30 days, depending on how you look at it this can be a very long or short amount of time.
Challenge, well again a challenge Is in the eyes of the beholder. What maybe be hard is easy for others and so on and so forth.
I hear the word "Challenge" and echoing in my head I hear myself say "To easy Drill Sargent , to easy" . That's right challenge to me brings back memories of Basic training both good and bad. That was a true challenge to me.
But truth be told I can't even finish a 30 day photo challenge much less the shorter 7 day ones.
I can meet the Challenges of sleep deprived nights, road marches, being both physically and mentally broke down and built back up. Yet I can't remember to post one simple picture a day?!?
So why do I ask myself to come up with a Challenge for myself? Why will this time be different?
What is so important about this challenge?
And how can this be a diaper challenge yet not be about fluff?
Because this is personal.
With the craziness of my life right now I have not been as active as I normally would be say in sites like Facebook or with the RDA (Real Diaper Association ) with whom I hope to one day to be listed as a group leader with.
Any who, a couple of nights ago I hoped on Facebook to leave a friend a threating message about not returning my calls( ;) call me or your face will end up on a milk carton kind of threat ) and I happened on to another friends post about a 7 day flats Challenge. Very interested I clicked the link and read about the challenge to use nothing but flats and no more the 5 diaper covers and only hand wash for 7 days.
Sadly I missed my chance to sign up cause I believe in the message this challenge was trying to get out and would love to have been part of it.
Then I started thinking because part of what I draw from the message in my interpretation it reminded me of a person one that in the past hit a little close to home. ME!
The 7 day challenge (to my understanding of course) to hand wash and only use flats was sparked by an article about families and the high cost of disposable diapers. Families unable to afford the high cost of diapers reusing disposable diapers by cleaning or drying them out or leaving diapers on a little longer then suggested to stretch the number of diapers they have.
Whether you have seen articles about this or not it is happening.
And most all of us have seen the Huggies (tm) ad with a couple is a out with their little one to eat and something just don't "smell" right and a diaper is pasted under the table. As the narrator talks about families not able to afford diapers. Huggies (tm) cares buy our diapers and we will give back( ok I sound a little hateful there ).
Or Pampers(tm) former ads boosting of 12 hour protection (a claim that can still be found on the box just not seen in many ads I have seen lately)
I'm getting off track this post and challenge is not about how I feel about disposable diaper companies.
There are over 400 participating in the 7 day challenge 50 of whom are blogging it.
Why did this get me thinking?, why is it personal to me?, what am I challenging myself to do? (here I go will all the questions again, sorry not feeling the greatest today so I in a silly way using them to keep myself on track or at least trying too)
It got me thinking because as the person who started the 7 day points out this is about diapering with flats as a better alternative to reusing a diaper that's not meant to be reuse.
It's personal because as a young parent years ago I have been there. Not in the reuse a disposable diaper way cause that thought truly NEVER crossed my mind I just couldn't do it. But in the no money and no more or very few diapers left and payday a couple of days away kind of way.
I remember clearly feeling like the crappest(is that even a word) person EVER when diapers where low I knew what diaper was my favorite ,which I didn't like, and didn't care what diaper went on my baby as long as I could afford or at time borrow money for it in my time of need.
It really was not a case of poor budgeting on my account. Not to imply that I have the worlds best budgeting skill. But I would try accounting for each diaper and make my month buy of that many diapers at once. But as is life "Shit happens" (no pun intended) my solutions to this or band aid of a solution . I would gave a little longer naked time, a longer bath before bed so as not to waste a diaper before putting on the diaper before bed. I would use a t-shirt or what back then I would use a burp cloth but not very often cause I was afraid of pins sticking my baby. So a t-shirt was my first pick cause I could tie it on.
I would even hid diapers and at my very worst save any diapers that didn't get used before they where out grown so that if I needed to I could make shift a diaper out of it that would fit by laying it on my baby and tying it on with a shirt.
Lucky felt the days when I would find an old diaper bag I had that still had a diaper or two in it.
My step-father(May he rest in peace) at one point before meeting my mom owned a cloth diaper service( If only he could see me now ;).....) when my 3rd child was born had giving me some of old flats an prefolds he had left to use however. Rags mostly that's what I did and maybe as a wipe if I ran out of them.
Why did I not use it as a diaper in my time of need. Did I think it gross? Nope not it. I find poo, vomit, pee all those things gross in some cases gag me gross. But I didn't use them cause I DID NOT KNOW HOW! (not shouting this is just a fact). by the time came that I had a need to use it my step-father had past away. And I couldn't ask my mom cause I didn't live near her enough to understand the verbal directions she gave me.
Coupled with the fact I had already used them as rags I then didn't want to place something I had cleaned with on my baby's butt. That's the simple true answer.
About my challenge. Because reading of this 7 day challenge provoked such strong feelings in me. It made me realize a few things. More information is needed. I know a trick or two. Have learned a trick or two. And have been there done that a time or two. But that was so long ago.
So for 30 days I challenge me to pack up all my fluff and use flats or cloth diapers that I can buy locally. Not at baby boutique but Walmart, Target, Kmart, second hand or from my our house excluding fluff of course.
I'll hand wash them and use soap I can find in the same manner.
If I can find "plastic" pants I'll use them but will use my covers I currently own as well.
I will share via my blog what I learn any tips or tricks along the way.
And I will spend the 30 days adding up the varying cost.
I have two boys in diapers. Lyric a very active 16 month old(16 months today where has the time gone, mommy loves you )
and Zurich rounding the corner on 5 months and near out of the newborn size diapers (so bitter sweet way to grow Z mommy is so proud of you).
When the 30 days is up I will average the cost of what it would have taken to use disposables up. And hit the world wide web looking for the best fluff good deals I can find be it new or EUC (exactly like I do for my own children) and buy as many as I can to make a donation to an organization dedicated to providing diapers to those in need.
I would also be very grateful to any who would like to at the end of my challenge offer up one still useable diaper from their own stash to add to the donation. I will show my gratitude by adding a diaper from my own stash in return to the donation for the diapers donated. I need to hash out details with my husband on how many I am able to donate from our own diapers as I will still need to be able to diaper our own children in the end. And lord knows I can go over board when it comes to helping other and buying my own fluffy goodness.
So as I hash this out I will update.
I will all so be donating as many disposable diapers as I can to a local women's shelter or Red Cross for Tornado victims in or around my area. As I know washing even by hand is hard in both cases. And any supplies I purchase ie: flats ,covers, pins or snappies in the 30 days to a local group that works with families in my area so that they maybe past on to a family or two that are down on there luck.
In the end will I still say "To ease Drill Sargent, to ease" in the face of this challenge ? We will see come June 30 (start day to be June 1).
From this I hope to get a better idea fit to current time and need . And maybe an idea or two how I can help. How further I can get information out there to that mom much like me who didn't know the first thing about how to use a diaper like those my step-father gave me. And doesn't have a friend or family around to help understand them.
Wish me luck.
Ps. Again I'm blogging away as my my husband and editor is working hard at keeping the "bad guys" out of trouble and people safe as my 4 year old daughter puts it. So please forgive any spelling or grammar errors :)
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