Addiction

Before I had my baby I was convinced that I would use cloth nappies in order to save money... eventually. I started out using the disposables until I could work out what I was doing with this whole new parenting gig (turns out I'm still trying to work it out). My Mum had bought me a whole heap of terry-towling squares as that's what she used on me. However, neither Mum nor I knew that things had definitely moved on from there.

I was lucky enough to win lots of nappies - 720 in fact - from Huggies. They lasted me roughly 6 months, which was a real blessing, but also put me off learning to use cloth nappies.

The one time I did try to put a terry towelling nappy on Luke 'just for fun' I got it 'locked' on him because I couldn't get the stupid K-mart safety pins to unlock. When I was initially putting them on him, in fact, they drew blood. So much for safety. I recall having to get the garden secateurs to set Luke free. It didn't help that Luke had done a big poo (this was pre solids, so pretty runny, too) that had leaked all through the cute onesie I had also tried on that afternoon.

I then thought that cloth was going to 'just be too hard'. The free nappies lasted so much longer than I thought. In fact, I ended up giving away the last three packets because they didn't fit Luke anymore. Then i saw the price of nappies, that we hadn't been paying for in the last 6 months apart from a packet of our favorites for night time every now and then. No way was I keen on paying that - looks like I'd better get those terry towlings out and learn oragami!

I bought some 'snappi' things so that I wouldn't have to bother with those silly 'safety' pins and watched YouTube videos about how to fold a nappy. There was one thing, however, that wasn't the same as when I had tried it before. Luke wasn't a placid baby that liked to lie around with his nappy off. He was now into rolling around and despised nappy time. Trying to fold a nappy, wrap it around him and pin it was near impossible. I even tried sewing a nappy so I wouldn't have it unravelling, but it still just didn't work.

People kept talking about these 'modern cloth nappies' and I thought they were up-market hippies. I thought that they would be really expensive until I found that I could buy one for $7 on ebay. I bought one with a fancy jean design and waited anxiously until the postman delivered it. It was incredibly fun and looked so adorable on Luke to the point where I made high pitched girly screams. I proceeded to go on ebay and buy many more of various brands. I also went to a shop in the Eastern Suburbs and bought another four. How could ANYONE use those towel things? They're nowhere near as easy as these - and you don't even have to soak them! Plus, with how gorgeous they are, you seriously don't mind cleaning them, no matter how bad they smell. I am the only one who washes them, in the fear that my husband will not do it correctly (I'm getting a little OCD about them).

But with all this comes a problem - and as I've joined a few Facebook groups, I realise that this isn't uncommon. I'm addicted. I'm addicted to these nappies to the point where I want one in every colour including pink. I'm a part of the 'MCN buy swap sell', 'MCN pretties', and 'MCN addicts anonymous' groups on facebook, where I scroll through these pretty items for my sons bottom day and night and read of housewife confessions that they can't admit to their husbands that they've spent so much money on cute nappies. I feel like I want to buy more and more. I feel compelled to have the more expensive brand just because that's what cool, hippie mums do.

But much like being in Fountain Gate (which gracefully has NO nappy stores) I feel compelled to buy Luke expensive cute clothes that he doesn't need considering he already has more clothes than Hendrik and I put together. I'm starting to see that my son is better dressed than I am. I care more about what he wears (on his arse as well as everywhere else) than what I do.

So, hear me, I'm addicted to this MCN thing. Help.