Dappled Diapers

On the first sunny day of spring, I carried my drying rack outside. This was a bit of an act of rebellion, as I live in a neighborhood which prohibits clotheslines. If I hadn't been very pregnant and in desperate need of a house near my hubby's new job all those many years ago, the prohibition would have been a deal-breaker. Now, it's just a thorn in my side.

Anyway, I took the drying rack outside to hang the diapers to dry in the sunshine.  A neighbor wandered by.

"You use cloth diapers?" she asked, with a look that said she thought I was truly bonkers.

"I do!" I enthused, gushing a bit in my self defense. "I love the way they feel, and smell, and--honestly-- the way they look, hanging there in the sunshine." I stopped myself just short of the full gush, as her eyes were glazing over.

So...you get the full gush.

I love to change diapers. I love to lay Karoline on a soft, pink changing table, with a beautiful picture  of the Blessed Mother and her Child hanging there for us to ponder. I love to make her feel good. I love to take away the wet diaper and to wash her bottom with warmed cotton wipes that smell faintly of peppermint castille soap. I love to rub a bit of homemade herbal salve on any tender spots. I love the occasional times when I rub her bottom and legs with a powder of cornstarch and crushed rose petals. And I love to wrap those fat, delicious buns in softness. I love it--the whole sensory experience of it. I love to coo at her and make funny faces. I love it when she coos and smiles and even giggles in return. The drudgery of diapers? Not here.

I'm not so sure that cloth diapers are less expensive economically or ecologically. I've seen compelling arguments in both directions. All that washing does cost something, in terms of time, money, and resources. And it certainly takes longer to hang clean, sweet smelling diapers to dry.On the other hand... Call me crazy, but I  like the look of those nappies all in a row on the drying rack. It sings, "Baby lives here! Thank God!"

It also takes time to take the diapers from the rack and stack them neatly in a handcrafted picnic basket that sits beside the changing table.They look beautiful there in that basket, waiting to swaddle my little cherub.Time. These diapers slow me down a bit. Yes, they do. That's not a bad thing at all, slowing down to make something that could be a negative into something altogether pleasant and happy. I could not get all that with a plastic bag of Pampers, and they definitely wouldn't be soft and pink.

And that's what the whole diaper experience is for us: soft and pink and dappled with sunshine.