Saturday 10 May 2008

Liberation


"If you post about that," said Mr. S. this morning, "you're going to lose all your readers!" That just seemed like a dare to me :-) But, out of respect for anybody's delicate ears, just a little warning that the next little bit might contain a too much information for some ;-)

Sewing merrily away, this morning, my thought was "Now that's liberation!" Not having to go to the store? check. Not having to spend extra money? check. Not having to throw away plastic? check. Making something extremely useful and reusable in very little time? check and check.

It's a pad. A reusable pad. Oh the horror, eh? Anyway, this morning I needed one 'cause I was out of the (environmentally friendly) disposable kind (which is a phrase that doesn't really make any sense), and the only reusable one I had was in the wash, so.....

Now, because I use a Keeper, (which is awesome, by the way) I rarely need to deal with anything more than a little spotting (also awesome). The reusable liner I had was one from Many Moons that I got from Grassroots a while ago, to see what it was like. It was fine, and I had been intending to make a bunch, but never got around to it. Necessity the mother, right?

Anyway, I used some left-over flannel and it was fast and easy. I like to sew, so no biggie. I could do it by hand if I had to. It's a skill I can teach Safiya. These are all good things. For more good reading, one of my favourite posts on the matter is Sharon Astyk's post "Everyone Talks About their Period, but Nobody Does Anything About it". Also, Crunchy Chicken (who I just can't. keep. up. with!) has challenges and everything for those of you want to live dangerously, you know, as far as your menstrual cycle goes. She also has started Good 4 Girls to counteract those stupid ads by a certain company encouraging people to buy disposable menstrual products and make whole generations of girls in other countries dependent on their products (how to dispose of them? build incinerators! that's good for the economy, right? and....the environment? sheesh). She's got patterns, too!

Even better than reading? How about getting your Mom a Keeper or a Diva Cup for Mother's Day? Crazy, eh?

Oh, and the title up there is a tongue-and-cheek, because in order to be liberated from something, you'd have to regard yourself as being oppressed. And, I'm sorry, but anything that enables me to have the privilege of giving birth to and then sharing my life with Safiya....really? I think a little blood and pain each month is worth it.

Mr. S. is threatening to leave inappropriate comments on this post. Hi dude! If you do, I'm emailing the link to this post to all your friends because, my love, what you don't know is:


He wanted more coffee, I wanted to get my pad done. He offered to help - Mr. S. really loves his coffee :-)

10 comments:

Johanna Masko said...

Making your own pads? Own it!! And Mr. S- I'm gonna keep reading. :-)

Jen said...

I really love my cup, but somehow making my own liners hadn't occurred to me. It's a grand idea, though--thanks!

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

CORRECTION: I just love my Diva Cup! Best purchase I've made in a long time! Got it at South Coast Shopping for only $16.99 and got it in two days! No more tampons!!!

Marnie said...

don't worry, the comment i deleted was just Bonnie's repeat - it wasn't anything by Mr. S. ;-)

Anonymous said...

My first time visiting and I think I'm in blove. This post made me laugh AND it was informative! You've got me hooked.

sweetie pie press said...

i've been using reusables since i was a teenager my favorite design is made by luna pads out of vancouver. they are well thought out, sturdy and make use of rick rack. what more could one want?

i will shamelessly tell anyone who will listen about reusable pads. my biggest tip - you don't have to go 100%. if you don't feel secure making a full switch, get/make a few to sleep with to start and then go from there.

Anonymous said...

Mr. S here, feeling the need to clarify his comment. The entire story is much to long to include as a comment but picture this if you please: running around your backyard with your grandmother's "reusables" hanging on the clothesline (my grandmother was only 39 years old when I was born; she was plenty young to continue to experience the joys of monthly cycles as I was growing up). My grandmother was not unique in this regard: other women did the same thing (certain Europeans have a nack for doing these kinds of things). Now, imagine realising for the first time what those were ...

Anonymous said...

MFCITWWW...
Not sure if the hubby would go for those...he wouldn't like seeing them on the clothesline, that's for sure!!! Good for you though, and no, you don't need to send me any :)
Oh, and I use the Diva Cup, its great!

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