I agree! God DOES want us to live that way.
My daughter was doing really well with pt'ing, but has decided that she isn't going to do it anymore. My husband said to her yesterday (after she said she wanted a diaper on) "I thought you were a big girl." Her response..."Nope, I'm not."

I never did get a chance to post a comment about your Inconvenient Truth post. I have been very interested in environmental issues for a long time. My dh calls me a hippie ;) I think you are exactly right about reducing consumerism and simplifying aiding the environment. Have you heard of the Compact? (Where you pledge not to buy anything new unless absolutely necessary)

My dd was cloth diapered part time and we also do some EC (ie, being diaper-free). She's not completely potty learned yet, but I haven't changed a poopy diaper since she was about 14mos old. Piney will catch on in no time, I'll bet!

I'll be curious to hear how the diaper-less approach works for your kiddo. My daughter has been pooping on the toilet since she was 9 months old, but at 32 months, she still pees in a diaper. I think it's time for us to let her experience the wet mess so she can choose the potty!

Anyway, thanks for the link to my blog. I appreciate our mutual environmental outlook - I agree, it does lead to much greatness!

Here a book you might be interested in: Diaper-Free Before 3 by Jill M. Lekovic.

I hope it goes easy with the potty training. Is the school willing to work with you?

I like the idea of a cycle and learning to do with less. It's one of the things I interested in working on this year.

We finally let my oldest son go diaper-less when we were at our wits end with potty training. It did the trick! I hope it works out just as well for you :)

I've always wondered if the high-fives etc would work. We just had intervals of automatic potty-time. Just like bath time, food time and bedtime. No fancy flattery and lots of diligence and patience. They are all soooo different--good luck.

It all really does make sense. Simpler is better - for EVERYTHING.
Good for you for being so wise!

Don't worry about the munchkin, it'll happen soon.

Wow! What a great way to sum it all up.

Wow! What a great way to sum it all up.

You have inspired me to become as green as possible!!! My husband just told me I'm a hippie too! How funny! I told him we NEED to watch Al Gore's movie and get some books that were suggested in your links. Thank you for helping me to see the light. I truly believe this is how God wants us all to live, to help preserve His land for our great grandchildren. Thank you so much for being such an inspiration in my life.

I agree with you 100% on both the diaper-less issue and that God wants us to live this way.

Once Clyde's pants got wet and he had to change them himself, he decided it was way too much hassle. Much easier to use the potty.

We have entered the dark tunnel that is potty trainging, too. I found that with my daughter, wearing pretty panties worked. If she had an accident, she had to wear plain panties for the rest of the day. She worked hard to earn those pretty ones! For my son...well, so far NOTHING works but hey, it's only been one week!

I need chocolate...

I'm just as guilty as the next guy for wanting "stuff" but I do still try to maintain something of an anti-consumerism mindset - or maybe it would be more appropriately called "common sense."

For example, those portable DVD players seem awesome and Dede offered to buy me one for Christmas. But after a little thought & discussion, we realized that it'd just be another nifty gadget that mostly gathers dust. So we opted for that item to stay on the shelf at the store. Sure, that decision was primarily motivated by the financial impact, but also, we realized that no matter how tempting the cool gadget was, it was simply very impractical. You wouldn't believe the weird looks from friends when I tried to explain the rationale behind not making that purchase.

Likewise, you should see the rolling eyes & shaking heads when I tell them them that I recycle (or donate) nearly everything I can - plastics, clothes, paper - instead of simply throwing things away. I can't abide the notion of chucking something that someone else might still be able to get some use out of.

I wash and reuse disposable containers & Ziplock baggies. I save packing peanuts & bubble wrap.

In short, my friends think I'm turning into a tree-huggin' hippy! But I'm just valuing what I have and trying to be a little smarter consumer...

All of my girls wore dresses with nothing underneath when they were potty training. It really seemed to help. Good luck! The site looks great!

ugh, is this what i have to look forward to in a couple of weeks?