Nappies and schooling...

My mind is currently musing over a number of issues...

Why am I still using disposable nappies on Lj?

I used reusable nappies on MJ but never quite got myself organised enough with Lj to use them. I'm feeling really challenged on this. I can't stop thinking about a recent TV documentary which showed people in India rummaging through waste trying to find plastics to recycle. One little girl was walking through piles and piles of waste in flip flops. On the screen it looked filthy, I can't imagine how it must have smelt, my wheelie bin full of soiled nappies would smell sweet in comparison. I understand that our nappies probably don't get shipped across to third world countries and are more likely dumped in landfill here in the UK (I hope) but still, even in landfill I am adding, every day, more and more nappies which will not biodegrade. I know by changing back to reusable nappies I will not even make a dent on our masses of landfill, on the traffic pollution and noise pollution that they bring but there is something in my conscience that might be eased.

Should I really be sending MJ to school full time from September?

Just now, while eating my lunch, I caught an interview on UCB UK with Jacqueline Hardy, a child psychologist. She was explaining the need for children to develop their creative minds while being less concerned about reading, numeracy and literacy up until the age of 7. MJ will start full time school when he is age 4 and 2 days and my concern is that school will focus too much on developing these cognitive skills in a controlled environment rather than allowing him to problem solve in everyday life. Perhaps I am being too protective, but I want him to be care free for as long as possible. I want him to be building dams and huts, climbing trees, making biscuits, pretending to be a pirate or an astronaut, laughing and crying with his friends, not sitting indoors at a table memorising his times tables!

Hmmm, I will continue to muse and try to make some sort of progress on nappies and make sure that outside of school I am engaging in creative play with MJ and Lj.