Thursday, March 5, 2009

Tricks of the trade: Diapering (while sitting)

I am pregnant. Not poppingly so, but enough to make me not want to hop all over catching little children and flinging them up onto the changing table for diapering. So instead, I plant myself in the middle of the nursery with the supplies I'll likely need (diapers, wipes, ointment, fresh clothes). They zoom around me, just out of reach, giggling over how clever they are. I first try calling sweetly "Ava, come to mommy. Claire, do you want a nice new diaper?" They are smart so that never ever works. I digress to a gently threatening tone, mostly directed toward the more sophisticated of the two "Claire come here (to mommy) right now. Yes, right NOW". This is occasionally effective but usually not. My next effort is the old bait and catch ... poor Ava usually gets caught first. I use a toy (within easy reach) and make it seem really interesting "oh wow! Look at how FAST this little car can go!!! Vroom vroom ..." "voom voom" says Ava, weakening. She knows to stay back, but her eye is on the car. My eye is on her and, like a coiled spring, I wait. She wanders just within range. I calculate the distance and effort required ... now or wait until she gets a little closer? I don't like to move much, as I mentioned before. I strike ... sometimes I catch an arm, a hand or even just a sleeve. Then I reel her in >: ) The next child is easy because she invariably comes in close for the wipes. We have a "one wipe" rule which means each child may take one wipe for personal use (which is often nose wiping or furniture cleaning, often in that order). I've tried, from the beginning, dangling a wipe out and calling sweetly for my first customer but somehow they sense the danger. Maybe the dangling seems too obvious.

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