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.

Writing Out Loud

Today I was in the changing stall at the Y and noticed someone's head above the divider...okay, odd, since they're over 7 feet tall. Then I realized she was writing on the tag of the shower curtain...no underlining something. Hmmm, the plot thickens. When she left, I saw that she'd underlined several times the word "exclusively" which immediately followed the phrase "Made in China".

So, because I like to dwell on the odd and sort of passive-aggressive actions of others, I've come up with several options for this nameless woman that would have been more constructive, as I'm guessing she was not happy that the Y uses vinyl shower curtains made in China to act as 'partition from rest of locker room users'.

1. Talk to the facilities manager about your displeasure.

2. As you know that they Y is on a tight budget, offer to contact manufacturers of US made shower curtains for a donation.

3. BUY them yourself, donate them to the Y and use it as a write-off on your taxes.

These are three good options...all probably more effective than using Sharpie marker which is, maybe not coincidentally, made in the U.S. (did you know that Sharpie was founded in Worcester before being relocated to Chicago in 1866 due to expansion?!) to underline the word 'exclusively' which, quite frankly, I'd not ever have noticed due to the position of the tag and the curtain had she not been doing it while trespassing my space.

Maybe her point in doing this was not that she wanted them to have been made here, or in a country other than China, but that is the conclusion I've come to after being treated with the shock of looking up from the privacy of a changing stall to someone's eyes peering over as they make their political statement at the cost of my ability to privately apply lotion to my generously sized thighs and calves.

The Household Guide to Dying

I was given an advance copy of The Household Guide to Dying: A Novel About Life by Debra Adelaide in order to participate in the Mother Talk review of it.

When I was reading the first couple of pages I thought "Oh no...it's another Martha Quest!" I only say that because of the chickens scratching in the dirt, and I thought in the beginning that Adelaide was going to be like Lessing, who was so wordy and gave so much detail that the joy of reading that is creating the setting and characters in your mind was squashed.

I quickly realized that I was wrong. Wrong. Wrong. While there are several passages that are a bit cryptic, it's actually in order to make way for a couple of the twists you're not expecting. Adelaide creates the world of Delia, a household advice columnist, whose snarky and sometimes off-topic responses have made her an Australian icon. Basing her world on the work of Mrs. Beeton, an actual English-woman from the 1800's who wrote Mrs. Beeton's Guide to Household Management beginning at the ripe old age of 21, which offered advice on everything from how to deal with servant's pay to caring for a sick child.

Due to the popularity of her column, Delia became famous for her own series of Household Guide books; The Household Guide to Home Maintenance, The Household Guide to the Kitchen, The Household Guide to the Garden and The Household Guide to the Laundry. Pushing the idea the furthest possible, and in order to provide some catharsis for herself upon making the decision to cease unsuccessful chemotherapy treatments, her publisher agreed to The Household Guide to Dying which would provide readers with advice for everything from selecting a coffin (she refused to call it a casket) to making meals ahead to freeze for the family you'd leave behind (if you were a mother as was she).

The sections of the book where she talks about the laundry were so tantalizing that I found myself imagining how I'd have my laundry room in the home that my husband promises me we'll someday own. It was striking to me how the attitude in other countries is so different regarding the laundry. I have a friend from Australia and I know that we're still shocked that she doesn't own a clothes dryer; so I laughed out loud when I read the following passage regarding the code of the clothesline:

And then, in the suburbs, washing left on the line overnight indicated a serious lapse in domestic care. Probably outright immorality: where was that woman? Off in the ladies' lounge having a shandy, no doubt. It was also a clear invitation to thieves and perverts to jump over your fence and steal your lace bras or frilly underpants should you be silly and vain enough to own them.

Finally, you never used dryers. These were for lazy and wasteful people, of those unfortunates who had to live in apartments? In the suburbs, where the sun was generous and a fresh breeze was free, it was a crime not to hang your washing out.

One reviewer called her Household Guide to the Laundry "laundry porn" and I found myself very disappointed that I'd never get to read the full texts of the tomes to which Delia so often referred. It was a little titilating to read about all the mundane tasks of maintaining your home in such a fresh way, and in a silly way, it was just what I needed to read following my three year-old outburst to my husband a few days ago during which I railed about the fact that I didn't get a gold star by my name at the end of the day; I was gifted only with more exhaustion...good times.

The Household Guide is so much more than meets the eye. Taking a journey with Delia through her life as a teen mother who tries to follow the wandering musician of a circus family father of her unborn child to a small town in Northern Australia to her life as a work from home mother of two married to a caring and wonderful landscaper, this book has surprising depth and also a lot of humor.

Another thing that struck me was that as she talked about the way she manages her house, it would take the mention of an iPod or MySpace to remind me that this was a 21st century wife, mother and successful writer, just bringing home that it is quite possible to immerse yourself in the running of your home without having to relegate yourself to historical relic.

When asked how she chose the topic Adelaide replied "Authors will often say the reverse, that the idea or the topic or the entire novel chooses them. In my case, I'm not sure that I did choose to write this novel, but I do remember setting myself a challenge to write about dying in a way that would be original and, in particular, comical. Fiction is – in part, anyway – the place to confront things and explore ideas that in your own life you are too timid to do. Dying tends to confound most of us, frighten us, make us literally lost for words. We have a lot of trouble finding the right things to say and do when we're required to cope with death. In The Household Guide to Dying, I used the character of Delia as a bold and sometimes confronting voice who is trying to make the idea of dying more palatable to those around her, as well as herself struggling to find the right way to express a process that is profound and universal. Her way is via humour, which for her sometimes works, and sometimes not. And sometimes, despite all her efforts, the words literally evade her."

Because I get a little 'connected' with my characters (aka, I have a hard time accepting that SJP is not really Carrie Bradshaw), I googled Mrs. Beeton and was excited to learn that she was real, and so is her Household Guide. I then got even more excited when they made a reference to a "Delia" (Delia Smith) who is an iconic chef in England. She is a modern figure who announced her TV retirement in 2003 and then filmed a 6 part mini-series in 2008, which aired on BBC. "The Delia Effect" is in reference to the fact that she caused such things as a 10% surge in egg sales after her segment on omelettes and several other overnight sell-outs or "a run on previously poor-selling product as a result of a high-profile recommendation." She also wrote a bestseller How To Cheat at Cooking. But alas, it was just a coincidence of the name, as Adelaide reports that no characters were based on true figures.

While the title may seem like a real Debbie Downer, it is ultimately a novel about life; an examination by a wife, mother and woman who is finally able to take the time to tie up her loose ends and think about the mark she'll leave on those she leaves behind.

You will read this book, if for no other reason than to find out what I mean when I say these two words; blood sausage.

Debra Adelaide is the author of two other novels, The Hotel Albatross and Serpent Dust, and the editor of four themed collections of fiction and memoirs, the latest of which is Acts of Dog. She has worked as a researcher, editor and book reviewer, and has a PhD from the University of Sydney. She is now a senior lecturer in creative writing at the University of Technology, Sydney.

Concrete Thinking

I am a happier person when I feel fit. I am a happier person when I feel fit. Feeling fit feels better than Ice Cream tastes. Feeling fit feels better than Ice Cream tastes...and I just keep chanting these mantras to myself as my 'funky fresh fitness mix' with cool jams such as California Love, Born to Run and Push It provide the bass line to make my feet keep going forward.

I never liked running on a treadmill in my former life of living in a small town with a plethora of country roads, but here I will embrace it. In all fairness, they've come a long way from the shin-splinting monstrosities of our local gym growing up; shock absorption, automated personal trainers, iPod docks, heart-rate monitors, individual TV consoles, earphone jacks and pre-programmed fitness tests including 5 and 10k training runs and those for the military and other federal agencies...whew!

Yesterday I did a "hills" workout and today I did the cardio/respiratory component of the PEB Federal Law Enforcement test. When I was done with my run, I got the number that was my score and walked away realizing I had no idea what the number meant. After stretching, showering and taking H to his swimming lesson I headed to my trusty google site and found that my number was quite sad.

I knew while I was bending over my flacid post-preggo belly to stretch my hamstrings that it wouldn't be an all-star athlete score, (I was given a good dose of reality when I was feeling quite good that the guy next to me, granted he was about three inches taller, and I were matching each others' pace...then I realized he was going almost 3 mph faster than me) and I told myself that whatever it was at least I'd know where I was starting.

You have to have a baseline, and mine my friends, is certainly a base number. My sad little goal for my first 5k in about two years* is to just complete it in less than 45 minutes without stopping to walk...yes, I'm aware that's a 15 minute mile average...there's never been a better time to hit the ground running!

*I signed up for a 5K on May 17th...I'm sure hillarity will ensue.

Bambù e Bambinos

As a proud member of the Facebook nation, I've noticed that it has really intuitive ad software. I've been sucked in by the "Are you 29? Get your free pair of Uggs here!" more than once...fool me twice I guess, right?

When I saw the ad for Bamboo Style Shop in my sidebar, I was surprised as I'd only talked about bamboo in some of my wall comments to other friends, and before I knew it I'd clicked the link and had a screen filled with images of a For C's shower, I got a bamboo bib that is so soft, and then I had the fortune of testing a bamboo baby blanket that was edged in 100% silk (but then I left it at the Y childwatch and it's irresistible softness was appreciated so much by another parent that they failed to put it back down when they picked it up to feel.)

Although the site for Bamboo Style Shop was not yet live, I was able to see some of their products, including serving dishes, lounge pants for women and a bunch of baby gear. Launched by Jack Carter, a self-proclaimed 'eco-nerd', Bamboo Style Shop is based in a small Maryland community, with a mission to provide products that are socially responsible and eco-friendly, without losing any of the luxury.

This whole going green business has been quite a journey for me, because I felt like you had to sacrifice comfort or quality in order to be a good steward, with a lot of the older eco-friendly stuff. When I really started looking at things like cloth diapering and ways to reduce or reuse, I'm slowly but surely putting up the white flag and trying to change my ways...well over half of my garbage gets recycled now (can you believe it, Les?!)

Many manufacturers are creating products made of bamboo, but BSS will be the first bamboo department store selling everything from purses and plates to baby blankets. They are also committed to selling American-made products whenever possible, which is nice to know in the current economic climate. They are proud to offer items from several manufacturers located here in the United States, specifically Pennsylvania, South Carolina, California, and Hawaii, stating "These are 21st Century, green collar manufacturing jobs and BSS is proud to support them." American made items are clearly labeled as such in the product description.

I've been filling out my 'Dream Home Journal' in preparation for the day when I'll finally be a home owner and can pick the details that I want. A friend of mine has bamboo floors and they're beautiful, so that went right in the book.

Bamboo is still fairly expensive compared to it's cotton counterpart, but hopefully a continued demand will lead to greater affordability, as it's a great option for both comfort and conscience.

Some of the benefits of bamboo are that one acre of bamboo yields ten times more fabric than one-acre of cotton! Bamboo has natural UV protection, blocking 98% of the sun's harmful rays. It's breathable, helping you stay 2-3° warmer when it's cold and cooler when it's warm. It also absorbs and wicks away moisture up to four times faster than cotton, it's anti-static, wrinkle resistant, hypo-allergenic, antimicrobial, strong and durable, making it ideal for baby items that you'll wash again and again...and again. Some more. (Actually, the Two-at-once socks are with a bamboo-wool blend yarn.)

Mr. Carter got back to me right away after I told him I'd be interested in posting about his shop; a personal email with lots of information both about both his shop and about bamboo in general. I hope that he's successful and helps you get all your bamboo dreams wrapped up in a pretty little bow...well, not literally, as a part of their eco-conscious business practice is reducing packaging...so maybe wrapped up in a pretty little recycled shipping envelope.

Click over to Bamboo Style Shop and get on the newsletter so you can be kept up to date when the shop opens!