I traveled back from Mexico with half a stash of diapers soaking wet, due to my Grandma's slow system.
Once I arrived here, I put everything on my spin dryer, I was amazed at the amount of water that my diapers still had after an hour of drying attempts and unfortunately a Grovia AIO could not stand the moist and developed mildew.
So, what to do? Well, I washed it in the regular load, sunned it, washed it again twice with oxy clean added to the detergent and sunned it and sunned it in between those washes. Finally got the courage to use it. No problem. It still looks mildly stained, so I keep sunning it after every wash, getting whiter every time, but I have seen no problem in Tiny Guy, so it is safe to use.
I could have used bleach or boiled it had it been a prefold or an insert, but with AIOs, one has to be more conservative and be aware of the TPU that can delaminate in high temperatures.
But more than anything else, let's keep washing frequently, specially sprayed diapers in this exceedingly warm summer
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Monday, June 17, 2013
Travelling Abroad
I've been in Mexico for 9 days and I'm staying another 7. I've used my cute fluff all the time.
My first reaction to the hot weather was of relief, that Tiny Guy can be only wearing a diaper around the house. Not only does he look outrageously cute (I know all moms say that about their babies, but everybody does say it about this one), but he can't take it apart with the snaps at all.
Then came the detergent subject. I assumed something would do, after all, only a detergent without perfumes or softeners is needed. Well, guess what? In all Walmart, there was not a single one, liquid or powder, with such qualities. None.
I ended up settling for Zote flakes, since that's what Mexicans use to wash baby clothes. But the diapers do smell. If I run a whole cycle in the washer after the rinse, the smell goes away a lot, but still, I'm using liners with Little Guy, just in case.
Next issue: poop. I'm used to my shower hose and my parents don't have one. So I have to get the diaper out to the laundry room and use a hose at the hand washing station. It doesn't have a head, so I need to creat the pressure with my fingers. But at least it's working.
Next: reaction. My family is completely ignorant about the whole thing. They just prefer not to comment, which is usually not a good thing. I don't know what they're saying behind my back, but if my boy's long hair is not a reason enough to criticize me, I guess they'll start with CDs as well.
All and all, I like washing every 3 days for a change, kind of being on vacation, which is what I came to do anyway. But I don't like having to babysit the washer because it thinks it's more intelligent than me. Let's see how the next week works.
My first reaction to the hot weather was of relief, that Tiny Guy can be only wearing a diaper around the house. Not only does he look outrageously cute (I know all moms say that about their babies, but everybody does say it about this one), but he can't take it apart with the snaps at all.
Then came the detergent subject. I assumed something would do, after all, only a detergent without perfumes or softeners is needed. Well, guess what? In all Walmart, there was not a single one, liquid or powder, with such qualities. None.
I ended up settling for Zote flakes, since that's what Mexicans use to wash baby clothes. But the diapers do smell. If I run a whole cycle in the washer after the rinse, the smell goes away a lot, but still, I'm using liners with Little Guy, just in case.
Next issue: poop. I'm used to my shower hose and my parents don't have one. So I have to get the diaper out to the laundry room and use a hose at the hand washing station. It doesn't have a head, so I need to creat the pressure with my fingers. But at least it's working.
Next: reaction. My family is completely ignorant about the whole thing. They just prefer not to comment, which is usually not a good thing. I don't know what they're saying behind my back, but if my boy's long hair is not a reason enough to criticize me, I guess they'll start with CDs as well.
All and all, I like washing every 3 days for a change, kind of being on vacation, which is what I came to do anyway. But I don't like having to babysit the washer because it thinks it's more intelligent than me. Let's see how the next week works.
Saturday, June 1, 2013
Co-sleeping Makes Me Sleep
I was raised in what Occidentals would call the "traditional" way. I don't know where all these weird traditions come from, but it is how most my friends and family were raised too.
I was not breastfed, I slept in my own crib since day 1 and in my own room since I turned 6 months. I was transported in a stroller, born via c-section and tied to a schedule.
I turned out OK. I have 2 wonderful parents that not only love me and my siblings like crazy and keep providing and helping us, even as adults. They also love each other more than anything else. I am very fortunate that I still have 2 healthy parents living together and always willing to help.
But my health did not turn out that great. Even though I am in good shape, my thyroid doesn't work, I have arthritis and hypoglycemia. According to my parents, those problems were unavoidable. Still, before turning 1, I got every sickness on the manual, had to be moved out of Mexico City due to respiratory problems and did not gain height or weight in a really long time.
One other problem I always had was lack of sleep. I would spend hours and hours looking at the ceiling, reading, wondering around the house. I woke up at 7 am every Sunday when everybody else was sound asleep and even wrote poems about my insomnia in my teenage years.
All that came to an ending when I got pregnant. I noticed I was falling asleep on the Subway, watching movies, driving (don't do it please)... That was the most obvious pregnancy sign.
But then the baby came out. I had been raised to think that they had to go to the moses basin and then to their own crib. I had everything ready and... his first night on the house was living hell. He woke up some 5 times. I would nurse him, he would go back to sleep and wake up 30 minutes later.
By the third night, I was so exhausted that when he woke up at 5 am and I wanted to wait half an hour to feed him (according to the "schedule"), I brought him to bed, and the three of us passed out for 3 hours!!
All of a sudden we woke up at 8 am, refreshed and happy. I told my parents what had happened and my dad just said "NO". I felt so guilty I tried for several nights to fix that terrible mistake, only to realize that the only way we would get some rest was sleeping the three of us together.
Then a friend of mine sent me Dr Sears' Baby Book. It was an awakening. I saw the "converting" and the "sect" part of it and took things with perspective. But I found a validation in my every night sleeping routine and started doing it without guilt.
Later on I discovered a fantastic ability: the art of sleeping during the day. I had never been able to master such a craft. Naps were never part of my agenda, I had always been deprived of sleep, because if I had not done it at night, it would just never come and recovery was never on the horizon. Better yet, I could put my baby to sleep with me. It was not what my dad told me: "sleep while the baby sleeps or you won't have a chance" but "if you want to sleep, take the baby and make him sleep too".
I'm a much healthier human being since I became a mom. I don't recall when was the last time I got a serious cold but it was more than 2 years ago. My boys have never been sick, they don't know the meaning of it. I don't know if breast feeding and co sleeping has anything to do with it, but I can safely say that it has been a pleasure to have two babies that sleep through the night from the start, nurse while sleeping and keep going. It works for our family and has saved me countless sleep hours.
So if somebody tells me that it will take a lot of effort to get my boys to sleep in their own bed, it will never equal what I have saved. And yes, Little Guy likes sneaking in some nights, but mostly sleeps on his own by now, effortlessly.
I was not breastfed, I slept in my own crib since day 1 and in my own room since I turned 6 months. I was transported in a stroller, born via c-section and tied to a schedule.
I turned out OK. I have 2 wonderful parents that not only love me and my siblings like crazy and keep providing and helping us, even as adults. They also love each other more than anything else. I am very fortunate that I still have 2 healthy parents living together and always willing to help.
But my health did not turn out that great. Even though I am in good shape, my thyroid doesn't work, I have arthritis and hypoglycemia. According to my parents, those problems were unavoidable. Still, before turning 1, I got every sickness on the manual, had to be moved out of Mexico City due to respiratory problems and did not gain height or weight in a really long time.
One other problem I always had was lack of sleep. I would spend hours and hours looking at the ceiling, reading, wondering around the house. I woke up at 7 am every Sunday when everybody else was sound asleep and even wrote poems about my insomnia in my teenage years.
All that came to an ending when I got pregnant. I noticed I was falling asleep on the Subway, watching movies, driving (don't do it please)... That was the most obvious pregnancy sign.
But then the baby came out. I had been raised to think that they had to go to the moses basin and then to their own crib. I had everything ready and... his first night on the house was living hell. He woke up some 5 times. I would nurse him, he would go back to sleep and wake up 30 minutes later.
By the third night, I was so exhausted that when he woke up at 5 am and I wanted to wait half an hour to feed him (according to the "schedule"), I brought him to bed, and the three of us passed out for 3 hours!!
All of a sudden we woke up at 8 am, refreshed and happy. I told my parents what had happened and my dad just said "NO". I felt so guilty I tried for several nights to fix that terrible mistake, only to realize that the only way we would get some rest was sleeping the three of us together.
Then a friend of mine sent me Dr Sears' Baby Book. It was an awakening. I saw the "converting" and the "sect" part of it and took things with perspective. But I found a validation in my every night sleeping routine and started doing it without guilt.
Later on I discovered a fantastic ability: the art of sleeping during the day. I had never been able to master such a craft. Naps were never part of my agenda, I had always been deprived of sleep, because if I had not done it at night, it would just never come and recovery was never on the horizon. Better yet, I could put my baby to sleep with me. It was not what my dad told me: "sleep while the baby sleeps or you won't have a chance" but "if you want to sleep, take the baby and make him sleep too".
I'm a much healthier human being since I became a mom. I don't recall when was the last time I got a serious cold but it was more than 2 years ago. My boys have never been sick, they don't know the meaning of it. I don't know if breast feeding and co sleeping has anything to do with it, but I can safely say that it has been a pleasure to have two babies that sleep through the night from the start, nurse while sleeping and keep going. It works for our family and has saved me countless sleep hours.
So if somebody tells me that it will take a lot of effort to get my boys to sleep in their own bed, it will never equal what I have saved. And yes, Little Guy likes sneaking in some nights, but mostly sleeps on his own by now, effortlessly.
Friday, May 31, 2013
The Other Economy
We've been hit pretty hard this year. Not only by a hurricane that left us isolated from the rest of the world for a couple of weeks, but also by 2 branches: one fell from a tree and destroyed our car's front, the other is part of the judicial system and took all our money (apparently being disabled is a crime).
But it's not only our individual misfortunes, we've been dealing with lack of money, there's a defficit that sucks up all the cash and slows down every single aspect of our lives. From longer times in airport to unemployment due to budget cuts, we're all feeling it. Day by day I see people striving to get some cash from some place.
And then, the cloth diaper hunt came. Being new to this and having made my stash via ebay, amazon and 2 manufacturers' online stores, I had no idea there was a world out there. I'm done with qualifying for all the prizes, who knows, maybe I'll win my first giveaway. But that's not my point here.
I discovered there's a world out there. Dozens of online retailers and tons of products made by small family businesses. There are brands of cloth diapers I had never heard of, carriers, balms, toys, cleaning products, outfits, menstrual cups, etc. Tons of goodies manufactured here and sold online.
Then I went to the Co-op. I have to say it was a disappointment. You would expect all this virtual world coming to a reality and touchable and find the same corporations than you see in big supermarkets, but with overpriced products whose artificial chemical contents is considerably less. In the end, you end up patronizing big brands with different names. It's surprising that in a seemingly small business echo friendly oriented place, you cannot find anything related to cloth diapers, soft carriers and such.
I don't know what will take for this world to get boosted and back on track. But I do believe that the money needs to be circulating, and giving it to a small retailer and or a local manufacturer will ensure that it will continue to do so for at least one more transaction.
But it's not only our individual misfortunes, we've been dealing with lack of money, there's a defficit that sucks up all the cash and slows down every single aspect of our lives. From longer times in airport to unemployment due to budget cuts, we're all feeling it. Day by day I see people striving to get some cash from some place.
And then, the cloth diaper hunt came. Being new to this and having made my stash via ebay, amazon and 2 manufacturers' online stores, I had no idea there was a world out there. I'm done with qualifying for all the prizes, who knows, maybe I'll win my first giveaway. But that's not my point here.
I discovered there's a world out there. Dozens of online retailers and tons of products made by small family businesses. There are brands of cloth diapers I had never heard of, carriers, balms, toys, cleaning products, outfits, menstrual cups, etc. Tons of goodies manufactured here and sold online.
Then I went to the Co-op. I have to say it was a disappointment. You would expect all this virtual world coming to a reality and touchable and find the same corporations than you see in big supermarkets, but with overpriced products whose artificial chemical contents is considerably less. In the end, you end up patronizing big brands with different names. It's surprising that in a seemingly small business echo friendly oriented place, you cannot find anything related to cloth diapers, soft carriers and such.
I don't know what will take for this world to get boosted and back on track. But I do believe that the money needs to be circulating, and giving it to a small retailer and or a local manufacturer will ensure that it will continue to do so for at least one more transaction.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Flats and Handwashing Challenge - The Good the Bad and the Ugly
I have to say, I admire all those blogging moms that on top of their regular activities, washed all their diapers by hand and blogged about it. That last part was too much for me. So instead of a daily report on my adventures, I'm writing a single post that sums them up.
For unfamiliar people with such challenge, here is everything you wanted to know about it and never dared to ask: http://dirtydiaperlaundry.com/3rd-annual-flats-and-handwashing-challenge/
Why Bothering?
I learned about the challenge when I started reading Dirty Diaper Laundry, about the time I decided to make the switch to cloth (about 7 months ago). Although I saw the point, I never imagined myself doing it. Here are my reasons for not doing it:
Little Guy got a rash from the only point in which the liner was not touching his skin when using a pocket as a cover. Thin cotton liners are easier to wash than attached cotton velour ones.
One of the t-shirts was grey with a Spider Man stamp on it, but I just couldn't figure out a fold that would show it properly,
The Flaws
First, I must confess, one of the diapers ended up in the washer by mistake. I made it up by hand washing the Sunday night ones (still used flats because I didn't know where I had left the cotton usual stuff). If that disqualifies me, it does. It was not intentional but definitely my mistake (I was actually looking for it all over the place not realizing it was in the washer getting a good agitation).
As for the not spending money part, well, I would not have survived with my covers and snappis. Certainly, I did not buy them for the challenge, but they are CD items nontheless, so I cannot say that you can "fully diaper a baby" without those two. You can indeed function without a snappi, using pins, laces, knots with the clothes, or the cover itself; that's another story. You can leave your child coverless at home, but nights and outings are hard without a waterproof layer. The only available option is to improvise with waterproof materials at home, which won't be very breathable (shower curtains, plastic bags, etc) and those would have to be kept away from baby's mouth.
Blogging every day' is extremely hard when you don't have a hi-speed connection.
---------
I enjoyed your stories, your folds and the community environment', but I won't switch full time.
See you later beautiful ladies.
For unfamiliar people with such challenge, here is everything you wanted to know about it and never dared to ask: http://dirtydiaperlaundry.com/3rd-annual-flats-and-handwashing-challenge/
Why Bothering?
I learned about the challenge when I started reading Dirty Diaper Laundry, about the time I decided to make the switch to cloth (about 7 months ago). Although I saw the point, I never imagined myself doing it. Here are my reasons for not doing it:
- We're broke. Not only do we spend more than I earn, but whatever money I make is taken away before I see a penny due to my disabled husband's child support obligation. So I really could not have the luxury of buying a whole set of inserts and a hand operated washer, cheap as they are.
- I'm wimpy. I have the weakest hands ever. Playing piano and dancing ballet since early childhood may have improved their strenght, but all and all, they are still weak. On top of that, I have arthritis in the shoulders, so any repeated motion like pumping or turning that involves them results in severe pain.
- Tiny Guy doesn't like prefolds. He gets wet too fast and starts screaming. Having him in cotton 24 hours around the clock I thought would result in some 10 changes or more per day. (that was my weakest argument, due to stay dry fabrics).
- My husband is disabled. That means I have to take care of 3 people and try to make and save money at the same time. This was a big burden I did not have to put on top of my shoulders.
So, on May 19th, at 10:30 PM, I went on and signed for the challenge, without preparation, without any purchase and without any useful connection (did it from my smartphone, pointing to the window and holding it high, because the 3G barely reaches here). Was I crazy? Yes, I've always stated that I am. So here's my reasoning for doing it:
- I may be broke, but I am not poor. Those two things are different. In Spanish we have 2 different words for the verb to be. One is for a temporary status, like I am broke. The other describes you: I am Mexican, I am tall, I am a mother and I am not poor. The house I am at the moment ( I live in an apartment) is fully equipped with a handwashing station in the basement. My husband has several old t-shirts that he cut the sleeves off and uses around the house, and they are almost in rags, we need to replace that stash at some point anyway, and I did have covers and snappis with me. So I really did not need to spend any money.
- I was behind in laundry. Diapers take a whole day for washing, I have to make at least 4 trips to the basement to wash them and the washer is barely used, so there was some buildup in it. I started noticing smells on them and rashes on Little Guy, so I needed to do something different while we stayed here.
- We have a salad spinner that we never use (I buy pre-washed leafy greens), and we miss our spin dryer badly, so I wanted to test if that could be a substitute.
- When hurricane Sandy hit us, I spent almost an hour the day before buying diapers. That was one of the decisive moments that made me switch to cloth. But although we were stuck and locked in for several days unable to get out due to gas shortages and the subway being closed, we only lost power for a couple of hours. We were extremely lucky, my husband's family in New Jersey was powerless for close to two weeks. I do not want to be panic shopping and I do not want to be helpless if power goes down. So I decided to improvise given those situations and diaper my boys with whatever I could find.I did also set myself to use less water than I use for the washer and tried to find creative ways to do so. I will later post about water and why it concerns me.
- As a last thing, I'm very active online and dragged some moms into doing it, how can I convince somebody else to do something if I don't do that myself? If a wimpy mom with two children and a disabled husband can diaper her boys with no money, anybody can!
My Own Goal
From midnight May 20th to midnight May 27th follow all the DDL challenge rules linked above plus minimum water usage and no money or donations (improvise with what I already have).
The Stash
8 t.shirts, 2 boxers, 1 pair of small baby pants, 1 table individual mat, 2 snappis, 4 white velcro covers, 3 pockets and 3 thin square white face tissues.
Tiny Guy is diapered full time, Little Guy only at nights.
1 Salad spinner, 1 hanging rack, 1 Dr Bronner's bar soap.
1 Salad spinner, 1 hanging rack, 1 Dr Bronner's bar soap.
The Good
Anything can be a diaper. I used some 6 or 7 very old t-shirts, a couple of my husband's boxers, an old and stained pair of baby pants, some white face tissues as liners (my step daughter had used them as chain links to rescue Rapunzel and tied them all together). I was tempted to use an old set of sheets for twin beds, since we don't have any, but it was not necessary. .
The Jo fold for T-shirts is fantastic. It looked trimmer than my AIOs, I don't think anybody outside of the house could tell he was wearing cloth. And they last for a while. Unlike prefolds, he doesn't seem to be uneasy with the moisture and the only rashy part was his legs, due to the fitting inside the cover.
I still remember how to hand wash. I ended up just doing it the old fashion way, with a bar soap and the tremendous help of a high pressure hose and an amazing hot water boiler that we installed 3 years ago.
As for the wringing, believe it or not, I just did it and it was not a nuisance as I thought it would be.
I caught up on laundry, which was piling up. Even did some bedding wash and some curtains too.
I like my improvised liners. Unlike the flushables, I can wash them in 2 seconds by hand, and I can use any diaper rash cream (yes, purists are going to scream to the roof, but I have never had a problem using zinc oxide with a liner).
No stinkies! Even with some ammonia build-up due to my wimpy washing, I just took the soiled stuff downstairs and almost washed everything immediately. No wet bags dancing around.
I did spend the week as any other. We went out, visited thrift stores, went to friends' houses, had guests, it's not like I did not have time to enjoy my life because of the challenge. Quality time with my bundles of joy is always a priority.
I did not feel like I was overtired or that it was a huge amount of effort. Certainly the diapers were not as sparking clean as they should have, but my washer here is not doing better than me. I did not want to stop at day 2 and just took it as it went.
The Bad
I have to say it: I don't like handwashing. Which is why I got a tiny washer in my appartment. Before my Panda, I used to put all my skirts, blouses and pants in a laundry bag and bring them here every time we came.
I was all ready to use the salad spinner, but it just didn't work. The disk's attachment to the lid is not strong enough to hold when more weight is put into it and kept getting off. I tried several combos and approaches but I ended up just using it to soak mostly the poopy diapers.
I started to have ammonia build-up by day 5. So I'm not as strong as of taking those things away by scrubbing. I need to figure out a way of stripping without a washer if I ever find myself in a 2 weeks without power situation.
Little Guy got a rash from the only point in which the liner was not touching his skin when using a pocket as a cover. Thin cotton liners are easier to wash than attached cotton velour ones.
My index finger on my right hand, just where I scrubbed the most, started having wrinkles, peels and everything else.
I fell behind yesterday because my lovely husband closed the main faucet without telling me, so most of the day there was no water downstairs.
I had a couple of morning leaks, one was definitely because I had decided to experiment on a new fold and it backfired. Another was plain and simple wetness, because I put the night diaper on an hour before bedtime instead of when he was already asleep.
The Ugly
One simple word: poop.
I am very fortunate that Tiny Guy is a very light pooper. I also should consider myself one since he started with solids and most of it comes in one single piece, although a very sticky one. But, there is still a lot of watery colors coming from this beautiful sack of potatoes.
So, after a very uneventful first day, to which I had said to myself: "yeah, I may be able to do this for more than a week", Tuesday came, and a big fat explosion accompanied. I'm glad to say that it was all contained, and he was wearing a pocket as a cover, so I had more fun stuff to scrub!
I took it down and hosed it pretty good. Then I took the bar soap and did some general scrubbing, followed by spot targetet. I left it soaking with Murphy's oil soap.
Later that day, I came back. No change. More scrubbing. Murphy's directly on the spots. More soaking.
Next day, no change.Some stains would become lighter, but still be there. I just forgot about the problem and left it soaking in clean water until new notice.
Tiny Guy pooped again on Friday morning, but it was a much smaller one and it all came off with one scrubbing and a tiny little spot was sunned away.
On Saturday, I decided to sun the rest of the spots and it did not come out totally clean, but it was good enough for usage the next day.
So, guess what? same shirt, Sunday morning... KABOOOOOOOMMMM yep, as of 5:09 PM on Monday (a.k.a. right now), it's still soaking. I still have some 2 t-shirts to catch up with, so I would say, I'm not totally done with the challenge.
The other ugly part was the noise Tiny Guy was making when being changed. He was like a little mandrake! And not only I had to change a diaper, it was putting on a snappi that he would take off within 3 seconds and then putting on a velcro cover that he would pull in 3 seconds more and finally a pair of pants that would prevent him from the prior 2.
The Cute Stuff
Most of the used t-shirts had something on them, some drawings were by ink, but others were glued and ironed in. I didn't want Tiny Guy's bum to get rashes because of it, so I used those shirts inside out. That ended up showing the tag just where a nice designer diaper would be: centered in the back.
The t-shirts were primarily white and dark grey. But there was a pair of boxers with blue squares that looked adorable (sorry, no pic for that one). By the way, old boxers make great flats, and old baby pants make fabulous doublers.
One of the t-shirts was grey with a Spider Man stamp on it, but I just couldn't figure out a fold that would show it properly,
The Flaws
First, I must confess, one of the diapers ended up in the washer by mistake. I made it up by hand washing the Sunday night ones (still used flats because I didn't know where I had left the cotton usual stuff). If that disqualifies me, it does. It was not intentional but definitely my mistake (I was actually looking for it all over the place not realizing it was in the washer getting a good agitation).
As for the not spending money part, well, I would not have survived with my covers and snappis. Certainly, I did not buy them for the challenge, but they are CD items nontheless, so I cannot say that you can "fully diaper a baby" without those two. You can indeed function without a snappi, using pins, laces, knots with the clothes, or the cover itself; that's another story. You can leave your child coverless at home, but nights and outings are hard without a waterproof layer. The only available option is to improvise with waterproof materials at home, which won't be very breathable (shower curtains, plastic bags, etc) and those would have to be kept away from baby's mouth.
What I Learned
I learned to improvise with whatever I can find and make a diaper out of it. Anything and everything can be a diaper.
It is empowering to set us up with seemingly impossible tasks just for the sake of it.
Believe it or not, T-shirts work better without sleeves The t-shirt fold using sleeves for fastening gave me trouble all the time. The Jo fold with the sleeveless turned upside down (the waist behind and the top on front) worked much better.
The older and thinner the cotton, the faster it dries (plus you don't worry about stains that much) and the less stinky. Plus, if you don't have a hand operated washer, scrubbing hard to get the ammonia out will eventually create holes, so it only makes sense to use old t-shirts for diapers and the new ones from the thrift-store for what they were originally created to.
Salad spinners make terrible hand.powered washers and wringers (or at least MY salad spinner).
Everything is easier when you are part of a community supporting you and doing crazy things at the same time.
Believe it or not, T-shirts work better without sleeves The t-shirt fold using sleeves for fastening gave me trouble all the time. The Jo fold with the sleeveless turned upside down (the waist behind and the top on front) worked much better.
The older and thinner the cotton, the faster it dries (plus you don't worry about stains that much) and the less stinky. Plus, if you don't have a hand operated washer, scrubbing hard to get the ammonia out will eventually create holes, so it only makes sense to use old t-shirts for diapers and the new ones from the thrift-store for what they were originally created to.
Salad spinners make terrible hand.powered washers and wringers (or at least MY salad spinner).
Everything is easier when you are part of a community supporting you and doing crazy things at the same time.
Blogging every day' is extremely hard when you don't have a hi-speed connection.
---------
I enjoyed your stories, your folds and the community environment', but I won't switch full time.
See you later beautiful ladies.
Friday, April 19, 2013
Appartment Living and Laundry Debate
The super came yesterday to fix a couple of tiles, of course, I got up and immediately took the washer out of the bathroom and into a bedroom, thankfully I had already taken care of everything and the unit was ready for moving.
The evidence and trail that we have a washer is huge: all of a sudden, the bathroom door opens out instead of in, there is a bench inside it (with a baby bathtub to disguise it), in front of it there is a hanging rack with diapers, the main bedroom open can show more hanging clothes, including a sheet, there is detergent inside the bathroom and the laundromat boy has not come in several months. The main reason for having called the super is that two tiles fell, most likely due to the vibrations of the spin dryer.
But the super comes, does his job in 10 minutes, and leaves, either clueless or just playing dumb. I hate hiding it, specially since I think we're not doing anything wrong, but for those who wonder why it is forbidden to have washing machines in pre-war apartment buildings, here is the top 5 reasons for the ban:
The evidence and trail that we have a washer is huge: all of a sudden, the bathroom door opens out instead of in, there is a bench inside it (with a baby bathtub to disguise it), in front of it there is a hanging rack with diapers, the main bedroom open can show more hanging clothes, including a sheet, there is detergent inside the bathroom and the laundromat boy has not come in several months. The main reason for having called the super is that two tiles fell, most likely due to the vibrations of the spin dryer.
But the super comes, does his job in 10 minutes, and leaves, either clueless or just playing dumb. I hate hiding it, specially since I think we're not doing anything wrong, but for those who wonder why it is forbidden to have washing machines in pre-war apartment buildings, here is the top 5 reasons for the ban:
- Risk of flooding. Nobody likes getting water from your ceiling. That can happen if your neighbor upstairs has a flood due to a leak in his laundering system. Is it plausible? sure! indeed! It actually happened several years ago to me. I had a big washing machine in the kitchen, perfectly legal, with a place for it and installation and everything. Well, my washer was old and had been fixed before, I had gotten it from a friend that moved out of town. In any case, the risk is high when you have a device which require open faucets for installation and deals with large amounts of water.
How I deal with it? my machine is not "installed". I fill it up with the shower hose, I never have a full time open faucet. On top of that, it has a limit placed on top, if you overfill, the water will automatically get into the inner tub and down the drain. And since it is lifted, I don't even need the draining pump. Just in case there is a double leak and water starts pouring out of the unit, well, it has less than 1 cubic foot capacity, less than 2 buckets. So that's my very unlikely worst case scenario: a bathroom flooded with the water of a bucket and a half. - Sudsy water in your sink or bathtub. Another annoying side effect for your neighbors downstairs. A friend of mine told me he once had a turkey marinating on his neighbors laundry water. Why does this happen? well, old buildings have a very old draining system, with a very limited capability in the water they can take. This flow of liquid can go to a max of 7 gal/min (or something to that effect, please correct me if I make a mistake). Pumping devices in washing machines get the water out at a rate higher than that. The time elapsed from having it full to having it empty and ready for spinning is quite short and the plumbing can't take it. Therefore, the water, having no place to go, gets out in lower apartments from the drain up.
The solution is to have a buffer tank in which the water can go from the washer, so that it can get into the building's system at its own rate.
In our case, the draining goes to the bathtub, which works as said buffer, and the water stays there until it can slowly go where it has to. Since it is a small unit, the bathtub is more than enough the size of what is needed. - Power capacity. Washers use a lot of juice. A brand new top load Maytag sucks 0.23 KWH per load. My Twin Tub Panda works on 250 W. That times .25 plus another 3 minutos of spin drying at 135 watts is 69WH, less than a third of a regular MayTag, and the equivalent of 3 light bulbs of full capacity for about 15 minutes, not a problem at all. Plus, my building does not have a ban in drying machines, dishwashers or AC, which can suck up much more.
- Noise. That would be a good argument for newer buildings and hollow materials, but in pre-wars? I dodn't hear my machine from the kitchen, let alone from outside of the apartment, is that good enough? Just need to make sure the spinner is balanced, though.
- Business arrangements with Laundromats. If there were coin oparated machines in the basement, this argument would be a little valid, not here, nearest place is a couple of blocks away. Since such agreement is not in the lease, I can't believe they would try this one on me, I didn't know I would surrender the freedom to handwash or wash in my spare house and have to patronize a specific partner of my landlord. Really?
So there you have it. I'm not breaking the lease because my machine is not "installed". But I don't think my landlord has the patience to come and look at it, he may just start a fight if he hears "washer", so we will keep hiding it.
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
My Boy Has Long Hair
I have two beautiful boys: Tiny Guy and Little Guy.
Little Guy is over 3 now and at this point, mostly out of diapers. He is a very singular one, with things done at his own pace and by his own way.
Due to my husband's beliefs, we didn't cut his hair when he was little, and then, kinda forgot about it. What came out was an amazing straight hair and bangs that he loves waving.
We do have a person that cuts his hair and leaves it long in a boyish fashion, but she lives very far, and due to Tiny Guy's arrival, we have not been able to see her, so Little Guy's hair is really long! We'll give it a cut when we see her, but in the meantime we're just trimming the bangs. We tried someone here and gave him a girl's cut (yuck!)
So, as you may think, I get all kinds of comments, I get the "what a gorgeous hair" and, most of the time the "you SHOULD cut his hair". Combined with the more polite "do you think it would be a good idea to cut his hair?" and my favorite: no comment at all, just a pedantic sign of cutting your hair in front of me in my own house, done to somebody else.
Why don't I do it then? well, by starters, I don't think it's someone else's business what I do with my child's hair. It's, more than our business, his. And let me tell you something, he may be delayed in his speech, but he can comunicate, and he has stated very clearly that he loves his long hair and doesn't want it short.
Moreover, my husband has long hair. My son does not understand that long hair is supposed to be "for girls", he doesn't understand gender issues very well, he knows he is more like Daddy than like me, and Daddy has long hair, so why wouldn't he?
Which brings me to gender issues. I have always stated that I have a boy, but never told him so. I have never told him the difference between boys and girls or showed him specific toys. He sees pink as one more color and does not relate it to girls. He is 3 and learning 2 languages, but he is, in all aspects, a boy.
Whoever says that little children don't know about gender identity have never had one. My little boy has not been exposed to gender related propaganda, yet he likes toy cars, trains, climbing, red, blue, green, Cars (the movie), Thomas the Train, running around, balls, etc. He doesn't care about how he looks and usually picks bright color T-shirts and jeans for outside (and nothing for inside). He climbs what you put in front of him, he is independent and determined. He doesn't care much about dolls, only once in a while he will get a stuffed animal and hug it. So, he has let us know that he is a boy, in every aspect, including the hair.
So, next time you see a child, before looking at the hair, look at what the child does and what the child is wearing and the child's behavior. The other day at a doctor's office, the conversation went like this:
-What a gorgeous boy you have
-Thank you.
-At first I thought it was a girl, but then I saw the cars and how he was playing and noted that his outfit was definitely boyish.
-I'm glad, people take him for a girl a lot.
-People just don't think.
So, use your brain for more than half a second. There are several children out there that are not what you pictured in your brain, mine being one of those.
Little Guy is over 3 now and at this point, mostly out of diapers. He is a very singular one, with things done at his own pace and by his own way.
Due to my husband's beliefs, we didn't cut his hair when he was little, and then, kinda forgot about it. What came out was an amazing straight hair and bangs that he loves waving.
We do have a person that cuts his hair and leaves it long in a boyish fashion, but she lives very far, and due to Tiny Guy's arrival, we have not been able to see her, so Little Guy's hair is really long! We'll give it a cut when we see her, but in the meantime we're just trimming the bangs. We tried someone here and gave him a girl's cut (yuck!)
So, as you may think, I get all kinds of comments, I get the "what a gorgeous hair" and, most of the time the "you SHOULD cut his hair". Combined with the more polite "do you think it would be a good idea to cut his hair?" and my favorite: no comment at all, just a pedantic sign of cutting your hair in front of me in my own house, done to somebody else.
Why don't I do it then? well, by starters, I don't think it's someone else's business what I do with my child's hair. It's, more than our business, his. And let me tell you something, he may be delayed in his speech, but he can comunicate, and he has stated very clearly that he loves his long hair and doesn't want it short.
Moreover, my husband has long hair. My son does not understand that long hair is supposed to be "for girls", he doesn't understand gender issues very well, he knows he is more like Daddy than like me, and Daddy has long hair, so why wouldn't he?
Which brings me to gender issues. I have always stated that I have a boy, but never told him so. I have never told him the difference between boys and girls or showed him specific toys. He sees pink as one more color and does not relate it to girls. He is 3 and learning 2 languages, but he is, in all aspects, a boy.
Whoever says that little children don't know about gender identity have never had one. My little boy has not been exposed to gender related propaganda, yet he likes toy cars, trains, climbing, red, blue, green, Cars (the movie), Thomas the Train, running around, balls, etc. He doesn't care about how he looks and usually picks bright color T-shirts and jeans for outside (and nothing for inside). He climbs what you put in front of him, he is independent and determined. He doesn't care much about dolls, only once in a while he will get a stuffed animal and hug it. So, he has let us know that he is a boy, in every aspect, including the hair.
So, next time you see a child, before looking at the hair, look at what the child does and what the child is wearing and the child's behavior. The other day at a doctor's office, the conversation went like this:
-What a gorgeous boy you have
-Thank you.
-At first I thought it was a girl, but then I saw the cars and how he was playing and noted that his outfit was definitely boyish.
-I'm glad, people take him for a girl a lot.
-People just don't think.
So, use your brain for more than half a second. There are several children out there that are not what you pictured in your brain, mine being one of those.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)