challenge, I'm always surprised to be reminded of how much I love simple foods. We had salmon that I broiled after I'd brushed it lightly with a little bit of Olive Oil, WW Viognier and some garlic. On the side was a little brown rice and the chard, which I wilted in a saucepan with some spinach, garlic, sliced mushrooms and garlic.

I was so pleasantly surprised. I've been going through about two of the large bins of spinach each month because it's just an easy way to get in some veggies, but I vastly preferred both the texture and peppery taste of chard over the spinach. It went really well with the mild, buttery flavor of the salmon and the rice. Next up, I'll be trying out her chard and hazelnut lasagna (but I'll use the walnuts called for, since I've never been a big hazelnut fan).

On Cyber Monday, I started off the holiday shopping season and even got a couple things for myself. After a break from cloth diapers, we've decided to go back to them and I was so excited that BumGenius just came out with a fourth edition that is sized larger and has snaps! Believe me, I know just how lame it makes me that this was my coup of the day. One better, was that I got a Toddler Hawk mei tei at a huge discount. Fabric makes me happy. Both were purchased from mom-owned businesses; Nicki's Diapers and Frogmama.

Someone Let the Cork Out...

And yooooou stink!

J has been gone for just over two weeks, and I must say it's gone a lot more smoothly than I had anticipated. Part of it is that I'm already used to the solo-parenting gig over the last 2+ years of residency, and part of it is because we've stayed super busy.

I've had time to try out some new recipes, promising myself I wouldn't fall into the trap of ordering take-out; only one night of pizza ordered in for the kids! I've even gotten pretty creative with my time-management...when H was at pre-school this morning, I took the time while Charlie was playing from room to room to dust the TV area and wash all the windows...who knew a 4 year-old fingerprints could get to the very top panes?! I also scheduled EnviroClean to come shampoo the carpets on Friday when I get my roots taken care of, which is a good thing because they are probably longer than Alex Haley's at this point.

However, the thing that's been the biggest pain (aside from the lack of 'intimate time') has been the dreaded chore of taking out the garbage. Besides loathing the task, the logistics of it are just annoying. Either I lug the bags with me while I've got Charlie in my arms, and I'm shooing H along toward whatever task we're doing for the day, or I chance H's promise to stay put while I run to the dumpster during Charlie's nap. Yes, the dumpster is in sight-line with my apartment window, but I will definitely appreciate having a house where the garbage is mere steps away. Luckily we no longer have to separate our recycling, so the trip takes less than 3 minutes all together, but today as I was walking, the bag bumped my leg with each step, and as it was looped over my arm to free up the giant box of recycling, I ended up with a tourniquet o'trash by the time I got there and had a brief panic that I wouldn't be able to get it untwisted. With a clang of the door to the compactor, hand-sanitizer applied, I sauntered back to the apartment feeling ten pounds lighter.

I purchased a package of the Earth's Best diapers a couple weeks ago and had been using disposables here and there just to give myself a little break from the poo-washing. I have to say, it's been a reinforcement to me that I appreciate the convenience of disposables, but the stench that goes along with them being in the garbage (I even use little scented bags!) is just nasty. With cloth diapers, you wash it and forget it.

But, at least it's been the motivation for me to take out the garbage pronto instead of procrastinating. Now, about that toilet that needs scrubbing...

Diaper Doody

I joined the ranks of cloth diapering mamas about a year ago, and while that sometimes makes me feel a swell of pride over the amount of money I'm saving, I've also found that you could easily spend a ton on the super cute diapers they have now, if you didn't have downers like rent to pay, and groceries to buy.

I'd been using bumGenius exclusively until a trip to Mothers and Company to return the three unused Pocket Trainers I'd purchased for H, and the candystore-esque display of neatly stacked, brightly colored cloth diapers resulted in the acquisition of two Fuzzi Bunz one size with snaps* and one Wahmies one size diaper (cutest little monkey print you've ever seen) with hooks that just serve to annoy J every time he has to do a diaper change when that one's in rotation. But, whatev', it's really cute and I figure if J can't get it undone, neither can Charlie. Hmm...It's such a shame that the cute little prints are just covered up with clothes. One would almost think it's a waste to buy the prints. Almost.

So, cutesy bits aside, there is one aspect of cloth diapering that is just gross, it's necessary, but gross nonetheless. A diaper sprayer has made the task of de-poo'ing diapers oh-so-much more palatable, but still. The upside? You're flushing it down the toilet instead of letting it sit in a diaper genie...no matter what I did, I could never make that thing not reek.

*I love the snaps! They have a learning curve in deciding which setting to use for how big your kiddo is, but they seem to be more trim than the bG as an added bonus. Oh, and you don't have to rip apart a daisy chain o' diapers each time you do laundry (even though you folded in the laundry tabs).

Poopenomics

It's been about two months now since I've been using cloth diapers exclusively, and I have to say I'm really happy with it. Part of it is the contribution to the environment, but really, it's knowing that if I'm 'out of diapers' it'll never be a trip-to-the-store-with-two-kids-in-tow-that-I-didn't-really-want-to-make-and-it's-the-end-of-the-month-so-now-I-have-to-buy-a-small-package-only-to-go-back-to-the-store-again-in-a-couple-days-and-get-the-bigger-package-at-payday kind of deal. You just put a load in and go about your business.

Here's the skinny on my investment:

15 bumGenius 3.0 diapers-$254.25 (reduced price for bulk buying, free shipping and a free pair of BabyLegs with 12 or more)

1 Diaper Sprayer-$41.99 (worth it's weight in gold, no dunking for this mama)

1 Small Wetbag for diaper bag- $18 (something I'd probaly get anyway for trips to the pool,etc)

2 Large Wetbags for the laundry- $ 30 total

12 Imse Vimse Organic Cotton Flanelette Wipes- $11.35

Total investment $355.59

The wetbags were not a necessity, but will make laundry nicer as I won't have to handle the diapers once they're in the pail...just shove 'em in the washing machine and be done with it. I got two so that one can line while the other is being washed.

The other consideration is that with disposables, I had to buy regular and overnight diapers. Now, I just add another insert for night-time wetting. They each came with a newborn and regular insert, so I just use both together at night. I've had no leaking issues, and there have been some long nights in them.

I had a lot of people ask me about the increased water and detergent use. After two months of exclusive cloth (about 8 months of cloth and disposable) I've had no increase in my water bill and don't buy detergent anymore often. I have a front-loader so it's energy efficient, and they get dried on low in the dryer, or aired out overnight if I have the time. Also, you use 1/8 of the recommended detergent for both the cold and hot washes of the diapers, so for each load of diapers you wash, you're only using 1/4 of what you'd use for a load of laundry.

When you compare it to the cost of disposables, especially if I were to use Seventh Generation ($11.99 for 35 diapers at Target; essentially 2.5 days worth) Whole Food 365 Everyday Value ($9.99 for 38) or another chlorine-free diaper, you can see how the savings add up pretty quickly. Add to the cost of diapers, the Diaper Genie 2 re-fills that are replaced every 2 weeks (at the very least) and are $5.99 each. If we say that C will be potty trained at the same time H was, that's $177 in pail liners alone that I won't be spending. The Diaper Genie itself was $39.99 and we don't use that as our diaper pail now, as you don't really want to seal in that smell.

Even better was that my trial with gDiapers was not a loss. There is a huge re-sale potential for cloth diapers that have been well-cared for. I was able to re-sell my g's for over $100, which I put toward the bumGenius diapers. Because I plan on more children, the savings will compound, as I'll be able to use them again with the next baby; supplementing new ones as needed, but the initial investment has been made. I had tried g's because I figured they'd be a good diaper gateway drug, and it was a really good way to see if I'd be able to do cloth, while have a disposable option built-in. I really liked them, and they helped me see how easy cloth diapering really was. (*gDiaper is coming out with their own cloth insert now) Once, however, I decided that I'd do cloth full-time, I wanted a more comprehensive cloth diaper with a built in later between the insert and baby's skin; so on the gDiaper yahoo group's list for sale they went. Obviously that's not an option with disposables.

If you've been thinking about cloth, but don't think you'll be able to do it, I would encourage you to do a little research and see if it would fit in your family's life-style, keeping an open mind...with all the aides out there (the sprayer being the biggest) they are so much more user-friendly than the diapers with pins that our moms used (and dunked). And while the bG is definitely the high end of diapers, the plain-jane pre-folds have a huge number of parents who love them with great success.

I've talked with some other mom's at the park, and have to mention that a key factor has been J's support of our use of cloth diapers. While he's not exactly running out to buy them for me, he has not complained or taken a changing strike or anything else that would make it more difficult for me to truly see if it could work with our family. If I were still working full-time could I make it happen? I don't know, quite frankly I probably wouldn't have even tried. But I do know that one of the things that made me give it a more genuine look is when my friend, who is a radiology resident and has two small children, let me know that even she has time to use cloth at least half-time.

However, will I be judgemental about other people's decision of cloth vs. disposable and how it works in their family? No. I'm only writing this because I was so negative about cloth diapering before, so I want to spread the word with how happy I am in using them...well, maybe happy is a stretch because handling pee and feces can only facilitate so much joy.

I honestly can't believe it's only been 8 months since I rolled my mouse, and my eyes, over the 'purchase' button on my first gDiaper starter kit after my friend had been talking for months about her own eco-conscious decision. Mea Culpa! Good thing les never gives up on educating such a stubborn friend!

*Since I'm part of the g-Mum program, I'll still be giving updates about the product even though I don't use them exclusively anymore.

Wiped Out

When I first started cloth diapering, I was overwhelmed by all the choices available; the sprayer, the wetbag, the dry bucket, the deodorizer and the list went on and on. None of these were necessities, mind you, but they do make the life of a cloth diapering mama (and dad) run a lot more smoothly.

It wasn't until I had been cloth diapering exclusively for about a month that I stopped to realize there was no reason to be using disposable wipes when I didn't have a disposable diaper in which I could easily throw them away. I had been putting them in a plastic baggie but then it hit me that I'd ignored the most simple accessory; cloth wipes!

When we had H, the hospital in Portland used cloth wipes and it was a lot easier to get that sticky meconium off with a real cloth that had warm water on it, than with the disposable wipes we used on C at the hospital here.

There are a ton of 'recipes' for home-made wipes solution, you can buy ready-made solution like bumGenius Bottom Cleaner or California Baby Non-Burning and Calming Diaper Area Wash or you can turn on your tap and use plain old water. The possibilities will fit any budget and it's just one more way that you can streamline your process.

The wipes I picked first are the Imse Vimse Cloth Wipes. They came in a pack of 12, are an unbleached organic flannelette and are so, so soft. While they are a little smaller than standard wipes, they get the job done and wash and dry well, and at $11 they cost less than I pay for a case of disposable wipes, and I won't have to buy them over and over again. I think that even just 1-2 more packages would be all I'd need in order to have enough to make it from one wash load to the next.

I still pack disposable wipes in the diaper bag (throw them away with a biodegradable bag) and use them to clean hands and faces after lunch at the park or other outings, but I'm hoping that through this cloth diapering journey, I'll continue to streamline the process so that it's all ready to go for baby #3 (after C is potty trained, of course!)

Extreme Green

You gotta love Saturday Night Live

Crouched in the Fecal Position

Today, J installed the BumGenius diaper sprayer that I ordered from amazon, and was declared 'defective' by J before we left on our trip. After talking to "Support Guy" at The Mini Shower, I was pretty certain that it was more operator error than defective product. Sure enough, it now works like a dream. Well, I guess it's all in perspective because I'm not sure at what point in my life I let the purchase and successful implementation of a diaper sprayer be a highlight, but alas...

I went grocery shopping after being gone for 2+ weeks, and filled our cupboards and fridge to the gills with foods that would help support our resolution to be a healthier family. I was a little shocked that after following my meal plan shopping list, along with some lunch and breakfast staples, that I had not let my weak self take over and buy the ice cream that was on sale. That's right, I got home with the only "dessert" in my bags being three boxes of fat free instant pudding. On that trip, I got some of H's favorites; clementines ("baby oranges"), grapes, bananas and "cheese from the bag" (shredded cheese). Apparently we need to offer a little more cheese from the bag and white meat chicken nuggets because the by-product of our ships in the night parenting style today was that H had a Fiber One granola bar and two clementines for breakfast with J. Then when I awoke from my post nursing-all-night stupor and tagged J out to have a nap before work, I let H have two more clementines when H George (because he is anyone but himself these days) assured me in monkey-speak that he'd not had any yet today.

Two Numero Dos accidents in the underwear later, and I was pretty sure that he'd told a little white lie about the oranges.

For our big meal of the day, I served a vegetarian lasagna with applesauce and green salad...yes, our first Meatless Monday. All H ate was the applesauce and some grapes. He was mid-sentence talking to J and got a little teary...it's so nice when the kids appreciate your culinary efforts. But, wait..."Are you pooping?!" I yelled with surprise...yep. No shame, just let it rip at the table. Awesome. J got to take that one for the team, as I ate my cup of chocolate pudding. However, after H knocked over the glass of milk he was drinking beside the table, after being told about 4,000 times to sit down, he was relegated to his room.

All too quiet in there, I went to check on him, and noted the bow-legged saunter of a bull-rider, and knew he'd poo'ed again. Awesome. He looked at me and said "My pee makes polka dots! Isn't that silly?!" Yes, that's exactly what I'd call it. It's so silly, when you spatter your carpet with pee.

H is now in the tub, and will be wearing a diaper for the remainder of the day. He'll not be eating anymore fruit today as we finally put two and two (well, actually it was 4 number twos) together after examining what he'd actually eaten all day.

I would recommend the sprayer to any cloth-diapering or potty-training parent. Now maybe I need to invest in a stool to sit on while crouched over the toilet bowl spraying out all of H's underwear and C's diapers, it's a bitch on the ole back. I can say, however, that it sure beats the dunk and swish. Ahhh...remember the days when crouching over the toilet bowl was the direct result of having too much fun?

Thank god for hot water, anti-bacterial soap and hand sanitizer.

Woman of the Cloth

After trying out gDiapers for a little while now, I've decided that I'd like to take it one step of crazy further and use cloth while at home and g's while out and about. My reason for this is much more economy than ecology, but the biggest concern I have was reinforced when I suggested it to J and got the following response; "Have you ever been to someone's house who uses cloth diapers? Their whole house smells like our diaper pail." Yeah, I know. BUT that could just be that they didn't really know what they were doing.

I was confident that was the only reason, so put a message out to my mom's group talk loop as there was at least one woman who cloth diapered four times over, and she is not the type to have a stinky house, so I set out to pick her brain.

I cc'd my mom and sisters as I knew that my mom cloth diapered the four of us. Since there is that large age gap between the two sets of sisters, I knew "The Big Girls" would have some insight as well, as they would definitely not have forgotten a stinky house. My mom wouldn't have known, as she has no sense of smell.

I got some great responses from my mom's group which were very encouraging, and one mom even offered about 3 dozen diapers. From my family, however, that's another story.

Here's what I got from my sister, Sherri:

Hello Sally,

Ok, I'm going to present a theory about handling cloth diapers I'vebeen carrying around for years but have been reluctant to share. Butstay with me for a moment and see if you don't agree that this is alittle strange. I'll walk you through it:

Consider that all four of us girls were raised in the same household,in the same town, with the same diet and general lifestyles during ourformidable years. Now, think about our relative health histories,thinking first about the "big girls" and then the "little girls."There have been marked differences in the health histories of thesetwo sets of siblings.

Little girls:

Gall bladder surgery

Routine orthodontia.

Big girls:

Ovarian cysts

Blood clot

Hysterectomy

Asthma

Hay fever

Cardiothoracic teratoma

Mental illnesses including depression and mood disorder

After taking into account all of our background characteristics, only one thing can explain our disparate health issues: Exposure to andrepeated handling of cloth diapers. The big girls had to change thelittle girls' diapers, which involved "dunking the diaper" in thetoilet to remove solid waste before placing them in the diaper pail. This exposure occurred over a sustained period of nearly five years (especially for one of the big girls in particular who will remain anonymous due to HIPAA issues). I'm surprised we're not both on dialysis.

Love,

A "Big Girl"

Nothing like a little familial support when undertaking an endeavor that I'm not quite sure I'm not too squeamish for. Afterall...who really wants to handle their kids' poo that intimately? I think I'll just have to be encouraged each time I want to dry heave as I open the pail to do a load of diapers by the shit load of money I'll be saving by staying home, nursing and cloth diapering while at home. But will the pocket book win out in the end? Stay tuned...