I started using cloth diapers when my oldest child was 2.5 months olds. It took me a couple months to use them exclusively, but eventually we just stopped buying disposable diapers. A few months into our journey I was hooked! I loved that using cloth diapers saved money on our month to month expenses. There was a period of time (about a year) we were living paycheck to paycheck. There was NO WAY we could have afforded disposable diapers that year! I would have been taking food out of my grocery budget to pay for disposable diapers. Cloth diapers were a financial BLESSING in our lives!
So why am I writing this? All of my friends know where I stand with cloth diapers already. When we first started this blog it was to share our love of cloth with you all. So what’s going on here?
Well. Hold on to your seats people.
My family and I (the Winzer portion of Living On Love) have been using DISPOSABLE DIAPERS!
WHAT?!?!?!? Ok ok ok calm down! I know it’s a shock. Seriously CALM DOWN!
Ok, I’ll get serious now. I know you want to know what going on; otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this right now.
Here are the facts:
1) I have 2 kids in diapers. I had intended to have my daughter potty trained by the time her brother was born in October 2013. My kids are 17 months apart and I had heard stories of 17 month olds being potty trained. Well THAT didn’t happen for us! My daughter was potty trained (except for night time) when she turned 2 years old. Then something happened and she forgot everything she had learned. She went from wanting to do everything herself, to needing help for everything! My mother told me this would happen!
2) With 4 people in the house, laundry REALLY adds up quickly. The kids and I go through at least 2 outfits per person, per day. I know my laundry system needs some work. I try to do a couple loads a day, but if I miss one day it takes me forever to get caught up! I could use some tips if any one has any. Or if you’re feeling super generous, I’d even let you come fold laundry with me! But now we’re getting off topic.
3) We purchased our first house in March 2014. With that comes a lot more responsibility. We are still not completely settled in and there are some things that are more important than others and MUST come first.
Here’s the conclusion. I’ve heard people who use cloth diapers call people who use disposable lazy parents! Ummmmm NO! That’s just not the case! My priorities are different now than they were when I started using cloth. I can no longer make it work to cloth diaper my 2 kids 100% of the time. I needed a break so I could get caught up and BREATHE again! Every day laundry wasn’t getting done because of the cloth diaper laundry. It was starting to cause stress on my marriage.
So here’s what we do. When we go through our budget each pay period, if we can afford disposables, we buy them. If we can’t afford them that pay period, we use our cloth diapers. Even just a short break each month is what I need to help me stay focused and accomplish the other responsibilities in my household.
I definitely felt like a failure when I first purchased my first box of disposable diapers and wipes. However, when we got home and I put them on my kids, my sweet little 10 month old son had a giant, dinosaur poop in his freshly changed disposable diaper. Guess what? No more guilt! I threw that poopy away! I am NOT a failure! I am a real mom with hard choices to make for my family every day! I want to encourage you to not feel guilty if you discover you can’t do it all as well! We need breaks! We need to refresh and get back on track! God understands that and He certainly doesn’t hold us to a legalistic standard of parenting. So don’t hold yourself to standards that may work for some people, but for you are not an option.
No, I can’t do it all. I had to decide what was most important to me and let go of the less important things.
I love you all so much! I hope this can be a blessing to you today!
1 Corinthians 10:31 (NIV)
“So whether you eat, or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God”
So why am I writing this? All of my friends know where I stand with cloth diapers already. When we first started this blog it was to share our love of cloth with you all. So what’s going on here?
Well. Hold on to your seats people.
My family and I (the Winzer portion of Living On Love) have been using DISPOSABLE DIAPERS!
WHAT?!?!?!? Ok ok ok calm down! I know it’s a shock. Seriously CALM DOWN!
Ok, I’ll get serious now. I know you want to know what going on; otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this right now.
Here are the facts:
1) I have 2 kids in diapers. I had intended to have my daughter potty trained by the time her brother was born in October 2013. My kids are 17 months apart and I had heard stories of 17 month olds being potty trained. Well THAT didn’t happen for us! My daughter was potty trained (except for night time) when she turned 2 years old. Then something happened and she forgot everything she had learned. She went from wanting to do everything herself, to needing help for everything! My mother told me this would happen!
2) With 4 people in the house, laundry REALLY adds up quickly. The kids and I go through at least 2 outfits per person, per day. I know my laundry system needs some work. I try to do a couple loads a day, but if I miss one day it takes me forever to get caught up! I could use some tips if any one has any. Or if you’re feeling super generous, I’d even let you come fold laundry with me! But now we’re getting off topic.
3) We purchased our first house in March 2014. With that comes a lot more responsibility. We are still not completely settled in and there are some things that are more important than others and MUST come first.
Here’s the conclusion. I’ve heard people who use cloth diapers call people who use disposable lazy parents! Ummmmm NO! That’s just not the case! My priorities are different now than they were when I started using cloth. I can no longer make it work to cloth diaper my 2 kids 100% of the time. I needed a break so I could get caught up and BREATHE again! Every day laundry wasn’t getting done because of the cloth diaper laundry. It was starting to cause stress on my marriage.
So here’s what we do. When we go through our budget each pay period, if we can afford disposables, we buy them. If we can’t afford them that pay period, we use our cloth diapers. Even just a short break each month is what I need to help me stay focused and accomplish the other responsibilities in my household.
I definitely felt like a failure when I first purchased my first box of disposable diapers and wipes. However, when we got home and I put them on my kids, my sweet little 10 month old son had a giant, dinosaur poop in his freshly changed disposable diaper. Guess what? No more guilt! I threw that poopy away! I am NOT a failure! I am a real mom with hard choices to make for my family every day! I want to encourage you to not feel guilty if you discover you can’t do it all as well! We need breaks! We need to refresh and get back on track! God understands that and He certainly doesn’t hold us to a legalistic standard of parenting. So don’t hold yourself to standards that may work for some people, but for you are not an option.
No, I can’t do it all. I had to decide what was most important to me and let go of the less important things.
I love you all so much! I hope this can be a blessing to you today!
1 Corinthians 10:31 (NIV)
“So whether you eat, or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God”