Our Saturday, and also, everything you probably didn't want to know about diapers

Yesterday morning I said to Matt, "So, I really need to get out of the house today. What do we want to do?"

I thought he'd suggest a hike, or a trip to the Children's Museum or something. Except that it was kind of a rainy day, and we went to the Children's Museum last weekend (although really, we could take our girl there three times a week and still enjoy ourselves, as there's no way to do the entire museum in one visit). He said, "What if we go check out the new Elliott Bay Book Company?"

I positively erupted with glee. I've hardly bought any books at all since I've had Isaac, since I'm trying to be conservative in my spending while I'm on maternity leave and I do have plenty of unread books. But I love bookstores, and I've been hearing for two weeks now that the Elliott Bay Book Company is absolutely phenomenal. So the bookstore became part of our Saturday agenda, along with a trip to REI so Matt could use his birthday money to buy a new rain jacket and so Suzannah could play on the treehouse playground thingie up on the top floor; she is now officially brave enough to climb up there by herself and go down the big slide alone while I watch and cheer, which is fun for both of us. (On a side note, though, HEY, PARENTS OF ELEVEN-YEAR-OLDS. How about you NOT let your kids run WILD all over the play area when the sign clearly says it's for ages seven and under? It would be awesome if I were not the ONLY PARENT there, and if I have to yell at your boys time and time again for TRAMPLING my little girl I tend to get a little annoyed and break out the Teacher Voice, and I AM ON A BREAK FROM THAT. Thanks.)

Anyway, the Elliott Bay Book Company really is amazing. It was kind of a quick trip and I didn't linger as long as I would have liked, but Matt did let me wander the stacks alone for a bit as he read to Suzannah in the children's section (the castle is still there, thank goodness; Suzannah talked all morning about going to play in the castle at the bookstore) and Isaac took a little snooze. I was efficient and kind of giddy and before I knew it, I had three books in my hands. Three is a respectable little splurge. Then I grabbed one more. Done! Four books is quite a stack for one trip. And then, on my way to the register, I grabbed one more. Oops. But! I had a punch card, and my five books meant that I used up the punch card and got twenty dollars off, so really it's like I got a free book. Right? And you all want to know what I bought, right? Well, LET ME TELL YOU.

The Girl Who Played With Fire, by Stieg Larsson -- currently a bestseller, which you've probably seen if you've set foot in a Barnes and Noble or Borders. It's the second in a trilogy by a Swedish journalist who actually died before they were published; they were discovered after his death. And apparently he wrote them just for fun. And they are fun. The first book, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, was the last book I read before going into labor and I'll always remember lying on the couch sort of miserably, passing my time with it. I thought it might be fun road trip reading on our upcoming trip to Montana.

Girl Meets God, by Lauren F. Winner -- a recommendation from Miss Foxy, who has shared pieces of it with me, most notably the chapter on Ash Wednesday Evangelism. It's a memoir of Winner's conversion from Judaism to Christianity, and the bits I've read are both well-written and compelling, so I'm looking forward to reading the entire thing.

Where I'm Calling From, by Raymond Carver -- because I need to read more Raymond Carver, because he breaks my heart, because he was married to the first poet I ever fell in love with on my own as a young teenager (Tess Gallagher, who actually lives in the Pacific Northwest).

Will Grayson, Will Grayson, by John Green and David Levithan -- because I love John Green enough to read anything he writes, and because it's been awhile since I've read good YA fiction. Also: this copy is signed and I am a sucker for signed books, even if it doesn't say, "TO SHARI: I LOVE YOU. XXXOOO." (Which is how Sherman Alexie signed one of his books for me at the first reading of his I attended. Aren't you jealous? I don't even care that he was being a smartass.)

Let the Great World Spin, by Colum McCann -- because it looks like an amazing novel, period. And what a fantastic title.

Good trip.

***

Speaking of trips, we're getting ready to hit the road in a big way, for the first time as a family of four. In the grand scheme of things, this will not really be a big trip, especially for two people who are used to driving long distances, but driving to Montana and back in the span of five days is not an insignificant undertaking when we factor two small children -- one of whom is only four months old -- into the equation. Would you like me to talk about why the idea of flying with two small children makes me quite literally very sick to my stomach? And how I would rather drive around the entire earth five times than fly for half a day with kids? Some other time? Okay.

I start thinking about packing a few days in advance, because I want to make sure we all have enough clean laundry and snacks packed, and because we need to purchase certain items we're not used to buying. Such as diapers. We bought our first pack of disposable diapers in four months this morning, and I have to tell you, it felt strange. Isaac has worn cloth diapers exclusively since he was about ten days old, and it took this purchase of disposables for me to realize that I really love our cloth diapers. (Some people are hardcore enough to continue cloth diapering even when they're away from home, but I'm not quite up for that.)

A little disclaimer: If you didn't or don't use cloth diapers on your babies, I'm not going to sit here and judge you. Okay? We didn't use cloth on Suzannah, although now we both often say we wish we had. It was something that always sounded like a good idea, but we didn't really research it ahead of time, and then we fell into a groove with disposables and never really got out of that groove. Also, I didn't know a single soul in real life who used cloth diapers and didn't know where to start. However, it's something I decided I really wanted to do with our second child, so as soon as I got pregnant with Isaac I said to Matt, "I want to do cloth diapers this time." He said, "Cool." I guess I'm writing this all out because a.) I'm trapped at the computer with a nursling asleep on my lap and I don't really want to move him so I should find SOMETHING to babble about, and b.) if anyone is reading this and thinks it might be something they'd like to try, I'm here to say this: Cloth diapering is awesome. In my experience so far, the only way it's possibly any more work than using disposables is figuring out what you want to use, because the choices are endless -- and that can be a little overwhelming at first. But otherwise, I've found it to be just as easy, and I'm the one who does all the laundry.

This is also a response to a certain friend of mine who told me (lovingly, I assume -- AHEM) that I am "frickin' psycho." Even if I don't make a cloth convert out of anyone, maybe I'll present a convincing argument for why I'm not actually a frickin' psycho. (I mean, I might be, but not because of cloth diapers.)

Anyway, I had two reasons for wanting to use cloth.

1. It is less expensive than using disposables. A LOT LESS EXPENSIVE. It did not take much number-crunching at all to realize this, and I won't bore you with the specific breakdown, but even figuring in the cost of water and detergent, it's a no-brainer. Now, the up-front cost can seem intimidating, and I had more than a few people say, "Really? Seventeen dollars for one diaper?" But keep in mind that my stash should, ideally, last us through potty training. Also, there is a huge variety of diapers out there, as I came to discover when I began asking around. We use a combination of prefolds with covers from Green Mountain Diapers and Fuzzi Bunz pocket diapers. The prefolds are cheap. Our newborn stash -- 24 diapers -- cost less than one giant box of newborn disposables at Babies R Us. Granted, Isaac grew out of his newborn stash in, like, two days, but it was still a good bargain. Also, prefolds make excellent burp cloths and stuffers for pocket diapers. They're not as easy as pockets or All-In-Ones, which go on about as easily as disposables, but they're also not that hard to figure out. Let me put it this way: if my husband can blearily change one in the middle of the night, anyone can get the hang of them. Believe me. I still love our prefolds. The pocket diapers are a bit more expensive, but they're also incredibly convenient and easy to use. Also, they should last a long time -- through potty training.

(I should note that it is entirely possible to spend a lot more than we do on cloth diapers. I belong to some wonderful online communities of women who use cloth diapers and some of them have huge and amazing stashes -- I never would have thought that cloth diapering can become somewhat of an addiction, but I actually see how it can. One woman posted a picture of her stash of over 90 diapers (!!!) and I admit, I was a little jealous of her Goodmamas. I haven't succumbed to the urge to buy any yet, though.)

2. The realization of just how much waste we were contributing to the landfills grossed me out. This doesn't really need any further commentary, I guess.

And Bonus Reason #3:

3. They are cute. I'm sorry, disposables are not cute. This is, I admit, a pretty shallow reason, but I'm going to throw it in there anyway. I think Isaac is adorable in just a diaper with his big ol' belly and chubby thighs. I mean, okay, I think both of my children look adorable in anything, and Suzannah wasn't not cute when she wore disposables, but the diapers themselves? are not cute. I think baby things should be cute.

I've also been pleasantly surprised to learn that:

4. They are easy to use. Prefolds are simple, workhorse diapers that can take a lot of abuse and almost NEVER leak (and the Winslow children? THEY CAN POOP). The pocket diapers also leak significantly less than disposables did for us, and they go on very easily. We bought diapers with snaps because they hold up well over time, but you can buy them with velcro, too. If you can work a disposable, you won't find these any more difficult. Laundry -- the part everyone thinks must be so horrible -- is a piece of cake right now. We simply toss the diapers in a wet bag inside a pail (a basic heavy-duty plastic kitchen garbage pail), and then toss the whole thing in the wash. We do a cold pre-wash without detergent and a hot wash with a cold rinse. So far, it works like a charm, and we haven't had any staining or stink issues. The poop is a non-issue. Isaac is exclusively breastfed and won't be starting solids for quite some time yet, so his poop dissolves like yogurt -- totally water-soluble. (I don't have any experience with formula poop and cloth, but I have met many mothers who bottlefeed and use cloth diapers and don't seem to have any problems.) I don't even count this as "real" laundry, since I don't really have to fold or sort it; the most time-consuming part is stuffing the pocket diapers with their inserts. We also use cloth wipes, which is easier than disposables -- because when you change a diaper, what do you do with the wipe? You leave it in the diaper, right? It's much less gross to use cloth wipes than to pick the disposables out of them. I know his poop will get a lot grosser when he starts eating solid food, but you know, you're supposed to shake poop out of disposable diapers into the toilet anyway, so I still don't think it'll be a lot more work. I hope.

I can't believe I just wrote this much about diapers. My life, it is so glamorous. I might not be psycho for using cloth diapers, but maybe I am for thinking anyone would want to read a blog about it? Then again, I wish I'd have had someone to talk about this with when I was pregnant with Suzannah, or when she was a newborn, or at least known of someone who actually used cloth and didn't find it totally overwhelming on top of caring for a newborn. So if this serves as encouragement for anyone, that's cool. And if this bores the rest of the world to tears, well, sorry about that.

And oh, my baby is awake, so I can stop rambling now. I think he needs a change.