The 6 AM Run

A few years back I had a friend with two toddlers. She got up at an ungodly hour everyday to work out and have some time to herself. I remember my reaction as she told me this. It was something like "WHAT!! Why in the world would anyone sacrifice sleep to work out? Why wouldn't you just take your kids to the gym (they have a childcare area)? Or why couldn't your husband watch your kids so you could go?"

Because it doesn't work like that. At the time my first child was only a few months old. I had no idea what I was doing. I mean, I thought I knew. I have much younger siblings so I had previous baby experience and I have a degree in family psychology. Not to mention the dozens of parenting books I've read. Yes, I thought I knew everything. But parenting is one of those things you never will truly understand until your a parent yourself.

Before my baby was born I was accustomed to 9 hours of sleep a night so I was still adjusting to the lack of sleep. There was no way I was going to wake up any earlier than I absolutely had to. My daughter also wasn't at that separation anxiety stage yet. She couldn't have cared less who took care of her as long as she was being held and fed. I had not yet had the opportunity to hear her screaming and crying "Mommy!" I hadn't experienced the heartache and guilt of leaving behind a child that truly needed me. I could just hand her off and go do whatever my heart desired (for the most part) without feeling much guilt.

So, here I am over 2 years and another kid later. I have adjusted to sleep loss. It's one of those things I've come to accept as being a norm for another 10 years or so. Yes, I could take my kids with me to the gym but even the thought getting both of them dressed, in the car, into the gym, and deal with the heartbreaking cry is enough to keep me home. And yes, I could wait until my husband got home from work so he could watch them, but my husband works long hours. We only have a thimble full of time together before we have to get the kids in bed. I just don't want to frequently decrease that already short time. Plus, there is the heartbreaking cry and guilt thing again.

I have realized that my kids will only be kids for a blink in time. With work, preschool, chores and life my time with my family is already limited. I just don't feel like such silly things as time to myself and exercise should further limit that time. But I HAVE to have time to myself. A CRAZY mom isn't going to help out my family much. So what am I willing to sacrifice? Sleep. I drag my tired butt out of bed at an ungodly hour and pull on my running shoes, put ear buds in, and turn my iPod to my favorite playlist. I think my kids will thank me for it later.

Cloth Diaper Liners: Are they worth it?

I just wanted to do a quick post about diaper liners. When I was pregnant with my daughter the concept of a diaper liner was genius. There are many different brands all claiming to be flushable. I got the GroVia BioLiners. They say:

"GroVia™ BioLiners™ allow moisture to pass through while keeping your baby's skin dry. Easy to use, they keep solids contained for easy clean-up. Simply remove the liner and flush."

All the brands look and work pretty much the same way.  So I thought these would save me a lot of time and mess but in truth it did not. Most of time when I had the liner in the diaper it would bunch up and then diaper would still get dirty and I was still cleaning the diapers off. I felt like I was wasting my money. But I did like the flushable aspect until my toilet backed up from all of the liners I had flushed. Evidently, they do not dissovle as well as toilet paper.

So, I did a little experiment. I put a liner in the washer for 3 cycles. You read correctly. 3! This is what was left.

I think my washing maching is a little more forceful than my plumbing. This should have dissovled if it were truly flushable. Toilet paper would never come out of three wash cycles looking like this.

The end result: Diaper liners are not as convenient as they may seem and if you care about your plumbing at all don't flush them! These may work for some people out there but for me it was just flushing my money down the toilet and then watching it get clogged.