Puddles

Every other Thursday night, Jason has his guys’ Bible study group, which meets at our house.  So I typically spend Hannah’s naptime trying to get the house in order, dinner ready, and dessert prepared.  And, typically, I am able to get it all done.  But…

Hannah decided she just was not sleepy.  This happens occasionally, but since she is still a prisoner in her crib (she has not attempted an escape – yet!) I can still get a few hours of “quiet time” even if she chooses not to sleep.  All afternoon I could hear her talking, singing, and playing in her bed.  She sounded happy, so I left her in there.  At one point, I heard her calling “Oh Tootles!” in a sing-song voice. (For those of you who don’t know, “Tootles” is a sort-of character on “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.”  The characters call for “Tootles,” who brings them a “Mouseketool” to help them in their adventure.  Hannah often makes up her own stories, and calls for Tootles to come an assist her.)  It wasn’t long before the call turned to “Oh Momm-eeeee!”  I have been working on getting her call me when she wants to get up, instead of kicking the wall to announce that she is awake!  So, I finally poked my head in to see what was going on…

Just a quick disclaimer:  This is a “mommy” kind of post.  If you are not the parental type, you may want to move on to another blog…but if you want a little true-life glimpse into the world of mommyhood, by all means, keep reading…Just remember, you’ve been warned!

The ends of her crib are solid, so I could only see her little head peeking over the side.  She was standing up in her bed, and greeted me with an almost surprised, “Oh, hi Mommy!”  Then… “Mommy, I take off diaper.”  Uh-oh!!  She had never done that before, and I just knew it would happen someday…  Sure enough, there was the diaper, lying beside my half-naked child…who was standing in a large puddle of pee!  Ewww!! 

My first reaction was to roll my eyes, and stand there laughing at the whole scene…I didn’t know what else to do, and, it really was kind of funny!!  Of course, I’m sure her poor teddy bears, blankets, and her beloved duckie who were lying in the midst of the yuckiness didn’t agree…or appreciate my laughter.

Not knowing how long the puddle had been there, or what parts of her body or clothing had touched said puddle, I plopped her in the bathtub and gave her a good head-to-toe scrubbing.  Then I set about stripping her bed, and dumping everything in to the washing machine.  (Laundry was not part of my plan for the afternoon!!)   

Jason came home to find Hannah running around wearing only a Pull-Up, with dripping wet, uncombed hair, while I attempted to disinfect her mattress and the slats of her crib.  (We have a water-proof mattress pad, and the mattress itself is vinyl/plastic covered, so I don’t think anything actually got on the mattress, but…just in case…)  Dinner was nowhere near started, I hadn’t even thought about dessert for the Bible study, and Hannah’s toys were still scattered all over the living room floor!  Jason immediately jumped into super-daddy mode, got Hannah dressed, and took her to the park.  (Isn’t he the best!?)  

Amazingly, everything got done before the guys showed up…I was even able to get Hannah’s bed put back together before it was time for her to be in it again!!  All things considered, I would much rather deal with a little puddle of pee than some of the other things I’ve had to clean up over the last two years!!