Cloth diapering, and, uh, everybody.

With cloth diapering catching on wildly here, there have been some unexpected outcomes. I mean, I thought it would just be one of those things, like, people would buy some diapers after learning about the different types, and then, you know, put them on a baby and continue doing it until the baby learned to use the potty. It really was that simple for me. After figuring out that we wanted to cloth diaper Orren (whom we did not yet know was Orren at that point), I googled a lot, introduced Thak to Bum Genius all the way in Baghdad, and at his insistence, made our first purchase, Bum Genius, of course. Then I learned a bit more, bought a few more things, prepped them all, then stored them away in the linen closet until the baby was born. Secretly, I hoped I could do it, that I didn't hate it, that it worked out for us. I even created an exit for if it went horribly wrong. I added up how much I had spent, then figured out how many months' worth of Huggies that would have bought at Sam's Club or AAFES, and said that if, after trying it for that many months, we hated it, we could quit with a clear conscience, and lose nothing. Of course, we loved it and never quit, but we were a little nervous about it going in, and the main thing to us, was to actually put cloth diapers on the baby, and make a go of it. That was always job 1, and although it wasn't easy all the time, we succeeded.

It kind of seems like the point here is to have parties, write blogs about it (even if you haven't ever actually put a cloth diaper on a baby before, apparently), and to try to get people to shop at your favorite retailers. Oh, and the debate has begun.... how much is too much to spend on diapers? That's the million dollar question. Some people pride themselves on never spending over $10 on a single diaper (and these are not prefold users). I wonder if anyone notices that these are the same people who are always complaining about leaks. Others pride themselves on their expensive stashes. I can see the different camps forming, and it's strange to watch. I'm somewhere in the middle, honestly.

I'm in kind of a strange position right now. Not only am I the most experienced of the cloth diapering moms here, at two years and counting, but I'm on my way out, at least for a while. Orren is, at this moment, wearing a pair of cow print training pants. He only wears diapers when he sleeps these days. Having more experience, the idea isn't shiny and new anymore. I've heard, asked, and answered every one of the million dollar questions a dozen times. I don't want to go to a cloth diapering party every month. I don't want to talk about cloth diapers every time I get together with my friends for coffee. That great new thing you just discovered yesterday? It's been common knowledge for years. I already know what discount each retailer gives for military, and what code to input at checkout to get it. What's more, I no longer care why Michelle Duggar doesn't cloth diaper. That subject has been discussed to death, raised from the dead, and killed again 100 times on every cloth diapering board ever created.

I have my loyalties. I don't care that X retailer is owned by your friend from back home. I buy from Y retailer because they have been good to me over the years. I only buy American-made diapers, and I support small businesses. I don't care if it costs a little more than those cheap things out of China that you buy on Ebay. These days, with my stash of diapers completely sufficient for the rest of my days as a cloth diapering mom, I'm less about the super big discount on the big names as I am about the interesting colorways of Organic Bamboo Velour that some work-at-home-mom in Austin dyed in her garage, and then stitched up into fitteds that she's selling for $20 a pop on Hyenacart. I bid in my share of charity auctions as well. I'm at stash nirvana, and the things I add, I choose because they are beautiful. It's no longer a numbers game for me. That's not to say I don't remember when it was. It's just to say I'm not there anymore. I'm at a different phase of it now.

I would say I'm also out of the phase where I'm just dying to teach every living soul about it. I've explained the difference between AIO's and pockets 1000 times. I've pasted on the big fake smile and acted like I wasn't offended, when ignorant people implied that my house must reek of diapers because I use cloth, and said it was nasty to use them while out and about because we have to carry the used diapers with us. I've taught people nicely instead of schooling them hard about these things. I've even maintained my composure when people ask me how I kept the gunk from Orren's circumcision off our diapers (yes, typing the words "Orren's circumcision" totally made my skin crawl. Thank you for asking.) and I just nicely explain that we would never do that to our son, so they should probably google it.

I think the thing that really trips me out the most about this is that at least half the people who are so loud and proud about it have actually never put a cloth diaper on a baby before. They're getting ready to diaper babies that have been conceived, but not yet born. So basically, I guess I don't see how they're so loud and proud about it yet. When I was at that stage, I was honestly scared I wouldn't succeed. Now, after a couple years of experience, I have no doubt in my mind that every person alive can succeed at cloth diapering. I just wonder what half these people are going to do with their first bout of detergent build-up, or how they'll react if their kid is one of the rare ones who gets a yeast rash, or if they'll think cloth diapering on the road is so simple after they actually do it. It's just funny how overconfident, cocky even, a lot of our new cloth diapering moms are. It's very strange.

Don't get me wrong. I'm glad to see so many people cloth diapering. Hey, if nothing else, I'll have no trouble selling my diapers when the baby outgrows them. I just think it's gotten a wee bit, uh, batshit insane.