Sunday with Sam: Dealing with the down n' dirty

Well here it is....The world premier of "Sunday with Sam".  By now you must know who I am, since I have gotten a nice honorable mention in Ronda's new found blogging hobby.  I am quite sure that her "blogging" will completely eclipse my feeble efforts to hold your attention, especially since the total amount of my witty humor weighs less than one hair on my little boy's head.

It's amazing to me how having children truly changes your life.  Not just your schedule or top choice of vehicle (I've come to grips with the fact that a mini- van is imminent in the not so distant future), but perceptions and interests get their fair share of memorable and habit forming battle scars.  For example;  I used to head to my vehicle at the end of the work day while calling Ronda to see what might be on the docket for the evening.  Things like going to the movies, eating out, live music, or hosting a lively social gathering were just a few of the activities that we enjoyed on an almost nightly basis.  Hmmmm......them were the days.  Now don't get me wrong, we are still just as busy if not more so, but life looks drastically different starting with the phone call while walking to the car to end my work day.

I thought, since I don't cook, that I would share with you a trick of the trade when it comes to being a dad.  Our friends Michael and Alicia are always in a tug of war over who is going to change "the dirty."  The banter that ensues when one of the little guys does his doody is quite comical and usually ends in Michael changing the diaper while proclaiming that the next one is definitely Alicia's.  I will tell you as a man this task never gets easier.  Our gag reflex I am convinced is more sensitive than our female counter parts.  I think God designed it this way...just sayin.

When raising babies and toddlers it is always a good idea to keep multiple makeshift changing stations around the house and equally important for me to stash extra diapers/wipes in choice places.  This is so crucial, of course, when it is " your turn" to change the midnight express who likes to wake up in the wee hours and crawl into bed with a full diaper.  Let me just tell you that at 2am there is no greater emergency than holding up the heels of a squirmy toddler while half asleep and your wife is blissfully counting zzzzz's.  *Sniff Sniff* Then you suddenly discover that what you thought was a wet diaper turns out to be chock-full of earth tones.  You see, Ronda will change a diaper wherever she is and at times she will leave the "tools of the trade" wherever she last changed the diaper, i.e. on the bathroom floor upstairs, in the backseat of the car, or in the laundry room.  I, on the other hand, like to prepare for such an event and get all the necessary ingredients ready before unveiling the very possible atom bomb that could be lurking in a toddler's diaper.   So when I couldn't find the diapers or wipes and she couldn't recall where she last changed them, this presented a problem.  It is also not all that uncommon for the little boys to stash them in a cabinet, behind their toys, etc...  So my motto is, much like the boy scouts, always be prepared, and soon you'll be saying "Thanks Sam, crisis averted."  Thus the creation of: The Diaper Station.  Here is the recipe. Enjoy.

Ingredients:

Diapers
Wipes
Powder
Diaper Rash Ointment
Plastic bags
Board Book (you want it to be one you can wipe down, just in case)



Directions:

1.  Ask yourself: "where do the dirty ones happen most often?" For us it is upstairs in our room (Kael will wake up and hunt us down with his dirty business), or downstairs in our living room where the boys have a play corner.

2.  At the dollar store you can find little baskets.  Really as far as us guys go it could be a cardboard box because we don't care about aesthetics, but women do, so in a basket they go.  Like I said, Ronda found these at the dollar store for a buck (dollar store=buck); probably made in China so don't eat them ok?

3.  If you have little babies stock with the following:  towel (in case they hose ya), diapers, powder, butt cream, and wipes.  Our boys are a little older now so our basket consists of: diapers, wipes, and a book to keep them distracted.  Another handy thing might be to keep a few grocery bags in the basket for the real stinkers.

3.  Put the baskets where the incidents most often take place and keep them stocked.  That way if you happen to start in on a diaper not realizing that it is a "blow out", you won't have to carry your toddler around by their ankle until you find the necessaries.

Peace out,

Sam

PS, here are the little ones that make it all worth while.