What do you do on a rainy miserable day?

Make dens! Zane loves it when we make him a little den with a blanket over the clothes airer, he wanted us to make him one yesterday so we did and then he went to bed. Whilst he was sleeping Daddy made him a mega den that covered most of the living room! He used all of the blankets, cushions, and pillows that he could find and made a two level den with nooks and crannies to hide in. I think we liked it more than Zane did. It brought back fond memories and made me remember the stories that my Mum used to tell me about the dens that she made with her sisters in between their beds.

I'm not going inside Mum, I cant see the tele!

Not so silent Sunday

I have seen an article in the newspaper today and felt that I had to use it on my blog, and share my view on it as I have read lots of negative comments about the story.

Here is the article

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1391851/Kathy-Witterick-David-Stocker-raising-genderless-baby.html

I have read many negative reactions on the comments on the article, forums and in general conversation, most boil down to the parents are wrong because the children will get bullied, they are trying to be too radical and are attention seeking, and that its encouraging them to be gay. Its not raising them to be gay, its raising them to be whoever they want to be without feeling like they should be within social guidelines, and feeling bad about themselves because in the eyes of society they are "wrong". It goes beyond sexual orientation. They are right in saying society needs to change, not them.

I feel quite strongly about this, I was always a tomboy, I wanted to wear boys clothes, play football and couldn't care less for being friends with girls, being a girl didn't interest me. I wasn't gay, I didn't find girls attractive ever, I just liked boy stuff. Because it seemed to bother everyone else more than it bothered me it made me very self conscious and got bullied because I was a "man". Hell, I wasn't a man, I was just very good at football, didn't like wearing a dress, and liked playing army rather than Polly Pocket. The parents are doing the opposite of trying to influence them, they are giving them the freedom to be whoever they want to be, personally I wouldn't go as far as going genderless with my children as I don't think we are ready for that as a society, and I don't have a strong enough will to be able to face the negative comments, although I think in the future we will, just look how homosexuality is accepted now, but my children can be whoever they want to be, as the constraints put on me still affect me today and I wont allow them to feel how I do.

Aimee

An afternoon on the plot.

Our greenhouse was heaving with plants ready to be potted out in the allotment so we decided to do it this afternoon once the weather was fine. Gary has grown all of his plants from seed and he has been quite successful, all of the plants are of good form, they are very strong and a good size to be able to take to the new soil well.

Currently on the allotment we have broad beans, cabbage, garlic, onions, and potatoes. Today we have planted out lettuce in the raised bed, squash, and tomatoes, we have grown the varieties Roma VF, Money Maker, and Gardeners Delight.

To keep Zane occupied we bought him a little set with a wheelbarrow, rake, trowel, and moulds. He loved it and spent about five minutes pushing his wheelbarrow around the living room saying "wow wow wow wow" continuously, I think he was impressed with his new toy! I put his wellies on and off we went. He wasnt interested in pushing his wheel barrow, he was far too curious about Daddy's and wanted to keep up with him so he could have a closer look. Once we got there I showed him how to use his new tools whilst Gary started to plant the tomatoes out. He loved crushing the soil up into a fine dust in his wheelbarrow and then tipping it back on the plot. He was starting to get a little bored with that so we went to have a look at the raised bed, I thought he could use it as his own mud patch without causing any trouble. He started to pull the weeds up, and for once I was happy with him pulling plants up! I think he loves the shocked look on my face everytime he grabs a handful of sweet pea in our garden. We piled all of the weeds into his wheelbarrow and I praised him for how helpful he had been for me, and to Daddy as it was a very important job, when he gave me a big smile and dumped all of the weeds back in, the monkey!

Zane got tired from all of the fresh air so we decided to pack up and he had a ride home.

Aimee, Gary & Zane

Something which made me smile today.

I just heard this song on an advert and it seemed very apt for where I am at this moment in time. Life could be rubbish right now, but always count your blessings, no matter how small you think they are, everything happens for a reason and this is just your journey and you will come out stronger with a new dimension to life.

Happiness - Ken Dodd

Happiness, happiness, the greatest gift that I possess
I thank the Lord that I've been blessed
With more than my share of happiness

Happiness is a field of grain
Turning its face to the falling rain
I can see it in the sunshine, I breathe it in the air
Happiness happiness everywhere

A wise old man told me one time
When you go to measuring my success
Don't count my money count my happiness

Happiness, happiness, the greatest gift that I possess
I thank the Lord I've been blessed
With more than my share of happiness

Happiness, happiness, the greatest gift that I possess
I thank the Lord I've been blessed
With more than my share of happiness

Aimee

10 Most Common Misconceptions of Cloth Nappies.

I would like to continue with the Real Nappy Week theme and talk about the ten most common misconceptions about cloth nappies.

1.       People still think of terry towelling and plastic pants when you talk about cloth, in fact it has evolved from that. There are now pocket nappies which you can stuff with microfibre, hemp or bamboo inserts. All in one nappy where there is no stuffing or wrapping involved you can just put the nappy straight on. Two part nappies where you have a first layer for absorbency made out of different materials and can have a design on them, and then over the top a funky wrap which will be bomb proof. You also have the choice of fastening the nappy with Velcro, poppers, or a nappy nipper, no more safety pins!

2.       It is thought that cloth nappies are a complete faff, from the washing to the stuffing and putting on. They are not though, you just store all of your nappies in one pail, bung them all in the wash like a normal load of washing but with an extra rinse, peg them out and then put them together and store for use. You can do all of that in the time it takes to go to the supermarket to buy some disposables, and you can do other things whilst you are waiting for them to wash and dry. I also find the stuffing very therapeutic.

3.       People think that they’re expensive, well they can be if you want big brands with different features, but you can also get cheaper nappies without compromising on functionality, fit and style. I have spent £100.00 on my stash of 17 nappies, and I got £100.00 cheque back from my local councils cloth nappy incentive so for me they haven’t cost anything, so a bargain! I find preloved nappies are a great way to start off, you can get excellent second hand nappies for a much cheaper price and if they don’t work for you, you can just sell them on and make your money back. This also means that when you have finished having children and they are potty trained you can sell your stash and make a lot of your money back, meaning it has been even cheaper for you. Keeping your baby in cloth nappies costs from as little as £350.00 including cost of nappies, accessories, washing agents, energy and allowing £150.00 wear and tear on a washing machine. Keeping one baby in disposables for two and a half years however will cost £1104.00, and then you have to pay it out all over again for every child that you have.

4.       People consider them to be complicated, even I did when I first started to research them, but once I started to use basic pocket nappies it all clicked into place. Once you have got your head around the needs of your child, whether they are a light or heavy wetter you will know what kind of absorbency you require. My son is quite a heavy wetter so I use microfiber and hemp inserts in most of my nappies which suit him for 3 hours, but if I need extra absorbency during a long nap or if we are going out for a long time I will use a nappy with a bamboo insert as they are extremely absorbent, and also have anti bacterial qualities. To make them easier to put on for me and other people I pre-stuff them so they are ready to put on just as easily as a disposable.

5.       People think that they are bulky, some can be, but there are some that are very slim. I think Bambootys are as slim as disposables and I know that there are others out there that are just as slim. It does depend on how much you stuff them and what you are stuffing them with, as I said in my previous point, bamboo is very absorbant and also very slim, I can hardly tell that it is there. If you do have a larger nappy you can get clothes from companies like Frugi who have brilliant designs that are cut for cloth and fit a squishy bum in perfectly without having to go up a size.

6.       People think that you are doing masses of extra washes by having reusable nappies, in fact I only do three extra washes each week, which is nothing really, and they look lovely hanging out on the line.

7.       You say cloth nappies, people think eco warrior, which definitely isn’t the case for a lot of people I know. For me I chose to use them because of the saving of money, the convenience of always having a nappy clean and ready to put on with no worrying about running out, and of course they look so cute on his bum! As time has gone on I do feel quite please that every time I use a reusable it is one less stinky nappy in a landfill taking hundreds of years to break down, and just think, over the course of birth to potty the average amount of nappies that get thrown away is 6000!

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One year of disposable nappies which end up in a landfill.

8.   Recent reports have said that cloth nappies are just as bad for the environment as disposables, but that is only taking into consideration the amount of water and energy used to wash them. I don’t think the people who have written these reports have taken into consideration the fact of to create a disposable nappy it uses ninety times the amount of renewable resources, e.g. wood pulp, and eight times the amount of non-regenerable resources, e.g. one cup of crude oil is needed to make one disposable nappy.

9.   People are under the impression that when you use cloth nappies your baby is sitting wet and is sodden in wee. A lot of nappies have fleece covers as a barrier in between the insert and babies skin, which draws the moisture away from the skin and doesnt let it back through ensuring babys bum is lovely and dry. You can also get fleece liners which are loose, fleece liners lined with bamboo icreasing absorbancy, or you could even make your own for pennies.

10. Lots of people ask me if cloth nappies leak, we have much fewer leaks with cloth than disposables. We have never had a leak of poo, we can hardly even smell it when he has done one, and leaks from wee are very rare, and have been becasue he has drank a gallon of juice. Lots of nappies have a PUL layer which is waterproof so there are no leaks, or you can cover with a wrap when you need extra absorbancy through the night for example, or if you are using a two part nappy.

So, after an epic second post from me I hope you are still with me, and I have enlightened you to some facts about cloth and disposable nappies.

Aimee



Real Nappy Week 2011!

As Real Nappy Week starts today its only right that my first post is dedicated to it.

We have been using reusables since Zane was five months old, I had always wanted to try them and felt the time was right to have a go. I did a bit of research on various sites and forums and decided to go with pocket nappies as they seemed the easiest to start with. At first I ordered 7 Happy Flutes from ebay for a bargain price of £26.00, my next purchase was a single Blueberry for £24.00! Gary wasn't happy at the cost when I had got the others for a great price, but it was green camo and he loved it. From then I was addicted. I now have a decent sized stash and starting to explore the different types of nappies.

Over the last year I have spent £100.00 on cloth nappies, and I also got a £100.00 cheque back from my local councils Real Nappy Incentive, so our nappies have in fact cost us nothing. That wouldn't have been possible with disposables, and I can use all of our cloth for the next baby saving us even more money.

Here is my little cloth bum.