The Results

O.M.G....

I lovelovelove the Hippie Store. Love it!

We arrive in this store in downtown Cincinnati, and I am struck first by its boho charm. And they have a smallish section of the store specifically for natural parenting. I am sort of discouraged by this at first, because the area really is small. But as I start to browse, it is very, very crammed with anything you could need. On the shelf directly across from some adorable organic baby tees is my Mother's Milk tea. And Fenugreek. And Blessed Thistle. And another tea called Milkmaid Tea (which I bought just to try). And neat rows of organic, green baby lotions and soaps and oils. And eco-friendly diaper detergents. Supplies to make your own baby food. Green baby toys. Diaper bags. An entire rack of carriers (should've bought my Moby there as they have too many cute colors!). They had a bECO Butterfly 2 and a bECO Gemini on display and I tried both on. Both were comfortable, but the only Gemini patterns they had were very feminine, which just would not do, considering that I am mainly buying this so John can get in on the fun of babywearing also. The Butterfly 2 had some more patterns and colors that would work, and so I performed the ultimate test: getting Zach out of the carseat and trying it. And he screamed and screamed. His short little legs were just in too awkward a position. So I moved onto the Ergo. And it was comfortable for both John and I with minimal adjustment. So in goes Zach. And I love the way is positions him. Sitting instead of curled up like the Moby does. My only complaint is that it was too wide for his hips and so forward-facing didn't work so well. But as soon as we turned him to where he was facing me, all was right with his world and he leaned his head on my chest and looked around in amazement. We found a winner, and after perusing the cloth diapers, and picking up some teething pads to go on the Ergo straps, we were off to the checkout.

Of course this is where I made an ass of myself. Well, not really. John had picked out a camel color in the carrier, but thought it would show dirt too easily, so we picked up a chocolate brown one instead. Well, at the checkout, I noticed that the darker color was $40 more. Really?

"But this one's organic.", stressed Hippie Chick #1.
"Sooooooo worth it!" stressed Hippie Chick #2.

So this is where I blurted out to John, "Here, take this and get the cheaper non-organic one!"

Gasp! The horror!
Don't I care about Mother Earth? They looked at me like I had 2 heads. And when it came time to finish the transaction, they asked to put me on their mailing list, so I gave them the info. Later, in the car, John told me I shouldn't have. "They're gonna hunt you down because you didn't buy the organic one!" Ha!

So on the cloth diapering front: I am a tactile person. I hate shopping on line. I like to gaze and feel and compare. So the lookng at diapers that I have been doing online just hasn't done the trick. But there, at the Hippie Store, they have them all: Thirsties, BumGenius, Flip, GroBaby...Fitteds, prefolds, biodegradeable inserts, flushable inserts, fabric inserts. In organic and non-organic, bleached and unbleached. Gah! And the rainbow of cute colors and prints! Zach will forever be pants-less so I can show off his cute diapers!
I managed to talk John into this endeavor. But I explained All-in-Ones to him, which function closest to disposables, are the most user-friendly, but also the most expensive. I really think we are going to go with the BumGenius AIO's, because after such a huge investment (about $25 per diaper x 24 or so diapers if we wash every other day , plus sprayer, wetbags, pail, laundering supplies, cloth wipes and spray, inserts.....) I like that they will grow with Zach and will last him through toilet learning.

But we didn't buy any yet. (Insert bummed look here!)
We are going through a major hassle in our house, so I couldn't just thunk down that huge wad of cash just yet. (see next post!) Plus I got seriously confused. Soakers? Doublers? What the hell? It's like some secret language that I cannot decipher. And so I am going to schlep my happy arse to a cloth-diapering workshop that the Hippie Store puts on before I make such a huge investment. I'm already dreading it: my loafer-clad feet, designer jeans, and expensive handbag next to their birkies, broomskirts, and hemp totes. But oh well.