I've
never been one to do things in order.
I can
distinctively remember being in one of my favourite places in the world, Whole
Foods grocery store in Arlington, Texas, perusing the aisles, when they caught
my eye.
Steve and
I had been married little over a year when I came home declaring that I had
found "it." The items that we did not need at all, but I tried in
vain to tell him we needed to buy in advance:
The
nappies we were going to use with our baby.
Previous
to that fateful store trip, I had never been particularly interested in cloth
nappies. I'd always thought of them as old fashioned, bulky, stinky...but you
know me: put something in bright colours and make them sleek and fashionable, and
I'm all up in its grill.
Roll on
three years, lots of convincing of a husband, immense researching of the site,
testing out at The Baby Show, and one gorgeous princess later, and we are avid users of gNappies: gParents, cloth nappy people, the hippies who buy disposable inserts to go in
them that we then add to our compost heap for extra roughage.
Feel free
to come over in the summer to sample veggies fertilised by Zella.
It will
be better than when we served salad to a guest last year, and we discovered we served her an earwig.
Rather
than the simple throwing away of disposables, after each change, time must be
spent in a more labourious cleaning up job.
As I
leant over the bath last night, showering off the mess, the colours swirled
amidst the waters, revealing more of my very self.
Cloth
humbles me.
I take
the soiled, wet, stained garments, and with bare hands scrub, rub, and make
new.
Regardless
of how I feel, how the day goes, I have to put the effort in; laying aside my
self to provide for my child's most intimate need.
This mess
is none of my doing, but it is mine to sort out.
My pride
must consistently and constantly be pushed to the edge, as I endeavour in the
dirtiest job in my house (besides the bins).
And I
needed this.
I need to
be humbled.
I need to
be put in my place.
I need to
know there are others needs beyond my own.
I need to
know that I'm not above anything.
I need to
be reminded that there is more than "me" in this world.
I need
that quiet time of pondering to evaluate who I really am throughout the day.
Do I
think that everyone should use cloth nappies?
Yes,
because landfill sites are filling up, nappies create a lot of waste, it can
save you lots of money, they are great with sensitive skin babes, and there are
some really awesome options out there.
Will everyone?
No, and
that's ok because each family needs to make the choices that works best for
them, and that's the way it should be.
Do I
think everyone needs to be humbled?
Definitely.
Consumerism
rages.
The
customer is always right.
We push
and fight and wrestle to be top dog.
Not
realising the importance of the worker bees.
We all
need a place of self-reflection.
A place
to serve others.
A time
when we aren't first, second or even tenth.
By the
nappy bucket
with soap
suds and poop
is mine.
Where is
yours?
