Each year my son’s school holds The Great American Teach-In event- it’s the new PC version of “Career Day” since it also allows parents/caregivers without employment to attend and share about their hobbies too.
I know that kids love when the firefighters/policemen/doctors come in to explain their exciting jobs but I decided I should go and talk about my volunteer work for the non-profit Giving Diapers, Giving Hope.
I was a little nervous- kids can be BRUTALLY honest and pull no punches. If they were bored during my session they wouldn’t be afraid to shout it out. I was preparing myself for the worst but hoping the kids took it easy on me. I was presenting to more than my just son’s class- I was traveling to other rooms and they packed in two classes to each.
The day before I went through my diaper stash of things I haven’t donated yet to find the cutest and coolest diapers to showcase what cloth diapers were. I picked a Tushmate, AppleCheeks, Seams Geeky, Tots Bots, and ZCreations. I’m not endorsing these as my FAVORITES I’m just saying these had cute designs I knew the kids would love. I REALLY wished I had a new Rumparooz Tokidoki because I’m sure that would have been the class fav.
To my surprise my children were completely engaged! I started my session by asking the children if they had younger brothers or sisters. Nearly all raised their hands! Then I asked them “do you remember when they were babies and they wore diapers?” The kids laughed, of course. I explained to them how babies can’t help it- they have to wear diapers for a few years- and then went on to explain what Giving Diapers, Giving Hope does to help families diaper their babies.
I also explained the costs of disposables in a simple way by letting them know each diaper changed was 1 quarter wasted- 4 changes would be $1, and in 1 month it would cost their parents $60 to diaper their sibling! It’s hard for children to understand financials and as children they shouldn’t need to. I kept things simple.
The little ones LOVED the concept of velcro on the diapers and one boy raised his hand and asked “could you just use both the velcro and the circle things together” after I explained how velcro was easy but snaps lasted longer. I told him he invented a concept that was already around but only a few diapers, like the O.N.E. use it.
When I spoke to my son’s class the teacher let him introduce me. “This is my mom Kim Rosas. She does Cloth Diaper Laundry.” Close enough, baby.
My own son raised his hand to ask if the size of diapers changed the price- good question! He also asked me to tell them about “givingdiapersgivinghope.org” and said the web address perfectly. I was worried he might think his mom’s job was weird compared the the Tampa Bay Lightning CEO or the Doctor who was also teaching that day. After school he said “my friend X said she really likes your job.”
I had low expectations of how today would go but I am so uplifted by the children and their genuine interest and intelligent questions. They were more interested in the product itself than the charity work and that’s ok. I spoke to over 80 children and they learned how cute, convenient, and modern cloth diapers are. At 6-7 years old hopefully this is a lesson they’ll carry with them.
Making Cloth Mainstream- one classroom at a time!