A tearful goodbye

Our family is complete and we are very happy with that.  The baby years are gone but so much excitement lies ahead and we are immeasurably blessed.  Plus, we get to do a serious de-cluttering of our baby gear.  I have strong feelings about too much stuff as I've written about before (here) so it's a good feeling to simplify our life a little more.


I had planned on having a get-rid-of-the-baby-stuff sale this summer.  I did not plan on selling our super awesome, wonderful, cute, fun BumGenius 4.0 pocket cloth diapers (that I wrote about here) in the process, but since Little Lady took it upon herself to potty train (here) already, we can add our diapers to the sell pile. 


The morning that I assembled all the diapers for one last wash, my heavy heart surprised me.  I was sad!  I even had tears in my eyes!  Who gets sad at not having to change and spray out and wash and stuff cloth diapers?  Me, I guess.... even though I had done those things daily over the course of four years (with a short break between Mini Me's potty training and Little Lady's birth).  


Maybe that was the problem - saying goodbye to those soft, colorful diapers that I had seen day in and day out for so long.  Using and washing our cloth diapers was a daily chore.  Funny, though, I never saw it as a "chore".  I still can't figure out why the cloth diapers never made me feel annoyed and I never once thought, "Sheesh, I am so darn tired of washing and stuffing and putting these things away."  I feel annoyed at daily chores like brushing my teeth or tidying up the kitchen, but those diapers full of stinky stuff....?  They never annoyed me.  I am weird.  


I loved our diapers.  We bought two sets (the second set came after selling the first one) and with each purchase I was really, really excited.  I loved opening the packages and feeling how soft they were.  Both my husband and I bragged about our diapers a lot.  To everyone.  Once my husband was bragging them up at work to some retired men, who I'm not sure really cared, but my husband loved talking about our diapers.  


Cloth diapers have a great resale value and I'm sure we'll get at least half of what we originally paid back.  It will be a nice addition to the college funds but I'm not even excited about that.  Our diapers are gone.  Replaced by Mini Mouse underwear.  


Of course it's a happy thing to see your children growing and thriving and putting everything directly in the toilet that needs to go there.  But silly me, sad about saying goodbye to the diapers.  A tiny part of me feels like I'll be picky about the person I sell them to.  Will you wash them the right way?  Will you sun bleach them if they get dingy?  Make sure you use the right snap size!   Maybe I need a diaper buyer application form.  


I saved one diaper to keep - a purple one that for some reason always stayed softer than the rest of them.  Someday when we reminisce I'm sure I'll get some eye rolls as I touch that soft, beautiful diaper and remember how many times I fastened it on a little bottom, took it off again when it was dirty, tossed it in the diaper pail, washed it, hung it to dry, and stuffed it to use again.  


Bye, bye diapers.  Bye, bye days of having a little one who needs you.  All those days were cherished and yes, even those stinky diapers will be fondly remembered.