It's Official!

You can alert the media! You can shout it out! You can celebrate with me!

The potty-training is done! We are a diaper-free home!

Now, hold it. Stop laughing. I'm not just being funny. I'm not just writing a silly mommy-blog entry here. There are actually deep implications within this moment in my life! ...and so I'm blogging about it. Read on. (and go ahead and laugh if you want.)

I can NOT believe I'm typing the words: diaper-free! After 12 - yes that's TWELVE - years straight of changing diapers most every single day, I can now be free from that dastardly duty! WOO HOO!!!! For those of you who need to know how it could be that long: Trey has just turned 12, so the day he was born was the first time I changed a sweet little precious baby's diaper. Then we had Timothy 3 years later, and 3 years after that Emily, and 2 1/2 years after that, George. None of my kiddos were potty trained before 3. In fact, George just turned 4 and JUST THIS WEEK has he finally decided to go both ways in the toilet. SO that makes continual diaper-changing for 12 years.

By the way, I cringe when I think of the accumulation of diaper refuse we have contributed to the landfills over these years (not to mention the dollars spent). Kudos to you who are now going cloth!

I love my children. I love having four of them. I love being a mom, and I have even loved changing a diaper or two along the way. It's one of the tasks that is part of loving and caring for my precious kiddos.

When they are tiny and need a change from a cute little wet diaper... those kinds of diaper changes are so sweet and happy. You know what I'm talking about. Those kinds of diaper changes are the ones grandmas and aunts fight over. "I'll change her diaper. Oh no, don't bother yourself. Let me do it. No, it's no trouble at all. I'm happy to do it..."

And as they are growing bigger and you get to have those cute smiling, learning, discovering moments with them on the changing table... those kinds of diaper changes are so treasured and precious. They discover their toes; they say DaDa for the first time; they learn to thumb through books on their own; they sing songs with you; they ask you why, what, how about things they are discovering. That time with you, having your undivided attention, are some of their most treasured moments, too.  (Ok, confession time. I'm crying now.)

I am grateful for all of the hours spent changing diapers. I shall in some way miss the time spent discovering the need for a change, the gathering of supplies, the laying down of the child, the undressing, the unfastening of the velcro sides, the wiping and wiping and cleaning, the powdering and creaming, the putting on of a fresh clean diaper, the redressing, the disposal, and the air freshening. It's in those hours of my life, that I have been kept humble and in touch with my humanity. I have been loved and adored by my children during those times. I have been doing one of the most important jobs on the planet during those times: being a mother.

So, I shout it from the rooftops. "We're DONE with diapers!!!!" I am thrilled, to say the least. But these 12 years of my life will hold a special place in my heart and soul forever.

For that I am thankful.



One of my very first diaper-changing treasured moments. July, 1999