Yesterday I was living the phrase “roll up your sleeves and get dirty.” Literally, I spent part of the afternoon with poop rolled up in my sleeve.

After a great week on the potty train (ending with a solid, dramatic flourish on Friday night…), I was on my own with Laurel all weekend and either my timing was completely off by 5 minutes all day, or Laurel was regressing or resisting. Yesterday was no better, and in the afternoon, during a much-needed visit with my pal Paige and her sons we had two accidents in quick succession right after a potty stop.

It’s completely awkward to try to clean poop off a kid who is not reclined on a changing mat, and as I was trying to negotiate this process I ended up with poop on my sleeve. And even though Paige would have happily given me a new shirt, it seemed high time for me to lighten up and start rolling with it. I had been fretting and judging myself all weekend with each passing accident, and as supportive as I tried to be, I’m sure Laurel could sense my stress. So up went the sleeve. And out when any further expectations on the should’s of this whole process.

While I love trundling around little boutiques on foot, sometimes one stop shopping is the way to go. Boston area mama Jeniphir Taylor-McIntire, a sales consultant for Natural Family Boutique, recently pointed me to her online store.

Natural Family Boutique offers eco-friendly products to support families from conception to weaning. The site offers Haba toys (my favorite toy line, period!) and apparel for babes, indulgent jewelry, spa, and home items for mamas, and lots of products for new parents (breastfeeding, baby care, and cloth diapering supplies, pregnancy, birth and postpartum products, books & CDs, slings). The site also offers resource material on breastfeeding, pregnancy and birth, nutrition, parenting, natural living, and activism.

Host a mama’s night out NFB party with Jenipher and get discounts and freebies along the way. Send Jenipher an email to find out more.

UPDATE 8/15/07: Sadly, Natural Family Boutique has closed its virtual doors. Please visit our category links to the left for more fabulous toy, gear, and pregnancy resources.

Cotton diapers have obvious benefits: they save trees, lessen landfills, and cut taxpayers’ costs. But it’s tough to face the rigorous routine required to launder cloth diapers at home. It’s one thing to deal with a big baby blowout in the moment, it’s another thing to deal with it again at the laundry machine.

Enter Changing Habits diaper service operated out of Deerfield, MA. The owner, Donna Grybko, is a bit of a kooky koala bear but boy, is she committed to cloth diapers. She even arrived on our doorstep with the first delivery to give us a cloth diaper demo. We loved the service and it was reliable and efficient on all counts.

Changing Habits travels many miles to serve towns in Western Massachusetts and Middlesex County. Check the website for town listings then call to confirm that they can service your address.

Cotton diapers have obvious benefits: they save trees, lessen landfills, and cut taxpayers’ costs. But it’s tough to face the rigorous routine required to launder cloth diapers at home. It’s one thing to deal with a big baby blowout in the moment, it’s another thing to deal with it again at the laundry machine.

Enter Changing Habits diaper service operated out of Deerfield, MA. The owner, Donna Grybko, is a bit of a kooky koala bear but boy, is she committed to cloth diapers. She even arrived on our doorstep with the first delivery to give us a cloth diaper demo. We loved the service and it was reliable and efficient on all counts.

Changing Habits travels many miles to serve towns in Western Massachusetts and Middlesex County. Check the website for town listings then call to confirm that they can service your address.

Think you have all the latest gadgets? The July/August 2006 issue of Cookie Magazine features a potty that looks like an iMac. The Boon Potty Bench is available for $29.99 at TargetTarget or Amazon and features side storage for supplies, pull out drawer for easy clean up, toilet paper holder, splash guard for the gents, and best of all: the “large, sturdy bench can support up to 300 lbs.” Whoa. That’s one sturdy toddler.

Think you have all the latest gadgets? The July/August 2006 issue of Cookie Magazine features a potty that looks like an iMac. The Boon Potty Bench is available for $29.99 at TargetTarget or Amazon and features side storage for supplies, pull out drawer for easy clean up, toilet paper holder, splash guard for the gents, and best of all: the “large, sturdy bench can support up to 300 lbs.” Whoa. That’s one sturdy toddler.