jennyjennygenesis
homemaking, homeschooling, and striving for holiness
Diapers In the Dark!
Recently, I found myself bragging about how I can change diapers in the dark to my dear friend, Mary Jo. We are excited to teach Level II Atrium next year for the 6-9 year olds in our parish, but a bit wary on some of the more serious parables and new presentations I haven’t done yet….there was a comparison made: the familiarity of working with the Level I kids (3-6 yrs.) and materials at this point is so easy, it’s like diapering in the dark!
After this friendly banter I went over to the resale magic mall, aka. Value World, where we found some wonderful gifts for my husband, on the bad side: the baby pooped, and the children and myself all had to go to the bathroom. With a little bit of yelling we made our way over to Dunhams, the sports emporium and bought up some more goodies for the Pops, after hastily making our way to their (locked) disgusting bathroom, with no where to change the baby. So I did what any normal mother does, squat down to lay the baby across the lap, then with younger sibling ready with additional wet wipes, I quickly removed the diaper using the front of the thing as an additional wipe in the quick swipe of the diaper removal, followed by several fast cleansing wipes, and a new diaper. Speed is of the essence, but no cheap shots – because no one likes a rashy baby. I wanted to cuss out the owner of that store, even more when we waited in line FOREVER and tried not to eat all the candy they had nicely displayed at the kids eye-level! BOO!
This silly endeavor happens much more than I am willing to admit. I travel much with my children, bike rides, hikes, soccer games, church, etc. There are few places yet to be visited by me and my troop of explorers. We like to go new places, but one of the side effects of this is the strange and glorious places I have changed my children’s diapers.
To tell you the truth, I think this is something we all need to talk about. There are too few places that have no consideration what so ever for babies, mothers, fathers-FAMLILIES and their need for bathrooms ready with appropriate ample ass-wiping accommodations. If we think we have it figured out in terms of women’s liberation, think again. If I can not plop my baby down somewhere in your wonderful establishment to kindly freshen their bottom, you are not my favorite place. Let’s just say that. I am going to start a new, separate section to my book that I’m writing. It will be called GO HERE! In it I will chronicle my visits to places I have noticed the attention to detail in their family-friendly approach. I will note the decently priced children’s menu, the places to go that remember that little people need to be changed from time to time, the business that puts a playground/activity somewhere near by, as if the children’s playing was an important and relevant GOOD thing. I salute you who run businesses with such considerations!
Diapers, really, for me open up a huge can of worms. Ever since my first pregnancy I have been fretting about the cloth/paper diaper decision. I know how much trash my family produces, and I don’t want to contribute even more fecal matter to the landfill if possible. If you aren’t aware watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=OnR_rFJT8vw this is a short video made by G-Diapers, an Australian company that makes re-usable diapers, it’s an easy way to see how we suck by using plastic diapers. I will forever be haunted by this. So, I torture myself by feeling bad when I’m not using cloth. But, I’m lazy, and I can’t always pull everything together, food, water, children, supplies, and um, cloth diapers. The rest of the time I remember the other things we are doing that are eco-friendly, and try to forgive myself.
At the end of the day, proficiency isn’t about what you can do, it’s HOW you do it. so even though I may not always do exactly what I would like to do, hopefully the things I can do are done with love and thoughtfulness. That is my prayer. So….next time you get cocky about something in your life that you feel you do well, try to self-correct and ask for humility before you get put in your place like I did this week! And think of me when you change diapers in the dark. Also, please e-mail or comment if you have any outstanding reviews of family friendly locations!
jennyjennygenesis 
austria is good with families…… just sayin`…. always LOVE your honesty!!!! ❤
Try the bathroom at Plum Market next time you go to VW. It’s much nicer. That said, not every place in the world is baby friendly, nor should we expect every place to have a nice cozy bathroom with full on changing facilities. It’s nice when it happens, but complaining about it not being there is sort of a First World White Wine, imho. We are lucky to be living a country with indoor plumbing as the norm!
One thing I found helpful for those not so great bathrooms was a portable changing pad, big enough to keep the baby from coming into contact with the floor. Something you can wipe down with some sanitizer after your baby is changed. Once they are big enough to stand and follow directions, you can do a Montessori style standing dipe change, too.
I hear what you’re saying Sara, and Plum Market would have been smart. I feel as building codes are being updated, we should institute the mandatory horizontal surface for diaper changing in public bathrooms. Just as we are lucky to be living in the US, why not go for better? If they can do it in Sweden, we can certainly hook it up!
HAHAHA!!! That’s funny……. Why not just bring a folding changing table with you everywhere?! it’s that easy!