Bottom Hero

The first post of a new blog...this computer screen is blanker than a blank page of crisp, white paper, having the potential of either doodles and drivel or profundity. You probably should set your expectations closer to the drivel side of the spectrum. After all, I do have four small chilren, and they tend to make depth of thought a bit of a challenge. Ah, but the rewards. I'll share with you one of my bigger paydays from last week.

Seth, my almost-three-year-old, had a pretty bad diaper rash. I'm not sure what he ate, but he was playing outside when nature called, and he answered right into the back of his pullup. (Surely you must know that rarely a day goes by when mothers of diaper-clad children do NOT have poop discussions. Sorry to have to mention it here, in this my first post of a new blog. Please refer back to the part about expectations and drivel, etc.) Anyway, since he was playing outside, the poop radar detection system we have installed, i.e. our other children who prefer not to play in his fumes, was ineffective. So by the time I detected his situation manually, he had been sitting in mess--what DID that boy eat???--for quite some time. In the midst of changing him, he started to whimper that his bottom hurt. And then the whimpers turned to outright cries of pain. That poor baby's bottom was a red as his carrot-top head. So I did what any mother would do and held him at arm's length and trotted off to the bathtub and a bit of warm water. ("I'll snuggle with you when your bottom's either clean or covered, preferrably both.") Then I laid him on a warm towel and applied soothing salve and rediapered him. Okay, here's the payday part: He jumped up from the towel, wrapped his chubby arms around my neck and exclaimed, "Thanks, Mom! You saved me! You a good helper my bottom!"

I had saved him! And he thought I was a good helper for his bottom! Could a mother get a bigger compliment? I felt like I could accomplish anything for this child. I was his diaper hero!

Then, not two minutes later, I asked him to give Lily back her toy, and he blew me a defiant little raspberry with angry lips and landed himself in the timeout corner.

It was a short moment of glory.