Holy Crap -or- Eliminate This!

Today the house is super quiet. We've already vacuumed, swept, straightened, pumped and eaten -- twice. And now Holden's back asleep for another nap so I will use this time to address you (although, I should probably be thinking about something healthy and organic to make for dinner.) Too bad what sounds good is 'french fries from Crown Burgers.'

OK, so today I hosted an EC meeting. That's right, for those of you new to the blog, EC is short for Elimination Communication. Read all about it:
Here or Here.



So like Le Leche League and other Mommy-Support-Groups round the world, EC has their own variety. Meetings are held once a month at different locales through out the valley; and I volunteered my home for January because 10am is right smack in the middle of Holden's nap time...and since he's finally on some semblance of a routine, I figured it would be much easier to host a few mom's and kids than to juggle and stress about sleep.

So obviously I was a little nervous to be hosting a 'Diaper Free Baby' meeting. You kind of picture in your head what that means... a snapshot?

• Imagine 15 little babies running around in split crotch pants (or just FREE?!?!?) signaling 'potty' and then just using my hard wood floor to 'do their thing'
• Since we only have 2 bathrooms and one's off the master, there were not enough "potty's" to go around
• I asked Danny if he wanted me to call the carpet cleaners immediately or just wait until the stench had really sunk in...
• Cloth Diapers strewn about my living room -- some clean, some not so much
• Crawlers and Toddlers wrestling over the Baby Bjorn potty and seeing who could throw the insert the farthest: my wall and my lamp lost that contest.
• Mother's in COMPLETE denial about how CRAZY their children were/are!
  
• They were the worst kind of hippies - liberal ones. I think most of them voted for Obama, and they drove Subarus -- or worse, hybrids.
• The scent was so pungent (whether from the babies or their unshaven armpits adorned only with crystal deodorant I did not know...) but my eyes started to water.
  
• Since the babies were all diaper free, the adults finally just joined in and we all took off our pants too...

Yes, I'm obviously joking.

The meeting was actually the mellowest play date I've ever been privy to. The two mom's (plus moi) and the five kids played great together. In fact, not one child cried in the entire two hour period!!! And they all had on training pants/underwear or diapers. I mean the babes obviously; I didn't actually check to see what type of undergarments the other mommies were wearing.

We talked about the joys of EC - how we're so grateful it's stress free, and what a great parenting philosophy it is (being in tune with your baby and listening to your child's signals). None of us are hard-core ECers, so we've each adapted it for our lifestyle.

We talked about the trials of breastfeeding, how we've incorporated co-sleeping on some level and discussed our L&D's (labor and deliveries).

We compared baby carriers...discussed our favorite slings, et cetera (and how overrated we think Baby Bjorn varieties can be.)

The kids shared organic snacks and Holden kept giving Lucy (the darling 9 month old) hugs...she is the same size as his cousin Faye, so he's been practicing 'giving loves'. Maybe he was flirting?

After about two hours of visiting and playing, the party broke up and mom's departed with tired but quite happy kids en tote. The house was still in tact -- a few crumbs here and there, and some toys to put back; but nothing out of the ordinary.

Holden was stoked -- not only because of the fun playtime-- but because we got to vacuum twice today...and that makes him even happier than waking up with clean pants after a nap.