Nafisto the Great

“The fasting period, which lasts nineteen days starting as a rule from the second of March every year and ending on the twentieth of the same month, involves complete abstention from food and drink from sunrise till sunset. It is essentially a period of meditation and prayer, of spiritual recuperation, during which the believer must strive to make the necessary readjustments in his inner life, and to refresh and reinvigorate the spiritual forces latent in his soul. Its significance and purpose are, therefore, fundamentally spiritual in character. Fasting is symbolic, and a reminder of abstinence from selfish and carnal desires.” Shoghi Effendi, Directives of the Guardian (New Delhi: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1973), pp. 27-28.

There are lots of sunrise/sunset calculators online, but I wrote one that takes your address and gives you just the fast times.  You can print it out in several different forms.  You can check it out here.  (It only works with US addresses for now–if I have some free time in the next week, I’ll see about Canada and Europe too.)

Little did I know, when I first found myself on this little journey called fatherhood, that the challenges of being a parent would start even before the child is born. I did quickly learn, however, that it always seems to be the simplest things that turn into complex affairs to take up time, energy and thought.

Today’s lesson is in diaper pails. Once upon a time, these receptacles for poo-ridden underwear came in two distinct versions: smelly, and REALLY smelly. Then one day, a wise entrepreneur realized that he could probably make a lot of money AND solve the problem of stinky baby rooms in one fell swoop. (I saw “he” because a woman would know better than to take advantage of her fellow mothers who endure 9 months + 12 hours of gestation and labor.) And so, the diaper pail was born.

Now for those who don’t know, babies poop a lot. A heckuva lot. They can go through a dozen diapers a day. Yes, folks, even at Costco prices, that’s still about $1.75 per day. They should make an advertisement about that. “For less than the cost of a grande caramel macchiatto, you too can sponsor a child’s poo and make a difference in the life of an infant.” I also read somewhere on the Internet (so it’s gotta be true) that by the time babies are potty trained, they have gone through 6000 diapers!

Now imagine all of those diapers and consider that (at least in our neighborhood) trash collection only happens once a week. Yup–you guessed it. That is one stinky pile of plastic, cotton and stuff. And that brings us back to the diaper pail.

Apparently, the field of diaper pail technology (new word: diapering systems) has been quite actively recently, bringing us gems like the Diaper Genie, Diaper Genie II, Diaper Dekor, Diaper Champ, and my personal nominee for worst design of all time, the Baltimore Ravens 5 Quart Pail. (For some reason, it came up when I searched for diaper pails on Amazon. I guess it’s great for tailgating: ice and drinks and poppy diapers.)

Given all of the competition, it was hard to find one that we liked. And with the variety with diaper pails, you can see why it can be overwhelming for new parents to start thinking about the really important stuff like strollers, car seats, cribs, diapers, doctors, clothes, shoes, schools, braces, colleges, and spouses. I digress.

Without further ado, here is the diaper pail we fell in love with and hope someone buys off of our registry because we can’t imagine spending $40 on a stupid trash bin: Clean Air Odor-Free Diaper Disposal. If you’re really bored, you can even watch a product video. Slick!

Are you a recent parent, a soon-to-be parent or someone who had parents at some point? I’d love to hear your experiences! Drop me a comment and let me know what you think.
(our next installment: travel systems)