This post was written for inclusion in the Freedom of Cloth Carnival hosted at Natural Parents Network by Melissa of The New Mommy Files and Shannon of The Artful Mama. This year’s carnival will run from Sunday, July 3rd through Saturday, July 9th. Participants are sharing everything they know and love about cloth diapering, including how cloth has inspired them.
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Cloth diapers have been an amazing catalyst for me to live a greener life. Although it took me a while, it is because of using cloth diapers that I gave up paper towels and started utilizing rags for cleaning, cloth for napkins and even began making my own ‘family cloth.’ All of this is fabulous, of course, but for some reason there is still one thing I cannot wrap my head around: not using tissues.
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| My collection of burp rags that replace paper towels. |
One would think that if I could get past the ‘ick’ factor of using family cloth, I would surely be able to get over blowing my nose into a handkerchief instead of a tissue. In fact, most people would suggest that the nose blowing would come far sooner than the family cloth. I still haven’t converted completely to family cloth, mind you, but I really would like to if it wasn’t for this odd issue I’m having.
What is it about blowing my nose into a piece of cloth that disturbs me so? It might be the thought of reusing the same cloth tissue over and over, knowing that all the sticky mucous I blew out of my nose is still there. It might also be that I have nowhere to keep said “tissue” between uses that isn’t horribly disgusting at the same time it’s out of reach of my children. Either way, it is certainly an issue I need to overcome.
My desire to utilize cloth in every aspect of my life is going to win out. Every chance I get, I try to blow my nose with a piece of cloth and immediately toss it into the laundry room so I don’t have to look at it. I’m slowly trying to get myself accustomed to using a cloth “tissue” in a manner that I am most comfortable with. Someday soon I hope to report to all of you that I have overcome my nose issues and am, in fact, using a hanky.
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Visit Natural Parents Network for the most up-to-date news on the Freedom of Cloth Carnival!
Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants on the following themes. Articles will go live on the scheduled theme day:
- Sunday, July 3rd, 2011: Cloth Related Recipes — Writers share their best cloth-related recipes and tutorials.
- Monday, July 4th, 2011: Choosing Your Cloth Style — Today’s posts discuss parents' individual journeys to finding the cloth diapering "style" that best suits their families.
- Tuesday, July 5th, 2011: Cloth Diapering Must Haves — Parents talk about the most important items in their diapering “stash” and why they love them.
- Wednesday, July 6th, 2011: Wordless Wednesday, Inspired by Cloth — We asked parents to share their favorite cloth-related photo with us and turned them into a fluffy Wordless Wednesday photo montage on Natural Parents Network. Link up your own Wordless Wednesday post there!
- Thursday, July 7th, 2011: Cloth Through the Stages: From Infancy to Potty Independence — Today’s participants explain how cloth diapering has served their families throughout one or more stages of their children’s lives.
- Friday, July 8th, 2011: Cloth Troubleshooting and Laundry Day — Seasoned cloth diapering parents share their best tips and tricks for handling common cloth problems and tackling the diaper laundry.
- Saturday, July 9th, 2011: Inspired by Cloth — For today’s theme, we’ve asked writers to explore the ways cloth diapering has inspired them to become "greener" overall.
Is it possibly because you've seen the episode of Seinfeld where George is chastised for blowing his nose into a cloth napkin? That always comes to mind with me! Ha.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I generally use the same baby washcloths that are our wipes to blow my nose, then stick them in the pail, or wetbag if we're out. They just get one use. Thinking about it, some may find the idea of using the same cloth for my nose and my toddler's rear a bit off-putting, but it works! I wash well between uses!
That's an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, featuring Seinfeld.
DeleteHahaha.. I actually used the baby blanket I have from the hospital with Heidi all day yesterday :) I'm trying! I like the idea of one-time uses though...that might help me :) Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI can remember not being able to wrap my head around handkerchiefs when I was a kid. My grandpa used them all the time and he used them more then once! I thought that was yucky. My nana still has them but I've never seen her use one more then once. Her hankies are beautiful and when I was a kid I always wanted to use her clean ones for dress up with my dolls. I have mine now and I use them like sposies and use it once and then toss them in the wet bag. I've got quite a collection - kinda like another collection I have of diapers.
ReplyDeleteHa! Too funny. We've all got something that skeeves us out, I think. We're an all cloth household-except cloth tp (my dh pulled a rare veto-power) My kids prefer the cloth hankies because they're so much softer.
ReplyDeleteOn a side note, I started using a neti pot and it has significantly cut down on the number of times I use my hankies and also the amount of "gunk" that ends up in there
Hmm, interesting idea. Although, I'd have to get over the idea of shoving something up my nose... :) I mean, I'd be willing to give it a try...if I can find it...(the netti pot that is somewhere in the house).
ReplyDelete