Before disposable diapers became common or affordable, families relied entirely on cloth diapers. These required constant rinsing, wringing, and washing—a demanding routine that today’s parents rarely have to imagine. Convenience simply wasn’t part of the equation back then.
The heart of the memory is the writer’s mother’s daily ritual. When a diaper was soiled, she didn’t hesitate. She rinsed it directly in the toilet, squeezed out the excess water by hand, and then placed it in a diaper pail until laundry day arrived. It was messy, repetitive, and exhausting, yet she did it without complaint.
What sounds shocking now was once standard practice. Toilet water was just a convenient way to handle the mess quickly, and the diaper pail kept odors under control until enough diapers had accumulated to justify a full wash cycle.
The writer’s friends can barely believe these methods were
