Handwashing Flats: What About Life?

Today is the last day of the Flats & Handwashing Challenge and my pile of diapers sits in the bathroom asking to be washed, but I’m not washing them, instead, I’m thinking about life.

I’m participating in the 2018 Flats and Handwashing Challenge hosted by Cloth Diaper Revival.  This challenge helps showcase real solutions for parents struggling with diapering.

Day 1 – Why – Day 2 – Stash – Day 3 – Fold  – Day 4 – Wash Routine – Day 5 – Open  – Day 6 – What Works

What about life?

Twice this past week I came home to wash cloth diapers.

Right now, I’m not washing them. I’m working on this blog post. If it wasn’t this post, it would be a different post because this blog thing is my life. It’s my potential source of revenue and between this blog, NorthernBCMoms and my up and coming cloth diaper podcast (Cloth Diaper Podcast – send me your ideas!), there’s a time crunch.

Can’t Side Hustle if you’re washing cloth diapers…

Or can you? Maybe if I time managed better, I could but raising two little kids under the age of 3 makes for many distractions and a never-ending slew of chores and household responsibilities.

Maybe that’s just life, but maybe we’re thinking about this wrong.

I often go into the Flats & Handwashing challenge optimistic we are going to empower women to take back their lives, but maybe we are adding a burden?

I love talking about cloth diapering and I’m crazy passionate that we should all be cloth diapering for a better tomorrow, but can you live your life while cloth diapering full time?

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say again, I don’t think handwashing cloth diapers full time is a practical answer to diaper need. I think theres strategies here to make cloth diapering easier – using flats, part time hand washing, hand washing other clothese (like shirts versus dirty diapers), and the simplicity of the matter – but that full time handwashing is asking a lot for any person. But maybe that’s coming from a place of privilege, assumption, and my perceptions of value.  

I think we need to be getting washing machines into women’s homes (maybe that’s not practical either) and free them up to pursue their own passion and education and be thought leaders in their communities.

That’s where I’m at today. Can’t wait to see where others are at.

Will I be Back?

Yes, if my kids are still in cloth diapers next year, then yes, I will be back. If my kids aren’t in cloth diapers, I might come back just to do all the laundry I do in replace of disposable products because I think we need to talk about waste, disposable produts, and over all consumption of things a little more.

Thanks for joining me! If you blog about cloth diapers feel free to join my May Link up this month, and would love to connect on Facebook or Instagram for the rest of the year.