Our guest blogger today is none other than my own mother, making her blogosphere debut. Take it away Mom...Never a dull moment in the Maelstrom. Being the Gramma amidst the swirling, I seem to be repeatedly swept into the vortex of change, the newest being the Flats and Handwashing Challenge.
Back when my daughter first made the change to cloth diapers, I must admit she needed a chain to drag me along, or should I say just a few guilt ridden lines of encouragement. Before we all became cohabitants, I figured I'd side-step the cloth diapers and get to use disposables when the baby of the moment came to visit, after all, the Other Grandma got disposables sent to Her house. Ah well, the joys of being the maternal grandmother---so much more compliance is expected of you.
So, when Mrs. Maelstrom in her excited, "I've got a scathingly brilliant idea" voice chirped at me about the Flats and Handwashing Challenge that she was going to be participating in during the Memorial Week, I breathed a sigh of relief; I would be leaving the Friday before Memorial Day on a west coast vacation. Whew! That was a close call. I'm now a fully converted cloth diaper user, but really, flats and plungers and no wash machine? I don't think so!
I stayed in my little world of ignorance up until about a week before the challenge. It was then that the all the little dots connected and I came to know that, indeed, I would be participating because, lucky me, the challenge was the entire week BEFORE Memorial Day.
Monday was the big day for me as Mrs. Maelstrom took off for lunch at Henry's school leaving me with a squirmy one-year-old and brief instructions on a kite fold and some origami-type fold I'd never done before. Lucky for me, the origami wasn't as hard as it looked and in no time I had used a pin for the first time in decades to secure the fancy flannel to a cute little behind. My only complaint was how tough it was to push the pin through. Later, I was let in on the secret---bar soap to slick up the pins. Hmmm...always the last to be clued in to those helpful hints. The diapering was successfully leak free. Three cheers for Gram! More accolades were bestowed on me that night after I had inserted two rectangle folded flats for extra absorbency to her bedtime diaper. Actually, I think it was my own arm patting myself on the back, but---what the heck---someone has to take the time to praise Gram for thinking amidst the swirling.
That was the end of my diaper changing duties as the week flew by and on Friday, I flew, too. So, although I didn't get a chance to use the plunger wash machine and only changed two diapers, I must say I liked the simplicity of the flats. Back to the basics, no frills, just good old fashioned diapers doing the job they need to do. Simple. Like my life here in paradise. Yet, always just a side step from the maelstrom.
Monday was the big day for me as Mrs. Maelstrom took off for lunch at Henry's school leaving me with a squirmy one-year-old and brief instructions on a kite fold and some origami-type fold I'd never done before. Lucky for me, the origami wasn't as hard as it looked and in no time I had used a pin for the first time in decades to secure the fancy flannel to a cute little behind. My only complaint was how tough it was to push the pin through. Later, I was let in on the secret---bar soap to slick up the pins. Hmmm...always the last to be clued in to those helpful hints. The diapering was successfully leak free. Three cheers for Gram! More accolades were bestowed on me that night after I had inserted two rectangle folded flats for extra absorbency to her bedtime diaper. Actually, I think it was my own arm patting myself on the back, but---what the heck---someone has to take the time to praise Gram for thinking amidst the swirling.
That was the end of my diaper changing duties as the week flew by and on Friday, I flew, too. So, although I didn't get a chance to use the plunger wash machine and only changed two diapers, I must say I liked the simplicity of the flats. Back to the basics, no frills, just good old fashioned diapers doing the job they need to do. Simple. Like my life here in paradise. Yet, always just a side step from the maelstrom.
***Note from the editor: Dang! I should have given Mom a chance to wash. Silly me hogging all the scrubbing. Next time, next time.
***Want to learn more about the flats challenge? See the official rules here.***
Flats and Handwashing Challenge 2011:
A Walmart Shopping Spree
Getting Prepped
It's So Campy
Bye Bye Love
Day 1: So It Begins...
Day 2: Homemade Love
Day 3: Wordless Wednesday
Day 4: Noso Glory
Day 4.5: The Apoocalypse
Day 5: TGIF!
Day 6: Sharing the Love
Day 7: Your Grandma's Diapers
Reflections in a Yellow Puddle
The Happy Anteater
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