As part of my job of Mother and Primary Care-Giver to three adorable children, I’ve had plenty of opportunity to change diapers over the past nearly five years. Some days this is less fun than others (as you can probably imagine). My 2-year old is still in diapers, which means I’m changing him and the baby multiple times a day.
Lately, the baby has been trying to be big by talking. She’s not any good at it yet (really, what child is before at least age 2?), but she has managed to say a few things, "uh-uh-uh-uh" (read "no-no-no-no") and "uh-oh" being the two she says that seem to have meaning. She loves to throw anything and everything over the side whenever she is anywhere with a side and then say "uh-oh" as though some big accident just happened. Like she thinks she can fool me into believing she didn’t really mean to do that…
So I was just putting the baby down for her nap, which of course includes the obligatory diaper change. I take her up to her room, lay her on her changing table, and proceed to take off her pants and change her diaper. When I change her, I give her the pair of pants she was wearing. I used to do this because she would play peek-a-boo with me while I changed her, but now I suppose I just do it out of habit, since the novelty of peek-a-boo seems to have worn off. As I’m changing her diaper, she is struggling with the pants as hard as she can and writhing and squirming and generally making it rather difficult to put a clean diaper on, but I remember that at this age most all kids seem to do that. As I wrestle to win the game I remind myself that someday, I won’t be changing diapers any more. And then it happens (as has happened many, many times since she learned her new word) – the pants are thrown over the side and the baby becomes deathly still. She looks up at me in all seriousness and declares – you guessed it – "Uh-oh!" I burst out laughing, and, maybe because I look so funny when I laugh, she bursts out laughing as well. And suddenly, everything that has happened so far today that has been less than wonderful doesn’t seem to matter any more. The sound of my children’s laughter has that effect on me.
It’s times like this when I am truly thankful to be a mother and still changing diapers. Sure, it may not be exciting or even very fun to do, but it’s these small things that make me remember how much I love my life.
