Cloth Napkins

I was going to do a blog about running, but I realized that I'm beginning to get a little obsessive about the whole running thing and I thought I'd spare you all the details of my quest to run 13.1 miles.  You're welcome.

Instead, I've decided to do a blog on how much I love cloth napkins.  YEARS ago I started using cloth napkins.  I thought for sure it would be really hard to do with two little kids (yes, two.  It was that long ago) but I was really surprised how much easier it is.  Recently I became the owner of a TON of paper napkins.  I thought I'd give the cloth napkins a rest and give paper another try.  I HATE it!  The kids hate it.  They tear and fall apart.  Each kid goes through at least two per meal.  Jack steals them and tears them to shreds all over the house.  (Well, I guess there is ONE fan of paper napkins in our house.)  They take up a ton of room.  My cloth on the other hand,
take up far less room.  We each only need one napkin a meal.  Jack leaves them alone, for the most part.  They're personal, since each kid (well, the two that could talk at the time) picked fabric and I made 4 napkins out of each selection.  I'm so excited to be done with these dumb paper ones.

We went to the McKinley Museum and Momument (not a typo.  This is actually what my middle two call the monument) and checked out the Peanuts Naturally exhibit I blogged about so long ago.  Pretty cool!  We also looked at the permanent exhibit in the science area about foods.  Using cloth napkins was something they suggested as part of your eating habits to "green" your mealtimes.  If you don't use cloth, give it a try. It's REALLY much easier than you think.  I was really worried about stains on the napkins, but for some reason, my napkins that are intended for my kids to wipe their mouths on look way better than their clothes after a meal.  I made mine, but you can buy cloth napkins for relatively cheap at Target.  Or you can make them.  The napkins and a valance are the only things I've ever sewed on my machine.  The seams are all uneven and I doubt they're perfect squares, but my family doesn't care and it was a good learning experience for me to get used to my sewing machine.