What I Learned from a Diaper

When we get busy with the day to day activities of life, we can lose sight of what was initially our goal and focus. Sometimes it takes an outsider or a life change to help us get back on track. At our house, it took a diaper (or the lack there of).

Our last baby (the last of 6) recently decided she wanted to be "big like sissy" and she stopped wearing diapers. We have been 5 weeks in big girl undies with very few accidents. Initially I thought I wasn't ready for this milestone. We have had at least one (sometimes two or three) in diapers for the last 6 years. Not just any diapers either - cloth diapers! We had a routine and every other day I would wake up early to ensure all the regular laundry was out of the washer so I could start the process of washing diapers. My goal was to have the diapers out of the washer and into the dryer by bedtime so I could start a load of "regular" laundry. We had a system. The system worked. Had you asked me, I would have said I didn't mind the washing, drying, stuffing, organizing, of the diapers. It didn't seem time consuming; it was just something we worked into our routine.

A few days after potty training began, I washed every last diaper and put them into a storage bin. I am still unsure what I'm storing them for, because no one in this household is interested in wearing them anymore. I cried as I put them away. Endings have never been easy for me and I still can't explain fully if those were tears of joy or tears of sorrow. The following morning, I didn't have to get up quite so early. There were moments the washing machine wasn't running. It felt odd. I ran upstairs and started coming up with things to wash. I had always felt a bit ashamed about not washing bedding as often as I should, so I stripped my eldest sons bed, and moved right down the line. By the end of the first week, everyone had fresh and clean bedding and every blankie, afghan, and throw blanket had been laundered.

The job I once thought took no time at all had somehow freed up an incredible amount of time in my life. My FitBit average sleep number jumped from 3 hours of sleep to 5. This one small change was making a world of difference. I needed less coffee to get through the day because I was getting more sleep. Less coffee means less creamer - so I added a hole to my belt. The house was cleaner, I started washing bedding every 4 days instead of every 2 weeks, and I even had time left over for writing. My goal nearly 7 years ago was to have my novel published by the end of the year. Here we are, and I am finally back at writing on a regular basis.

I got lost in the mundane tasks of being a mom. Those tasks were enjoyable, but pulled me away from writing and dimmed my fire. With a little attention, those embers are sparking new life and it feels so good. I feel free and focused. Thank you to my littlest love for deciding it was time to get back on track. I am eternally grateful! And to you dear readers - there will be a novel forthcoming! Thanks for being here with us through it all!

Hugs,
~Crystal
About today's author:

Crystal is a secretary, council secretary, financial secretary, and musician at her church, birth mother, Auntie, babywearing cloth diapering mama (aka crunchy mama), business owner, active journaler, writer and blogger, Blog Tour Manager with WOW! Women on Writing, Publicist with Dream of Things Publishing, Press Corp teammate for the DairyGirl Network, Unicorn Mom Ambassador, as well as a dairy farmer. She lives in Wisconsin with her husband and their five youngest children (Carmen 13, Andre 11, Breccan 5, Delphine 4, and baby Eudora who will be 2 in a few months), two dogs, four little piggies, a handful of cats and kittens, and over 230 Holsteins.

You can find Crystal riding unicorns and horses, taking the ordinary and giving it a little extra (making it extraordinary), blogging and reviewing books, baby carriers, cloth diapers, and all sorts of other stuff here, and at her personal blog - Crystal is dedicated to turning life's lemons into lemonade!

Now it's your turn:

**What is something you are doing that you could eliminate from your routine to make additional time for writing? exercise? meditating? etc...

**If you've eliminated something from your life to help you find joy - how did you recognize the hurdle? Did someone point it out to you? Have you ever done this for someone else?

**How do you take care of you? Your writing life? Your physical health?

**What is your goal for the remainder of this year?

Lease a comment on this post;

let's learn from one another and grow together!