Cloth Diapering

Happy weekend!

Yesterday afternoon, Krista and I made a sojourn to a very special store in Orland Park, IL entitled Cutie Poops and Bottoms. It's OK -- I can wait while you finish laughing.... Is it out of your system yet?

While, to the minds of many, the idea of cloth diapering is retrogressive and messy, and that there are (mainly aesthetic) reasons against it, I have learned that cloth diapering is quite modern and -- dare I say it? -- revolutionary. We (and by "we" in this case I mean "I") learned that there are at least four different systems of cloth diapering, and that cloth diapering is environmentally responsible and minimizes the exposure to nasty chemicals that often exist in disposable diapers. As an infant, I was cloth diapered, and I turned out OK...right?

Anyhow, like many things in this "Expecting the Unexpected" journey, I am both excited and nervous about this dimension of parenting. Somewhat similar to our choice of purchasing and driving a Toyota Prius, the choice of cloth diapering is both something that we are doing for our own purposes, and a political statement about our values as parents. It is the latter that I am most proud of: this choice indicated (1) that we have values in common, and (2) we are unafraid of living them out in daily and public life.

While I continue to learn and play catch-up with some of these important life lessons, I am glad to be exploring this option. And I will endeavor to be the parent who potty-trains his child in record time. Look for us in the Guinness Book of World Records.