Once upon a time my husband and I were a young, freshly married couple, not quite a year into our marriage when we began discussing our desire to start a family. We knew we had a big move from Hawaii to the mainland coming up. We knew our jobs were uncertain. We knew where we would live was uncertain. We knew money was going to be tight. We knew we wanted a baby more than anything.
Over dinner one night my husband asked the question, “Have you ever thought of using cloth diapers?”
I racked my brain. “Cloth diapers?!” I thought. “No, I haven’t thought about it, why?” In my mind, all I could visualize were pins, plastic pants and poop everywhere. That sounded like more work and not my definition of fun.
My husband began rattling off statistics of how much money it could save. Knowing money would be tight, the idea started to sound a little better. Pins, plastic pants, poop everywhere but save money, I still was not completely sold on the idea.
Then, he began talking about the environment. My husband sounded like he had done a lot of research. He had information about how long it would take a disposable diaper to break down, including how many of those we would be adding to the landfill and the carbon footprint we would be leaving behind. Now my brain was still thinking, “pins, plastic pants, poop everywhere, saving money and helping the environment,” yet still not 100% sold.
That’s when I decided to visit one of my best friends named Google. I started searching and reading for what turned out to likely be hours that night. I was in awe of all the different types of cloth diapers. I was blown away by how cute they all were. I began deciding which diapers we would use based solely on colors and prints. The cute factor sold me. We would cloth diaper our babies when the time came.
I did not expect the time between the above conversation and the time I was holding a baby in my arms to be as long as it was. We moved, we both had new jobs, we purchased our first home, and then we struggled to get pregnant. As we waited for our time to become parents, it was cloth diapers that kept me busy with research. It was cloth diapers and the community of people around them who continued to give me hope that our time would come.
When my husband said the words, “cloth diapers” I had no idea how much of an impact it would have on our lives. I expected cloth diapers to save us money, and they did. I expected cloth diapers to be cute, and yes, they most definitely are. I did not expect for cloth diapers to bring my husband and I closer together, and they have. I really did not expect cloth diapers to create friendships with other parents, and they have done that too.
Those simple words my husband asked, “Have you ever thought about using cloth diapers?” changed our lives, opened doors, and helped us to be the great, yet imperfect parents that we are. I am so thankful that he said those words.
Maria wants to live in a world where cloth diapers are the norm and moms can make parenting choices without judgement. When she’s not chasing her 18, 14 and 11-year old kids around, you might find her checking out the latest gadgets, organizing something (again) or exercising in the fresh air. 
