On Location with Carrie and Cooper: Bountiful.
Before Back To School
Remember our friends in Leadville, CO? They’re Carrie and Cooper, two teachers/elevation-defying composters who recently welcomed another member to the family for a grand total of four, two of whom are happily adding to the compost pile, instead of the trash bin, by way of gDiapers (disposable inserts, wet ones only).
We wanted to catch up with this miles-high family as summer wraps up and Carrie and Cooper head back to school.
“Who would have thought that summer for two teachers could be so busy? Summer off to relax and recharge… during nap hours. With so much more time to be with the kids, we scaled childcare back to 2 days a week to do fun things with them while easing the financial burden. Success on both fronts, but we have found even more respect for stay-at-home moms & dads over the past couple of months. (editor’s note: we second that!) If one of us wants to be kid-free, the other is in full zone coverage for multiple hours or maybe the entire day. Our two free days a week? One generally spent playing while the other is used to stay on top of work despite school not being in session. Guess that equates to the same one day off we get during the school year, but the daily work routine is just that – routine. Being with the two kids is great, terrific, awesome fun coupled with a heap of mental and emotional exhaustion. All great in hindsight, but in the heat of some “battles” one can too easily lose sight of the bigger picture of what it takes to spend quality time with the little ones. Let’s just say that summer fun is more about playgrounds, the backyard, pools, and kid-friendly barbecues and other events than personal ‘leisure.'”
“The garden is bountiful with leafy greens, onions, carrots, and herbs, partially fed with successfully composted gDiaper inserts (wet ones only) provided by Hattie and, now, Hobbes. Abundant summer moisture the past months has certainly helped, but it’s pretty wild how the garden goodies they ate last year and this winter went full circle to provide nutrients for this summer’s crop. It’s a modest garden, but one we all get great joy from. Hobbes goes right after the lettuce. Arugula, however, created quite the sour face. A quality blending device is mandatory for his diet as we often mix some grains and fruit in with the veggies to form our homemade version of the mush that comes in jars and squeeze pouches. He would much rather feed himself, but that practice equates to maybe 25% ingestion of the food on the table, so we have to supplement with the purees. Being able to grow fruit would really up the ante on home diet … but that’s not really a feasible option at 10,000 feet.”
“One thing we’ve learned this summer – avoid putting gDiaper disposable inserts in the washing machine at all costs. A babysitter unknowingly tossed one in… not pretty. (editor’s note: Ugh. Yeah, don’t do that. But if you do, call us. We have some tips!) Only happened once fortunately, but the situation notes the need to train babysitters on the particulars of gDiapers. Otherwise, Hobbes has had a great run in the gPants and prefers to wear them with nothing else: naked baby = happy baby, and he’s lucky to be in that stage this summer while it’s warm enough. We think he grew fond of going clothes-free while spending time with family in the hot and humid New England area and has decided to make the most of our warmer temps. He started crawling at about 8 months and is getting fairly close to walking, and the gPants have performed flawlessly for him while also feeding the compost pile (wet inserts only). The flushed variety have provided zero issues with our lower-than-standard plumbing.”
10,000 feet up is not the most ideal situation for composting. And yet, this little family is doing it. Wet inserts get composted, the compost supports the garden, the garden feeds the family. Poopy inserts go in the toilet. No diaper pail needed. What a refreshing change.
Best of luck to Carrie, Cooper, Hattie and Hobbes as they venture into fall and back into the classroom. We can’t wait for what they teach us next.
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