A cloth, a cloth, my Kingdom for a cloth!

Edward may have a kingly name, but in truth I have no kingdom to pass onto him, so I'm not risking much with this title. Nevertheless, many times a day the cry for "A cloth!" will ring out from one or other parent.

This is slightly odd, because we acquired many different cloths in preparation for Edward's arrival, so we should always have one to hand. The midwife stipulated that we should have 12 receiving blankets in the birth kit, which made me wonder how many times the baby was likely to be received. Receiving blankets are approximately 28" squares of cotton, with a soft absorbent texture, not exactly a blanket, but very useful for a number of different tasks, such as covering his legs in the stroller or in his crib at night.

We also have spit-up cloths, that Beth made from smaller squares of cotton fabric, special burp cloths that hang over one's shoulder, and a number of flannels for washing and general absorbing tasks.

Still, there is often not a cloth to hand when Ed has decided to spit up a couple of mouthfuls of white curds, so anything and everything that isn't furniture may get pressed into service if it lies within arms' reach.