Seriously I am squeamish; I hate smelly things, soggy things, and yucky things! I don’t do well with blood, poop, or vomit. In fact, soggy baby cereal can put me over the edge. Even a sandwich that goes mushy will have me dry retching. So therein lays my dilemma about having children. What to do about the diapers, spit up, and soggy foods????
Gavin, my husband, who is definitely in touch with his feminine side, reassured me that all moms manage these things. I was terrified! My argument against changing diapers grew stronger when I thought of all those crampy period days, pregnancy weight gain, back ache and sleepless nights and not to mention the c- section that I had endured before the child was even born. I was exhausted from a protracted labor that ended in c-section. Hours after giving birth, I looked at Gavin and simply said “I am not going to change diapers!” He knew better than to argue at the point. I have held by that statement for 3 children – the youngest is now 2.
So now that you know why I don’t change them, let me tell you how I get away with it –
Gavin is simply a doll and just agreed to my terms without arguing. In fact, he agrees that men carry the lesser load so he is the knight in shining armor doing my share. I have a nanny, I have good friends, and good neighbors. Even Meron and Temira have joined the team of expert diaper changers.
Once, when Gavin was away for work, I was stressing about diapers. A male friend who lives 10 blocks away said “call anytime” and I did…. at 2am…and he came in a taxi. We had recently been on a road trip with this friend and we had a “non- containment situation” with Meron’s diaper. We had to make an emergency stop so I could throw up. He knew I was not joking. Luckily good friends moved upstairs from us and they have helped out many times. I have even had a friend leave a date early to come do diaper duty.
But really, I think God only gives someone a challenge that they can handle, and God knows that I CANNOT do diapers.
When Caily was 7 months old, we went to Israel – just the two of us. I was adamant that if a baby can sleep through the night in a diaper, she can do an 11 hour plane flight without a change. There was a lovely young lady with a similar age baby in front of me and we chatted for many hours. At some point she went to change her kid but the bathroom lines were too long. Israeli style- she changed her baby on the seat. She looked up at Caily and remarked that she was wet through. I had been convincing myself that it was just 3 more hours and we could manage. Suddenly she said “the line is so long, pass me your baby and I will change her while I have the stuff out” – how often does that happen? Thank you God.
Last year, Caily and I were meeting Gavin in Orlando where he had been on a conference. Caily had had tummy issues all week but finally she seemed in good shape…yes, that was until we walked into the Continental lounge and I noticed a brown splotch all the way up her back. Now I was in trouble. Shaking, we entered the women’s restroom. I decided that I would just throw away all her clothes. As I was doing this the cleaning lady asked me why I am throwing the clothes out and not washing them. It was my moment – I turned to her with tearful eyes and explained that this was my friend’s baby and she was on a conference in Orlando and I was taking the baby to meet her mom. Of course I told her I had never changed a diaper before and needed help. This sweet lady explained that she had 9 grandchildren and that she was an expert. I agree she expertly bathed, changed Caily and washed the clothes. She kept saying to Caily “are you going to see your mama?’ – boy I was glad Caily could not talk…