The world of cloth

I’ll never understand why more people don’t use cloth nappies, at least on a part-time basis. It’s funny how many people seem to have this idea that to use cloth is a lot of work and not worth it.

I have used cloth nappies from the very beginning with my son, I have a very big stash and didn’t spend a fortune to begin using them. The nappies are highly effective, are trim enough to be worn under cute clothes, and look adorable on a baby’s bottom.

Now it is true, there is more to wash. I can’t deny that cloth nappies do need washing, it is part of the workload, but it’s a minor part of my week to wash the nappies. Having a baby means lots of washing no matter what nappy option you choose. I wash every day, and most of those loads have nothing to do with nappies.

There also seems to be this myth that they will leak all the time. From my experience this is not the case at all, I have had very few poo blowouts, certainly no more than friends that have used disposable nappies. It is true at nine months old I have had to start boosting some of my nappies due to the larger wee’s an older baby does, but the nappies continue to work just as effectively as ever.

Cloth nappies are not difficult to take out of the house to use, I throw a couple of clean ones in the nappy bag, put in a wet bag for the dirty nappies and I’m ready to go. It is often easier to be using this system as I don’t have to find a bin to dispose of my nappies…and no they don’t smell, no one would know a dirty nappy was in my nappy bag, wet bags are very effective.

I have even travelled with my nappies, twice in fact. It meant I packed an extra bag for the nappies, but it also meant I didn’t have to learn a new system when I went away.

Cleaning poo off nappies is not the issue many think it will be, in truth poo is meant to be removed from disposables as well, it’s just that barely anyone does this. Breastfed poo is water-soluble and can be thrown straight in the washing machine, and babies on solids produce waste that is formed and easily can be flicked off the liner. Even the in between poo’s (you know the one’s, on solids, but still lots of breast milk, so still not formed) can be removed easily; just line your nappies with some microfleece and it will wash off in the machine (just be sure to scrape off any obvious solids with either a spatula, a blunt knife, or even with a bit of toilet paper).

Modern cloth nappies make using cloth especially easy, many that can be bought are just as simple as a disposable to use. Surprisingly, even the steepest learning curve which is a folded terry square is still an effective nappy, and can become simple with practice.

The disorganised and messy mother

When I made the choice to be a stay at home mother for the first year of my child’s life as a minimum, I had held a belief that without the pressure of having to work I would be able to maintain a clean and perfect home…..boy was I wrong.

Keep in mind, I had this thought when I was still pregnant. My own mother always worked to some degree, so I believed that work was the reason it was difficult to maintain a house. It never occurred to me that it was raising three children that caused the difficulty in maintaining a clean home for my mother.

Having only one child at this point, I find myself in disbelief about how difficult even with one child it is to keep on top of all the housework and errands. It was easier when I worked full-time.

Now that I have a child, and understand what a challenge any amount of children pose, I now realise that my previous belief about how ‘easy’ the role of a housewife is was totally wrong. I don’t blame myself for having such naive beliefs, many people seem to harbour this strange belief that being at home is easier than work. This is possibly due to the way society values workers above homemakers; as if making money is more important than making a happy home.

Motherhood has been my most challenging job yet, and to add another ‘new’ role into the mix at the same time of housewife, I feel I was ill prepared for the job. If I had to apply for this job I never would have even made an interview due to the lack of experience.

Nine months in I feel as if I am only just finally starting to get the hang of it all, learning new ways to manage the huge workload every day. I look to my more experienced peers and feel hopeful; all those women out there that seem to manage it with ease and have multiple children. Perhaps one day I can be the envy of new mothers, but for now I continue to operate disorganised and messy.

They lied, it never gets easier but…

…I don’t mind a bit.

It’s funny how often in those first few months with a new baby people will tell you it gets easier. The line of it gets easier after 12 weeks, or it gets easier after 6 months can seem a torturous and cruel comment to a sleep deprived and stressed out mother looking for real solutions and support.

Interestingly enough I have found myself making this same comment, it’s a bizarre comment to make when you feel that it isn’t exactly true. In the face of a stressed mother though it often seems the only thing you can say.

There is some truth in it but, that newborn stage really is incredibly hard and trying. What they don’t tell you when they say it gets easier is that it gets easier in some ways and harder in others. In truth it is always hard, but not in the same way.

The most bizarre thing about discovering that it never really gets easier is that it’s really okay. The hard work of raising a child has so many rewards that in the face of the difficulties I find myself taking all the challenges in my stride with a content acceptance.

While I will admit that there are moments of extreme stress and frustration (we all have them), for the most part the constant barrage of parenting challenges I meet with joy. You might be reading this asking why, the simple answer…

…because I love him.

A long absence

After a long period of no posting it is time to reconnect with the wonderful world-wide web.

It seems the routine of regular posting can be interrupted by the simplest of changes in one’s life, and much like regular exercise it can be hard to get back on the horse once that routine is broken.

Two changes occurred close together that caused this to happen, the first was my modem dying. It was weeks before I was back online; although I had a backup modem, it wasn’t wireless and meant I only had access on my PC and not the laptop. This was enough of a change to make posting just that bit too difficult.

The second change was my baby started crawling. This has been very exciting, endlessly fun, endlessly frustrating, and certainly enough to keep me on my toes. Naturally, posting took a back seat for a while, while I went about finishing the child-proofing of my house.

Now that the child-proofing is complete I can return to regular posting…hopefully.

Death of a modem

In today’s day and age there is nothing that comes as much of a shock to us as the loss of the internet; well, at least not for me anyway.

The internet is so many things these days; a source of contact to the outside world, a shop, a method of bill paying, and of course a source of information. When it goes down I find myself feeling a little lost. This isn’t to say I have nothing else to do, I have plenty else to do; but with its uses being many I can be left at the point of the day I would normally be online feeling a bit of, well, what now?

So what lead me to post on my rather unhealthy attachment to the internet? Well, my modem died, it was a sad day indeed. It was one of those moments when you find yourself a little shocked that something broke, as if pieces of electronic equipment should last forever.

But alas, nothing lasts forever, not even our trusty modems.