Mommy Brilliant

After four kids, I consider myself pretty capable of handling whatever the babies throw at me.  Which, I should be, right?  I mean, I’ve been doing this for a while now and I would hope that I’ve gained something from this (besides the undying love and gratitude of my four children, of course).  So, a few months ago, when Benben started taking off his diaper before every nap/bedtime (which almost always resulted in a wet bed.  At best), I just knew I would come up with some amazing, creative, brilliant solution to the problem.  Here’s how it all went down:

Brilliant Idea #1: Put the diaper on backward. 

Why it Failed: Backward diapers do not phase TheBen.  He still took it off.  (Also:evidently boy diapers are less absorbent in the back.  So the time I backward-diapered him when he was asleep (SUPER FUN) the diaper soaked through so the bed was still wet in the morning).  

Brilliant Idea #2: Put TWO diapers on the baby.

Why it Failed: Two diapers do not phase TheBen.  Kept him busy for longer?  Maybe. But also wasted two diapers instead of just one. 

Brilliant Idea #3: Packing tape.  (packing, only because I couldn’t find the duct tape).  Around the top of the diaper.  ALL the way around it.  In such a way that the ends of the tape overlap thereby making it impossible to locate the end and pull the tape off. 

Why it Failed: Packing tape with overlapping ends do not phase TheBen.  Give him something to stick on the walls and subsequently peel back off along with 2 feet of wall paint?  Yes. 

So at this point, I’m going bonkers.  We have gone through so many diapers in a very short amount of time, and Ben is no closer to understanding the phrases, “Do not take your diaper off”, “leave your diaper on”, “Sleeping nekkid is for losers” and “Take it off and I’ll feed you to the dog”. 

So a few more days go by, and I’m cleaning out Ben’s clothes-getting the outgrown baby clothes out to make room for more of Matthew’s old clothes (new to Ben!) and I come across this crazy looking baby outfit.  With, like, snaps at the bottom?  Made just for babies??  For keeping shirts tucked in and DIAPERS ON? Y’all know what I’m talking about??  THE ONESIE.  It seems that maybe someone, at some other time a long time ago, had this same problem with the diaper thing, and decided to come up with a practical solution.  One that doesn’t involve duct tape or difficult diaper changes.  Brilliant!!  Once again, I decided to take the long way around the problem, when the answer was three feet away.  MOMMY BRILLIANT.  Ben now wears and onesie to bed and stays diapered until the morning.  So. Much. Better. 

And now, I’d like to take a minute to demonstrate how the Ben has survived for so long in spite of all the badness:  Pure, unadulterated cuteness: