Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Skidmarks and Sunshine

I am currently relaxing in my posh hotel room at the Hilton in Shreveport flipping between HBO and that annoying menu screen that happens to be on full volume every time you turn on the television and I am bored. I drove in from Dallas this morning at 530AM for a presentation for work and when I was done at 4pm, I immediately took a 3 hour nap. So the midnight oil is burning for me.

The Wifey and I have been trying to meet new parents around our age but unfortunately match.com doesn't offer that compatibility feature. It would be nice for the Baby to start interacting, even though she will just lie there grabbing her toes or eating her fingers. Sometimes I feel that our friends think its easy to drop the Baby off with a babysitter so we can go out but we like hanging out with the Baby. She is easy to please, she doesn't judge, and she's an excellent listener.

The Baby has begun rolling around and it's making life a little more interesting. I used to be able to leave the Baby on the bed while I stepped into the other room (I know, nominee for worst parent of the year for leaving the child unattended) to get her outfit or to warm up her milk. But now with her moving about, I have to carry her with me otherwise she would fly off the edge of the bed like Thelma & Louise. Granted, we still don't know if Thelma & Louise ever made it to the other side of the cliff but come on, woman driver, there's no way they made it. Anyways, I have to keep an eye out now that the Baby is gaining more motor skills. Before I know it she's going to be sneaking out the window to watch boys cruise in their GT Mustangs like her mom used to do. Lame.

One of my initial goals when I started this blog was to provide some sort of first time dad advice and I've seem to have deviated from that point of view. But here are a few ones to wrap your mind around:

Dirty diapers aren't bad. The sitcoms like to portray this horrendous scene where dads come running in with HAZMAT suits just to change a diaper. Honestly, if the baby's input is just breast milk, the output is just liquid crap. There really isn't a distinct smell or anything to gag about. Now of course when the Baby starts to eat solid foods, that will be a different story.

The Wifey and I also entertained the idea of cloth diapers. To me, it seems like a hippie thing to do. Cloth diapers give me the vision of handwashing them in a galvanized wash tub in the backyard and then putting them on a clothesline to sun dry, showcasing the skidmark goodness of a once dirty diaper. Good old fashioned skidmarks and sunshine. I am sorry but there is only room for one set of skidmarks in this family and that belongs to me. Theoretically cloth diapers are the most economical and green way to change your baby but it just seems....gross. The Wifey says it won't ruin a washer because, like I mentioned earlier, the Baby just has liquid craps. That really didn't help her case because sometimes I can get the liquid runs and that severely messes up the toilet; imagine the problems it would cause for our front load washer. Yikes. Luckily we like Pampers Swaddlers diapers because it absorbs a lot and fits the Baby the best. I am sure the other brands make a good diaper but the Wifey and I just prefer that particular brand.

Diaper Genies seem to be a waste of money. We purchased an Arm & Hammer branded one. It's not a waste of money that it doesn't work, I am sure it contains the smell of the not-so-foul diapers but we just throw the diapers away into the garbage can outside. I figured it's easier for the diapers to decompose individually as opposed to one huge bag of diapers. I guess if you're a parent who likes to pile diapers up like Jenga it would be beneficial but if you make an effort to throw away the diapers as soon as you change it, then Diaper Genies will do you no good.

2 comments:

  1. Always A breath of reality in my otherwise self absorbed and chaotic day/week.
    Even tho I am not a parent, I always look forward to what you have to share with us.

    So, Thank you Jackson for sharing your family and experiences with us.

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  2. I have a very good friend that you probably know who has baby boy about the same age as your daughter......facebook me and I'll connect you ;)

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