A blog about Ages & Stages, Parenting and Family Life, and Shopping.
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Gdiapers – The new eco friendly diaper! Go green with your poo! A special oppurtunity Competition Parenting July 08 August 08 September 08 October 08 November 08 December 08 
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My 7 month old recently had a horrible rash develop all over her diaper area and she had NEVER had an issue before…. I change her far more than I should for the very purpose of keeping creepy crawly, icky rashes away. So I of course freaked out and went to the pediatrician and of course this offered me no peace, as it usually doesn’t, because I am a freak who freaks out about the teeny tiniest non normal, little things, like she’ll look at me cross eyed and I think she has bumped her head and is brain damaged J….. Yes I am that kind of mom, the one that the pediatricians roll their eyes at because I ask wayyyy too many questions and I question everything they do and say. I am the mom that the receptionists gossip about because they think I way over concerned about the well being of my child, but shouldn’t we be? That is our job as PARENTS right?
So on with my story…. I then took her to the dermatologist who said, “Well it could be eczema but we don’t normally see that in the diaper area, but I don’t want to give more than one diagnosis and since she has some redness on her face I think we’ll just say eczema”. HUH? I don’t know what kind of cross, weird, unsure, I have absolutely no idea what I am doing and shouldn’t be in practice kind of answer that was, but it wasn’t working for me! So I decided to take matters into my own hands.
Many moms who have “rash” issues have told me that they switch to cloth diapers so I decided to just go for it, anything to help her, right? But then I began to think about washing poo in my toilet with a diaper sprayer and putting poo into my washing machine… was this really sanitary? Was this really happening, ME washing poo? Whoa! So I decided I needed to do a little research and see what other options there was….I researched and researched and I found a fabulous alternative….. Gdiapers! These things are AMAZING to say the least….. They are a cloth cover with a plastic like washable, snap in liner…. Inside of the liner you put a bio degradable insert and the best part is this…. You can flush it, throw it away or compost it! Throw it away?…. I AM IN! They have no chlorine, no chemicals… they are just like using cloth without the cloth J Far more than my resistance to “washing poo”, I was excited that these would not sit in landfills for 500 years… YES-500 YEARS! That’s how long it will take for those lovely pampers to wilt away-500 YEARS! These are gone instantly with the flush of the toilet or within 50 days if you choose to throw them away…. And they are so fashionable… these are like the petunia pickle bottoms of the diaper world, the bugaboos of poo!
I ordered them! Lassens used to carry them but no longer do and so I ordered them on diapers.com or you can go to gdiapers.com…. And I have been using them ever since…. THEY ROCK! We are Gdiaper fanatics and I don’t mind saying that I enjoy changing poo a little more these days… strange, I know, but true. I feel like I am giving back to our earth and my little one looks amazing while we “go green”! After purchasing Gdiapers I felt inspired and started flipping our lives into “green land” and I haven’t stopped since…. I am proud to say we live very green these days and Love it! attached is a pic of siena in her gdiaper!
My little 7 month old has cried from the moment she entered the womb and has'nt really stopped since.... she is the most adorable little person and such a charmer, but when she's mad, watch out! There is no in between with her, She's ANGRY or HAPPY, that's it! So it was no surprise that she did'nt stop screaming when we left the hospital ( i was praying for a small miracle, as she was the loudest baby in the there), she continued to scream, non stop until she hit about 6 months old and then it started to die down a bit. The worst was in the car! She would scream from point A to point B, no matter what we did. So on many trips i would have to stop the car and get out and hold her for a few minutes and then continue on our way. All she wanted was to be close to me and she was fine. Bedtime is the same way, i lay her down and for about the first hour, she wakes up every five minutes wanting to breastfeed and be held. After about the 10th time of doing this it starts to get a bit frustrating and as i was standing, holding her one night, breastfeeding, i realized that i have no reason to be frustrated! I am so fortunate to have a baby that wants to be loved! This special time goes by so fast and i am lucky enough, that i get to hug her and love her even when she's trying to sleep at night. From that day (my only frustrating experience with her) i have looked at her crying as a oppurtunity to give love and for her to receive it. Having a colicky or "high needs" baby as i like to call it, has been a blessing not a burden. Many people asked me 'how on earth can you handle that?" and my reply is 'handle what?" She may sound like i am pinching her when she cries (she gets soooo angry, from the very first cry) but she just wants a hug, a love, a cuddle and i am so fortunate that i am the one that gets to be the giver of this! This perspective helped me through many tear filled nights, pacing the floor, wondering if something was horribly wrong with my baby. But as i learned, it was the best OPPURTUNITY i was ever given.
My husband has a friend that is more like a brother and they have been very close for some time. He was the “third wheel” on most of our dates before we were married and we both stood beside him and his wife as they took their vows. At this time they had watched us parent for some time and were great with our daughter. His wife and I became pregnant at the same time (her first, my second) and delivered a few months apart. And then it began what I like to call “Competition Parenting”!
Suddenly our conversations were met with snide remarks, such as “yea, well, he has bonded with both of us, not just one of us”, in a condescending tone that would make anyone say “huh”? Or “we would never give our son a teething cookie” as my daughter sits in her highchair gnawing away on the little rock of a cookie. My response “OH, right, because I’m the type of mom to give my daughter something that could ever possibly hurt her or walk away from her as she’s eating! Oh and my favorite, “well, he’s walking months before he should be, he’s so ahead of everyone else’s babies”! And then it spreads like wildfire, where my husband and his “apparent friend” are reduced to conversations about why his wife is better than me….. Have I missed something? Which brings me to my next thought…?
Since when did parenting become a competition? Since when did parenting become something of a sport? As if to say “I am the better fisherman, look at my fish”! Our children have suddenly become the bullets in our weapons, our personal jousting poles, our apparent swords in the middle of a knightly battle. They are the bait, dangling from the fishing pole, in attempt that we’ll bite and suddenly say “oh, bow to thee; you are the god of all parents”! These are our “CHILDREN, FOR GODS SAKE”! Not a red carpet to walk on as we boast about ourselves.
So, the boxing gloves are on and the dukes are up, but what about us, you know the parents on the rival team, the ones who put their boxing gloves away in high school, when gym class was OVER!
In a failed attempt to win the “parent of the year” award, our kids are watching our actions and taking it all in. They are little bundles of hyperawareness and many parents seem to take for granted their miraculous abilities to hone into the situation at hand! It is my opinion that we must rise above the ignorance and teach our own children how to behave in a manner that anyone would be proud of. For some the appropriate thing would be to turn the other cheek and ignore the sheer inappropriateness of the situation. For others, it would be to take a stand (away from the children of course). However, my first reaction is why invest in friendships in the first place? Should we invest, in attempt that we will find life long friends sooner or later? Or just keep our conversations to shallow commentaries on the unfortunate air quality in Bakersfield? But again, something comes up that discourages me from staying on my “NO FRIENDS, NO FOWL” rule… my children. I would be teaching them lifelong skills of how to effectively keep people at an arm’s distance and this seems just as bad as “Competition Parenting”!
Truth is I don’t have the answers. I, for the first time in my parenting career, don’t have the answers. OH MY GOSH! The day has come! As I sit back and laugh at this, I realize that an epiphany has evolved through this blog… I sit laughing, with a smile on my face while I read this….Laugh…that is the only logical answer that I can come up with… What else are we to do? My children are learning a good lesson of happiness within ones own self, not to be affected by others pettiness, but to love themselves and take the rest in stride. This seems to be a good answer and because i really don't know the answer, i'am going to run with this one for now....
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