Flats and Handwashing Challenge: Stinky had other plans

The flats and handwashing challenge has been going great!  I told you yesterday about some hiccups.  I really REALLY wanted to throw my diapers in the dryer because they simply weren't drying in the house or the very overcast backyard.  In fact, it took some of them well over 24 hours to dry completely!  But, I buckled down, stuck with the plan, and continued my handwashing.

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Last night I had to make a decision.  One of Stinky's flats developed a stripe of rust from a hanger.  We went out to dinner with friends...out of town, an hour away.  During dinner, Stinky had a REALLY stinky diaper.  I cleaned him up, plopped the poop, dipped and swirled the best I could quickly in a public toilet (ick!) and put it in a wetbag.  Four hours later, we were home and the diaper was super duper nasty.

Now, I know me pretty well.  Well enough, in fact, to know that if I were a full time flats and handwasher in "real" life, I'd toss both of those diapers.  I have this thing about diapers being sanitary.  I do a good job of washing them by hand.  I scrub until there's no more smell or stains.  But I'm not convinced they're entirely sanitary.  My hands can't handle water as hot as my washer can!  BUT I have a washing machine.  And I wasn't about to throw away perfectly good diapers just because I would if I HAD to handwash.

Those two diapers took a spin through the washing machine, and found themselves out of rotation in my flats and handwashing week.  I figured it was the closest thing I could to do what I would actually do in "real life."

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So, fast-forward to 5 o'clock this morning.

Stinky woke up screaming.  Stinky doesn't wake up before 7 unless there's a sibling pestering him or there's something wrong.  I found him, still screaming, in a puddle of vomit.  He needed a head-to-toe wardrobe change, clean sheets, and a bath.  I think it almost goes without saying that everything that was on Stinky or in that bed went straight into the washer.  Everything including his diaper.  

I was still good to go, though, aside for that one diaper this morning...and then he threw up again at 7.  And ALL he was wearing was a diaper at that point.  So...into the washer.  :(

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And then?  Then the wind went out of my sails.  Around 9, Stinky had a blow-out.  And I jumped ship.  :(

You see, I have a washing machine.  I have a choice.  As much as I WANT to finish this challenge strong, as much as I WANT to be able to say I handwashed every single diaper for an entire week, I simply can't.  Stinky's tummy is so very sensitive that if you whispered the words "stomach virus" in the next county, he'd be likely to develop one.  His stomach doesn't process well and things remain in the belly longer than they should, viruses included.  He gets every single one.  And I can't risk his health for the sake of handwashing diapers.  Honestly, if I were a full-time handwasher, he'd be in sposies for the duration of the bug.  I'd find a way.  I can't take the risk, for his health and safety, that the diapers aren't quite as clean or sanitary as they should be.

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I'm still using flats.  For the remainder of the challenge, and perhaps beyond, I am using flats.  I have fallen in love with flats!  They are amazing!  A flat inside a pocket last night (for the first time ever...because ALL of my covers were either still damp or dirty!) was a perfect nighttime solution!  There was absolutely no leakage this morning.  I loved it!  That'll be a staple, now.  

So, for the next day and a half?  I will be using flats faithfully.  Flats and covers.  Handwashing, though?  While not nearly as nasty as I'd expected, is over for me, at least for this time around.  I'd like to give it another go, though.  I'd like to finish my commitment.  I'd like to finish strong.   I'd like to prove to you, and to myself, that I can do it.  I will do it.  Eventually.  When Stinky's feeling better.