REPLAY: Perplexing prefolds

I'm replaying a series of posts from the first year of this blog, in celebration of Little Stuff of Life's blogiversary. This one is from September 8, 2007.
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Getting back to the diaper discussion, I finally understand why "prefolds" are called that.

For those of you who, like me, are new to all this, prefolds are a type of cloth diaper (specifically, the kind in the photos). They lay flat - unlike disposable diapers and many cloth ones - but you can't call them "flat diapers," because that's a different type. This baffled me until I got a history lesson.

In my grandma's day, diapering a baby first meant "building" the diaper by stacking several pieces of cloth. You would fold the ones in the center to add extra layers where they were needed most.

The diapers my mom used for my brother and I had already been folded, stacked, and sewn together. Ergo, the term "prefold" is appropriate, even though, to the naked eye, they don't appear to be folded.

Everyone together now, "Ohhhhh!"

Photos by ZelenyOko. (Creative Commons license)

Slaves, saints, snakes and shamrocks

St. Patrick was not a leprechaun. In fact, he wasn't even Irish.

He was a real person born in Roman-ruled Britain in the fourth century and brought to Ireland as a slave. Even though he escaped, he had such a heart for the Irish people that he later returned to the country to share with them about Jesus.


There are many tales from his life, but, like many figures of times gone by, it is sometimes hard to find the line between history and legend. Did he really drive the snakes out of Ireland? Find meaning in shamrocks? Drink green beer?

What better way to sort it all out (or at least have fun exploring it) than through a children's book with fabulous illustrations?


Patrick: Patron Saint of Ireland by Tomie dePaola was recommended to me by my mom, early childhood expert and preschool director extraordinaire. It tells the story of his life, followed by several of the legends about him. Although the book doesn't deal with the roots of green beer, it's a great read. Mom says it's best for 3- or 4-year-olds and up - a little too wordy for anyone younger than that - but definitely enjoyable for adults, as well.

So, check it out. And have a great day! Today we're all as Irish as St. Patrick!

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Photos by me.

Birthday wishes for a past president

Happy birthday, Mr. Lincoln!

You'd be 200 years old today, and I can't imagine what kind of shape you'd be in. Probably pretty baffled at what you saw around you - cars, Lincoln logs, iPods, your very own (very large) monument and a tiny image of your very large monument on the back of a coin we routinely drop and don't bother to pick up. Well, these days we might pick it up.

These are strange times we're living in. There's a lot we could discuss about people being less than honest, Abe, and about happenings in your home state and what's new at your old job.


But what I really wanna know is this: What would you think if I told you people anywhere in the world could download and print off illustrations of you for their kids to color in with crayons? Would that just mess with your head? Do you even know what "download" means? So much to catch you up on!

Well, let's move on to a more familiar topic: books. There's been all kinds of books written about you - even for kids. I know, you used to have to walk uphill in the snow to borrow a book. I don't think you even wanna know how easy it is for us to get books now.

I'm not sure that everything in those books is accurate - but, at your age, you're probably not sure anymore either. That's okay. I know that somewhere between the myths and misrememberings, you did some genuinely great things.

Honestly, we have a lot to thank you for.

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P.S. Happy birthday, also, to my Uncle John. He's not quite as old as Lincoln. But he's much more internet savvy! ;)

Photos by ~MVI~.

We all start again

Did you watch it? (Or listen?) Did you see history change? What will you tell your children (or what did you tell them) about yesterday?

It only happens every four years, and there's still time (every media outlet will be rehashing things for days to come. Or there's YouTube. Or podcasts.) to watch/listen and take this opportunity to talk about history or the democratic process.


You know how I love fresh starts. And Inauguration Day is a much-less-arbitrary new beginning than New Year's Day. So I'm hoping for the best for the next four years, but one great thing about the democratic process is that if we don't like something, we can speak up.

In the meantime, a ran across a few fabulous posts yesterday that I just had to share:

• What does the Inauguration mean to you? by Janice Croze at 5 Minutes for Mom offers a great perspective and invites additional comments and links.
• She also posted Praying to the One in Charge…
• observations on inauguration day is a delightfully conversational post by Marla Taviano.
• Chanelle of making food. eating food. marked the day with simply stated thoughts and the beautiful photo above.

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Photo by iamchanelle. Used by permission.

Obama-mania meets Legomania

Construction is finished. People are gathered. The motorcade is ready. The White House is ready. Even the porta-pottys are ready.

Yep, the Inauguration Day model is all set at Legoland in California.

What did you think I was talking about? ;)

P.S. If you're interested in the real thing, here's the event schedule. Visit the viewers' guide from the L.A. Times for television coverage, or listen in on NPR.

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Photo by gnislew.

Everything Inauguration Day for kids

It only happens every 4-8 years, and Inauguration Day is a great learning opportunity. There is a treasure trove of information at Tech Savvy Mama.

They have an insane amount of links on topics that parents or teachers can use to educate kids about historical context, biography, American government, traditions, and even fashion. There are also printable worksheets. Lots of interesting stuff there! You should seriously check it out.

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Photo by Presidential Inaugural Committee.