defer:

To submit to the opinion, wishes, or decision of another through respect or in recognition of his or her authority, knowledge, or judgment.

When my husband and I got married, I did not promise to obey him. He did not promise to obey me. In fact, our vows had nothing traditional in them at all. (One day I’ll post my wedding vows for you all to see, but suffice to say that I promised really silly things because that’s how our relationship is.) We vowed to love each other through all things, and that’s really it. That’s all you need, love.

Ok, so it’s not all you need, you need communication and loyalty and honesty. But having a whole lot of love sure helps.

My point is- I didn’t sign up to be his subject. I signed up to be his partner. His equal. And that’s exactly what we are. Yes, he’s the one who works. It’s still our money. Yes, I’m the one who stays home. He still helps me clean the house. We make decisions together, about everything. Neither of us decides to do something without consulting the other first.

As I said on my Facebook page and my Twitter- marriage is a partnership, not a dictatorship. Neither of you can or should hold all the power.

So knowing these things about my own marriage, it really pains me when I see other women who constantly defer to their husbands. There’s no way that this can lead to a healthy relationship. Just because you got married doesn’t mean your decision making power is gone.

Why do women submit? Why do they not feel worthy of being an equal partner in their marriages? I really do not understand it.

Mother’s Day is almost here and we are celebrating with our love for cloth diapers!

Welcome to the Mother’s Day Cloth Diaper Giveaway Hop hosted by Daily Mothering! Nearly 100 blogs have linked up to bring you dozens and dozens of exciting cloth diaper giveaways. Enter my giveaway below and then hop to the other blogs listed at the bottom of this post to enter their fluffy giveaways too! Each blog has a cloth diaper prize valued at $15 or more, and many blogs have prize packs worth over $100. And, don’t forget to enter the GRAND PRIZE giveaway at Daily Mothering for your chance to win this amazing $1300 Cloth Diaper Prize Pack!

In honor of my FIFTH blogiversary and Mother’s Day, I wanted to bring you a fun giveaway. As you may know, Branden and I plan to cloth diaper our children from birth. Cloth diapering is not only inexpensive (saving you an average of $1500 per year, per child!), and better for the environment (drastically reducing the amount of waste your family contributes to landfills), they’re better for your kiddos AND they’re super cute!  There’s not much better than a chubby baby with a fluffy bum, am I right? :D

So today I’m bringing you a beginners cloth diapering kit. Even if you only replace a few changes per day with cloth diapers, you’re significantly lowering your waste output. One cloth diaper per day adds up to 365 diapers that won’t be in the landfill at the end of your child’s first year.

The prize:

• SIX BumGenius 4.0 cloth diapers (gender neutral colors)
• One Kissaluvs Wet bag in purple swirl
• One 2oz tub of Earth Mama Angel Baby Bottom Balm (cloth safe)
• Five sample packs of Rockin’ Green (3 Classic rock, 2 Hard Rock)
• One Dozen flannel wipes

                                          

How to Enter:

Follow the directions on the rafflecopter form below. Complete as many of the entries as you’d like. A blog post comment is MANDATORY. If you do not comment, all other entries will be void. All entries WILL be verified, so please be honest!

***If your comment does not show up right away, please do not panic. All new comments are held for moderation by WordPress. I’ll approve your comments when I can. :) ***

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Please be sure to check out all the other AWESOME cloth giveaways happening this week! And definitely stop by Daily Mothering to enter to win the grand prize, worth over $1300!