Modern Girl

I love the time that I live in. We have all sorts of benefits to enjoy by living in a modern world. Let's just talk simple things, like the oven, running water, washing machines, tampons, epidurals, television, phones, cell phones, cars with dvd players, air conditioning, etc. I love it all and enjoy it all! And I love disposable diapers! They make my life so easy. I do not want to be messing around with baby or toddler bodily functions. No way! First, it's gross, and second, the germs involved. Ugh!

Why do I bring this up? Today I met with the two other moms I am carpooling with for preschool. Both are great ladies, but both have become very involved in cloth diapers. They were telling me how it is so much more economical. You can pay $350 to have all the diapers and cloths you'll need for your baby's diaper lifetime. Now that sounds like a good deal. I drop $40 a box for diapers at Costco every month and a half. I don't want to know how much I've spent in my mothering years on diapers.

But let's look at this cloth diaper thing a little better. Yes, it's cheaper, but then you HAVE to deal with washing out diapers. One of the moms has her system down where she washes out the diapers in the potty, then sprays them down, and washes them in the machine every other day. The other mom is having her husband hook up a squirt hose to the toilet so she can spray them off in the toilet and then wash them. Even after you spray them off, you still have to wash them in a cold and then a warm cycle to get rid of stains and kill germs. If you dry the diapers outside in the sun, they will last longer as opposed to drying them in the dryer.

By this time in our conversation my head was spinning and I was wondering if these ladies were joking me about this being a great thing. Now I am not a lazy person. We all know I am a project fiend. However, I don't want to mess with poop any more than I have to. There have been times when I've potty trained my other children that I have just tossed underwear because the damage they did in them was not worth cleaning up. I don't care how much I wash out a cloth diaper, I don't want that in my washing machine. And who in their right mind wants to take all that time to care for cloth diapers? Not me! I have other kids to care for (and these moms do too). I have enough to worry about without washing out poopy diapers. I don't think any mom from the cloth diaper era would begrudge us young moms the use of disposable diapers now, unless they are insane. I will work and beg if I have to in order to have money to buy disposable diapers. Don't waste time trying to covert me to cloth. So I just smiled and nodded when I was told by these moms about their cloth diaper love. They asked if I was interested and I said I did find it intriguing, but I wasn't sold. And I did find it intriguing, wondering if they had lost all reason.

No, I am a modern girl. Yes, I've lived without a microwave, i-pod, or cell phone. I grew up without air conditioning or a dishwasher. I've had two babies without using an epidural. But do not take away my disposable diapers. There are some things I refuse to give up!