Yesterday morning, we packed up the whole family and drove about 60 miles to participate in The Great Cloth Diaper Change!
Of course, we wanted to bring our favorite diaper, so we packed up a BabyKicks premium pocket diaper in bright yellow so it would show up in all the group photos. 
“Isn’t that a little far to drive to change a diaper?” you might ask. Yeah, I guess it is. The change itself took all of about 2 minutes, but yesterday was about so much more than just changing a diaper! We were setting a world record for cloth diaper changes around the world, but we were also coming together as a community of like-minded parents with common goals. That sense of community is something I struggle to find in my everyday life, so the drive was well worth it for the sense of affirmation I felt.
We arrived at Om Baby in Camp Hill, PA to find a full-blown Earth Day fair and lots of free activities for the kids, which was great because the whole family got to participate. They even offered a special Earth Day story time for the bigger kids after the change, which our little guy was totally into. Local farms, local artisans, schools and organizations like LLL were there, and we were given a gift bag filled with way more than I ever expected. A children’s book, Rockin’ Green detergent samples, a packet of Motherlove diaper cream, tons of coupons…even a diaper cover, bib and tiny wetbag!
We had 39 parent/baby pairs in our group – a record for Om Baby! Our Little E made friends with our change neighbor, a super cute baby named Roxy, who was rockin’ a Johnny Cash shirt. And there was a photographer on hand, so I should be able to link to some more photos soon. I held back on taking a lot of my own (it felt a little intrusive.)
I saw more breastfeeding and babywearing moms (and dads!) than I usually see in a year, so that was fun and a little bit rejuvenating for my spirit. It made for a long day, but the kids slept all the way home and I saw some familiar faces from the time I went to the Om Baby Mothering Circle meeting over 2 years ago. This must be a community that sticks together, and the feeling of friendship was impossible to miss. I couldn’t help but think about what might be possible in my own community.
Hmm…
