December 4, 2006
It snowed today. Just a little bit! But definitely snow. The down side to this, of course, is that it was also 17 degrees outside today. (That's Fahrenheit, for my non-American readers.) On the way from the preschool to the car, Stazi started wailing because her face was too cold. For that matter, I wanted to start wailing because my face was too cold. After a week of 60-degree temperatures, I'm not ready to be plunged precipitously into subfreezing winds.
I think Stazi is sick anyway. I went downstairs earlier and instead of doodling around with her art box or watching "Dragon Tales" like usual, she was snuggled on the couch under a pillow and blanket looking sleepy. I have an appointment for both kids to be seen by the pediatrician on Thursday for persistent cough and cold. (Seriously, they've both had something since well before Thanksgiving. Zeke's is a hacking cough, and Stazi has some really disgusting crap coming out of her nose -- you were dying to know that, weren't you?) So hopefully we'll be able to fix whatever the problem is, if she can hold out until then.
It's been a while since I was posting regularly; have I mentioned that Stazi is totally potty trained now? Our house has been diaper-free for going on a month. I tripped over a box in the living room the other day, realized it was a half-full crate of Costco diaper wipes, and merrily stashed them away in the garage, where they will sit until (sigh) needed again.
As a side note, does anyone else do this with crap lying around their house? You set something down on the floor "just for a minute," and then a day later you think, "God, that's right in the middle of traffic, I should really move it," and then a week later, you're like "Jeez, where am I gonna put that thing? I really need to get it out of there before someone breaks their neck on it" and before you know it it's become part of the scenery, and your family becomes accustomed to tripping over it or dancing out of its way on a daily basis. When you sweep the floor, you sweep around it. It is like this immovable piece of furniture that you simply don't see anymore.
Maybe this is just our household.
Anyway, all diaper wipes, diaper liners, and other diaper accoutrements are stowed away out of sight and mostly out of mind for the next several months. Because I am weak, and because for a while we were living in a place with a truly substandard washing machine -- to get a hot cycle, you had to manually shut off the cold water intake during the fill cycle, and then remember to turn it back on before the rinse cycle -- we switched from cloth diapers to disposables back when Stazi was 6 months or so old, and both kids were still in diapers.
However, I think I'm going to switch back to cloth for the next one. We have a washing machine that is more advanced than my college degree, we have a nice clothesline, and there's no good reason not to. Besides, I kind of like cloth diapering. I hate the amount of trash we produce in this house anyway, and that's with recycling (which you have to pay $5/month for in this town, can you believe that?) and composting. So one less thing to toss in the trash every day is a good thing. We do need to find ourselves a good diaper pail with a tight lid, though. The one we used with Zeke was the one we got from Baby Diaper Service in Seattle and it didn't survive the move with us. I'm thinking about just getting a regular trash can with a lid from Target or something. Suggestions on this topic welcome.
(I haven't been discussing the pregnancy much because I have a couple of diagnostic tests coming up in the next month or so that will reveal the presence of birth defects, if there are any, and I'm kind of terrified because of my blood sugar issues, and am trying not to think too hard about the pregnancy until after we get some confirmation one way or another.)
Posted at December 4, 2006 4:39 PM
Posted by: casey at December 4, 2006 9:11 PM
"Maybe this is just our household."
Nope! Mine too. And our household consists of two middle-aged adults and a 21-year-old who mainly lives in her college town.
I thought about not having my Christmas party this year, but I have to have it. It's the only reason I clean.
Posted by: Margaret DeAngelis at December 5, 2006 12:06 AM
another "Maybe this is just our household"...
Gawd no!! I am a persistent piler. I start one, just put something down for a minute, and it seems like ten minutes later every room of our house has piles of paper/mail/ads/school stuff on every available horizontal surface. We do not have a coffee table, on purpose. Because things would just slide onto the floor from it. Then the dog would spread them around, etc.
Even John, who grew up in a pretty darn filthy house gets terribly annoyed by my piling. but hey, at least I clean around the piles occassionally!!
Good luck with finding a good diaper pail- don't they have them at your basic Walgreens or whatever you have there?
Posted by: Bibi at December 12, 2006 12:43 PM
That's what we have - a trash can with a lid (and a pedal for hands-free dumping). Your standard issue.
I'm looking to buy a PUL-lined diaper bag for inside the pail. What I'm using now is nylon and things... seep. Yuck.