Cloth Diaper Tips

These cloth diaper tips were written for a new cloth diapering mama, by a mom who has cloth diapered 4 little men and is now diapering her first little girl over the course of the last 12 years. It was written to be a cheat sheet of tips, not a full blown tutorial. You may also like to read about my favorite cloth diapers.

When changing baby, make sure you fold the Velcro laundry tabs down as you remove the diaper.
Wash every 2 to 3 days at least. Going longer makes it tougher to get them clean.
Start with a soak cycle. If you don’t have a soak cycle, drench the diapers to their full absorbency before washing by adding extra water to the washer drum or adding to the pail liner before tipping into the washer. (You don’t need to rinse until baby is on a lot of solid foods. At that point, tip any poop that comes off easily into the toilet and do a rinse cycle before soaking.)
Use an eco friendly detergent (My favorites are Norwex, Rocking green, or Charlie’s)
Dry until fully dry, not damp. I just throw the covers and pail liner in the dryer too but you could air dry them (they should last longer if you do).
Chuck them in the basket or drawer and they’re ready to use again.

Extra Tips:

Disposable wipes have a tendency to go through the washer so most people find cloth wipes (I use baby face cloths) much more convenient. 30-40 wipes should be plenty for a newborn. You’ll need less for older babies/toddlers.
A mesh laundry bag (held up in something like a large peanut butter container) for dirty wipes prevents wipes from getting lost. Be sure it is big enough to give the wipes lots of room to wiggle clean. Get two, one to wash and one to use. (I also has issues with wipes getting into my washer drainage hose and the mesh bag solved that problem.)
A small container of water on or near the change table, freshened every few days, makes it easier to wet a wipe when needed. Pre-wetting wipes is quick but can result in musty wipes that need to be washed even if they haven’t been used.
Wet and wring wipes and put them in a plastic sandwich bag for going out.
Use a reusable diaper pail liner. Turn it inside out to push the diapers into the washer and you’ll never have to touch the dirty diapers and you’ll rarely have to wash your diaper pail.
Keep the diapers in a cool part of the room with good airflow. Avoid sealing the lid onto the diaper pail because they may start to get hot and fermenty. They actually smell less than disposables because you don’t have that icky chemical smell mixed in.
Under normal circumstances, you should not have to strip diapers more than about once a year. If you are having problems that require your to strip more frequently, try revising your wash routine.
Most diaper creams are not cloth diaper safe. Coconut oil may help any bum rashes you encounter or there are some great cloth diaper safe creams put there. My personal favorites are Earth Mama Angel Baby and Thirsties.
For using cloth on the go, remember your diapers, covers, pre-wetted wipes, a wet bag, and a change pad (I ADORE these waterproof change pads and can’t believe it took me 5 babies to be introduced to them. Just chuck them in the wash with the diapers and presto!).

Consistency in the Service of Motherhood

by Tessa | Motherhood

Consistency in the Service of Motherhood

Disclosure

When I originally had the idea of writing on consistency, I thought that this post would be about consistency in your mothering and discipline techniques. About following through when telling your child to do something. As I started writing, however, I was led in a completely different direction. This is about my struggle with consistency in the service of motherhood.

My mind has been cloudy lately. My body has been weary. I’m nearing the end of my pregnancy and, to be frank, I’m pretty sick of waking up to pee 2-3 times per night and having to maneuver gingerly out of bed so as not to aggravate my pelvic pain. I’m thankful that, for the last couple of weeks, Biscuit has only been up 2-3 times per night and has settled back to sleep quickly.

I want to be a blessing to my husband and children. I know the “to dos” to get there but I’m having a hard time getting motivated. I cannot rely on my own strength, because it so often fails me. I’m consistently inconsistent. Just when I feel like I’m getting into a good rhythm with housework, mothering, my marriage, and business, I drop the ball. What’s a person to do at that point?

Go back to square one.

Square one is to read my Bible and pray. I didn’t get my Bible reading in for a couple mornings last week. It completely threw my day off. I don’t know how much of it was the lack of the Word and focused time with God, or the lack of structure at the beginning of the day.

Service. Jesus came to serve and He is the example that we are to follow.

Servanthood is hard.

Especially at this point in my life, I would much rather be served than to serve. I even feel like I’m entitled to being served sometimes. I do a lot of serving and, to tell the truth, I grow weary from it. But nowhere in the Bible does it say that we are to serve with the expectation of being served back. How in the world does a person serve and sacrifice so much of herself, consistently every day, without growing weary?

You can’t. I can’t. I need to find a way to rely on God’s strength instead of my own. Because there are days when I just run out of strength.

Go back to the beginning.

Square one: read my Bible. Keep reading until I allow God’s strength to come into me. He will give me the strength. All I need to do is ask in faith and I shall receive. But I also have to be willing and open to receiving it.

How do I open myself up to His strength? Prayer. God’s strength is found in His Word and made perfect in my weakness. His perfect strength will see me through.

[bctt tweet=”He will give me the strength. All I need to do is ask in faith and I shall receive. But I also have to be willing and open to receiving it.”]

Lord,

Please fill me with Your strength. I can’t go on without it. I need you. I can’t do this alone. I don’t want to rely on my faltering strength. Open my heart and mind to being used by You to bless my family today. And fill me with the strength to follow through.

Amen.

Do you struggle with consistency too? How do you find the strength to consistently serve your family?

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How to Encourage Boys to Love Reading

by Tessa | Homeschooling, Motherhood

How to Encourage Boys to Love Reading

Disclosure

Today I want to talk to you about books. Particularly books for boys and how to encourage boys to love reading. I am a mom of 4 boys, all of whom love books. Even the ones who can’t read yet love to sit on the couch and surround themselves with books and just flip through. Sometimes for hours at a time. People think that my house must be loud and chaotic, and it certainly has its moments, but we also have times when it feels like you’re in a morgue by the level of noise.

how to encourage boys to love reading pin

For the record, my two older boys are naturally a bit quieter and lower energy but my two younger boys are my busy, bouncy blondies. Truly. They are the reason why I have a trampoline inside and outside my house. I like to think the trampolines are saving couches though the couches still get some decent… attention and have seen better days. /sigh “You are the reason we cant have nice things!”

I also have other people’s children over regularly, including their busy boys who they swear hate reading. Yet they come here and sit contentedly on the couch with a book. Or they never even make it to the couch and just sit on the floor in front of the bookcase. Which I’m totally fine with and in the past I even put nice little soft reading chairs in front of the bookcase for them but….boys. 2 out of 3 have had to go into the dumpster because they were used as tanks and spaceships and who knows what else and completely came apart.

Anyone who doesn’t like reading just hasn’t found the right book.

My only daughter is only a month old right now so I’m not going to claim that girls are not attracted to specific types of books or topics because I just don’t know (and of course every girl is different). I do know, however, that girls are typically less reluctant readers and more parents struggle to get their boys (possibly including husbands?) to read for pleasure.

I have been asked on more than one occasion for tips on how to encourage boys to love reading. These tips and book suggestions are not a guarantee but they will definitely help point you and your son(s) in the right direction.

1.Have books available for little hands from a young age.

This is obviously a tip that applies to any child but I think people sometimes forget to get books for their boys. Take time to read to them or, if they don’t want to sit and read a story, just flip through the book at their own pace and point at pictures. Go back and forth between pages and repeat things 100 times. Let them speed through the book as fast or as slow as they like. Just don’t let them throw or purposely wreck the book. They can learn to treat books with respect right from the start (even though it may take several years for that lesson to truly sink in). Keep toddler books accessible and make them easy to clean up. A low shelf that they can be placed on (in disarray of course as properly reshelving books is hard for little hands) or a bin they can pull over to a comfy reading spot are ideal. Even if you typically use the library for your book needs, I would recommend picking up a couple dozen toddler books so they can gain familiarity and choose their favorite titles over and over again.

2.Choose books on topics they are already interested in.

He is going to be less likely to be willing to pick up a book in a topic that you’re trying to introduce. That feels much more like forced reading, which is usually seen as a chore. You want to encourage a love of reading out of pleasure, not make reading a duty. Please don’t choose something that you think they “should” read or be interested in until you have already established a firm love of reading and a level of trust with your child so he knows you’re not just trying to force something on him. Share these books with no pressure or expectation. “I saw this and know you are interested in XYZ so I thought of you.” Then leave it and let them decide what to do with it.

3. Find a variety of styles of books.

I know that all boys are different (I have 4 with the same contributing genetics and each is totally unique, then add in the billions of other boys in the world, yikes!) but there are some consistent favorites on our shelves. Some types and features of books they have been consistently attracted to:

Real pictures instead of drawings
Touchy feely features
Fabric books
Lift the flap books (when they’ve learned to be more gentle)
Photographic historical books
Age appropriate biographies
Activity and How To books (i.e. science experiments, Lego ideas, wood working, outdoor survival)
Large pictures with minimal print
Comics or graphic novels

Some favorite topics have included:

Anything “extreme” (weather, machines, animals, world records etc)
Military, current and historical (including weapons, battles and wars, biographies on great leaders)
Animals
Human Body
Allegorical fiction
Video games
Science and technology
Machines (dump trucks, tractors, race cars)
Lives of kids, fiction and non fiction, in history as well as currently
Funny stuff, whether jokes or silly stories

4. Read aloud, whether they are young or old.

Find a time in your day that is specifically for reading to your kids. When they are younger this can be as simple as letting them bring a book to you and you taking the time to flip through at their pace. As they get older you can tie this to snack time or during a meal, or at bedtime. I truly believe every family should make bedtime stories a part of their daily routine. Even as kids get older, they can still benefit from read aloud time. Just be sure to let them pick the story or choose something that you truly believe they would like (and there is no rule that says you need to finish the book if it turns out to be terrible). Let it be a family bonding time. It is a simple way to go on adventures together, trek around the globe, and go back in time.

5. Be an Example worth following

Your kids need to see you reading. Not just blog posts on your phone or ebooks on your kindle, but paperback books. Digital and audio books or magazines can be beneficial but there is nothing like holding the pages in your hand. That goes for your kids too. They need the tactile feedback of turning a page, being able to flip to the cover to see the title, or to the back to reread the summary. They may need the ability to flip quickly to the end to make sure their favorite character comes out on top. They may want to flip back to the previous chapter to reread a favorite part. These things are much more difficult to do with an ebook or audio book. Plus, they need to see their parents with a book in hand so they know instantly that you aren’t just window shopping or checking email or scrolling social media again.

So let’s say that you always have books available, have lots of books you know he would love if he just gave them a chance, have introduced lots of styles and topics, read aloud regularly, and are an avid reader but you son still just doesn’t pick up a book. That happens. Keep in mind that boys typically learn to read later in life so you may just need to be patient. Boys (and their parents) are also often influenced by a culture that makes them feel as though it isn’t normal for them to enjoy reading. These can make it feel impossible but let me share a story with you to prove that these things are not insurmountable.
Here’s a short story, shared with permission:

My husband was told his whole life that he was a hands on learner and not academic. He was told he wasn’t a great reader. He will tell you he read 1 or 2 books in high school but didn’t read a single book his whole adult life. Over the last 15 years I’ve been pointing out to him that he reads just fine and actually reads quite a bit. Some of the things he reads include equipment repair manuals (with lots of technical terms that I don’t understand), video game tutorials, research articles on everything farming, newspapers, children’s books for bedtime stories etc. It has never been about skill level, only about lack of practice of reading an actual (adult level) book. Last summer he noticed our eldest 2 boys were really interested in a couple of book series and specifically that out 8yo went from not reading to reading everything within 6 months. He figured he needed to keep up to what his boys were talking about. So he picked up the first book in the series. Then he picked up the next. Over the summer he read about a dozen books. Some youth and some adult. Some fiction and some non fiction. But he officially said I’m right: anyone who dislikes reading just hasn’t found the right book.

It may take 35 years (and continued encouragement) but patience pays off.

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Homemaking 101: Motivation For When You’re Not a Good Homemaker

by Tessa | Homemaking

Homemaking 101: Motivation For When You’re Not a Good Homemaker

Disclosure

So often we tell ourselves we are not a good homemaker. It is so easy to look around your home and see the piles of laundry, dishes, papers, and toys scattered around. Hear me when I say that your home is not meant to be clean all the time. You live here. Your family lives here. It is going to be in some state of disarray 99% of the time. That’s normal. It is also normal to feel like you must be doing something wrong if you can’t keep up. Which leads to the false belief that you are just not a good homemaker.

motivation and resources when you're not a good homemaker

Did you notice I said it is a false belief?

The truth is that it isn’t too difficult to wipe the table. Or wash a pot. Or even fold a shirt. Break it down to the nuts and bolts and homemaking is a bunch of simple motions repeated over and over. (and over and over and over…)

Here is where the mind shift comes in: You are a good homemaker. Say it out loud a couple of times to get a feel for that truth. Your inner voice is probably snickering right now. Mocking you a bit. Denying yourself of that truth. Tell that voice to stuff it. Because you know how to wipe crumbs off the table. Even my 5 year old knows how to wipe the table. (So does my 2 year old, though I’m not sure licking up crumbs while sliding around the table on his tummy is an efficient or sanitary method we should be copying.) And stain removal…. I truly believe this is something that this is the one homemaking task that takes super powers.

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking up complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.”
Mark Twain

(Insert some Jeopardy music here)
…….
……
…..
Now that my train of thought was completely interrupted by my children who are sad that our internet is down so the can’t play their math game, let me try to finish writing this post.

The truth: you are a good homemaker. Another truth: it is extremely difficult for many people to do the proper sequence of those simple tasks frequently enough to prevent their home from looking like a bomb farted in it. l recently met a lovely mama who is expecting her third baby. She bemoaned the fact that she is having such a hard time with the infamous disorder that most of us have lovingly dubbed, “baby brain.” The disorder that prevents you from keeping nearly any thought in your mind for more than 3 seconds before it flies out into the wind. I have heard that baby brain can afflict a mama as long as she is pregnant and/or breastfeeding. So I’ve been struggling with it for over 12 years straight.

The solution: write it down.

It sounds overly simple but it works. You will no longer have to expend energy or mental power on keeping that thought in your mind, which frees you up from thinking about what to do so you can actually go do it. If it a bigger project (that involved more than one 10 minute task), take some time to break it down into bite-sized tasks keeps things from getting overwhelming.

You have a couple of options: make yourself a to do list of each of those simple tasks that you must do to keep up on your home keeping maintenance or find a premade list and make it work for you. Get one list, one notebook, or one app to write it all down in. Don’t worry that it isn’t perfect. Just pick one and start.

Some of my favorite resources for simple and doable homemaking routines:

(I have included some affiliate links here and, as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Feel free to read my full disclosure.)

High 5 Chart: I’ve talked about this simple morning routine on my blog a number of times and even offer a free printable to get you started. You can get the free download by filling in the form below.

How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind: Dana White is a self-proclaimed slob and describes her journey to deslobification.

Sidetracked Home Executives: From Pigpen to Paradise: This book walks you through each room of your house to help you create a system that covers off not only keeping your house deep cleaned but you can also add in personal routine items (like bathing the kids, shaving your legs, or booking dentist appointments). It’s a lot of work to get the system set up but, once it’s up and running, it’s so simple to maintain. Because it uses index cards for each task, it’s also really easy to delegate to family members. I still use a modified version of this, though I’ve gone from my index card box to tracking things in my Todoist app on my phone.

Creative Home Keeper: Some excellent reading on Victoria’s blog about setting homemaking routines and keeping a clean home. She also has a great free printables section on her website that includes daily and weekly checklists as well as worksheets to help you walk through your own homemaking goals.

Fly Lady: My understanding is this website was inspired by the book Sidetracked Home Executives. Being perfectly honest, this is one tool that did NOT work for me. Though their system is great and their steps are so easy to follow and truly deliver good results in your home, the amount of emails completely overwhelmed me and I started ignoring them. I much prefer a system that I can control. But if you’re not one who wants to set up your own system and need more guidance and reminders for what you should do each day, this could be an amazing fit for you! Don’t let the dated look of the website scare you. The steps to follow can be a huge help!

Simply Convivial: Mystie wrote the book on how to get things done as a homemaker. Literally. I have it and I’ve read it several times and it inspired me to purchase David Allen’s Getting Things Done ebook earlier this year. (I don’t believe she sells the book anymore but it is really just a summary of her GTD for homemakers blog series.) She also has courses in her membership section, that I have not taken but I imagine the quality is just as good as the rest of her content.

Your home is not meant to perfect all the time but that doesn’t mean you’re not a good homemaker. What makes a good homemaker is someone who doesn’t give up. Keep taking that one next step forward. So grab a notebook or print off some simple routines, like the High 5 routine above, and remind yourself that you’re perfectly capable of doing every single one of those tasks. Then just do the first one.

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Attitude of Gratitude – The Light at the End of the Tunnel

by Tessa | Faith, Personal Development

Attitude of Gratitude – The Light at the End of the Tunnel

Disclosure

Life is stressful. Things don’t go according to our plans and sometimes it’s hard to see God’s hand in the picture that He is painting in our lives. Seasons of change, seasons of struggle, seasons of distress, seasons of darkness. We all have them. It can be so hard to consistently maintain an attitude of gratitude!

developing an attitude of gratitude through trials by seeing the Light at the end of the tunnel

The amazing thing about going through all of the trials is that, as a believer in God, we have a Light at the end of the tunnel. Even when that tunnel seems to go on forever and you can’t even see the Light through the dark, it’s there. We can cling to that hope.

Just because we can’t see the big picture doesn’t mean that it isn’t beautiful.

I’m reminded of a story that I heard a long time ago about a person who looks at a beautiful tapestry. The Creator walks up beside her and they have a conversation about the rich and vibrant colors. God explains that this is the tapestry of the observer’s life. The person is confused because she can’t understand how her life, full of so many trials and tears, could weave such a beautiful finished product. God then points out to her that the crimson threads in the flowers are her trials, the dark blues in the sky are her tears.

It occurred to me that this is the second time this week that I’ve written about attitude. On Monday I wrote about developing a mothering attitude and today I’m talking about an attitude of gratitude. Perhaps this is because the last few weeks (maybe even the last few years?) have been a mental struggle for me. I’ll be totally honest and say that it has been tough to be eating dinner alone with my kids nearly every night and telling them that daddy isn’t able to read bedtimes stories tonight because he’s working late. It’s tough to be woken up 25 times a night with an upset (read: screaming) toddler for what seems like no reason at all other than he’s mad that he’s not still asleep. It’s tough to remain positive when I’m in pain from my pregnancy and it feels like nothing is going right. Writing this post, as well as the one on Monday, has been a great reminder to myself to focus on the fact that this phase in our life will pass (i.e. the Biscuit will sleep again… someday!) and to look for the beauty within the trials.

Free Printable Habit Tracker and Workbook

Get your Free Guide to Setting Life Changing Habits

God doesn’t appreciate grumbling and I don’t want to let it gain a foothold. I missed writing in my gratitude journal several days last week and it really affected my mental state.

Here are some of the things that I’m grateful for:

Biscuit is waking up. I would rather he wake up 25 times than never again.

I have a loving husband who is willing to put in ridiculous hours to feed our family.

I have been blessed with amazing friends who were willing to uproot their whole lives to follow God’s call to come work with us.

Since we now have extra help on the farm, I haven’t had to do chores and my physical pain has significantly lessened because of it.

The crops are off so Adam has been able to join us for dinner and bedtimes the last couple nights.

Have you had moments of grumbling too? Even though you may not be able to see the final picture, share in the comment section some things that you’re choosing to be grateful for, in spite of the trials. Feel free to share your trials as well so I can say a prayer for you.