As the generations roll along, parenthood, especially fatherhood changes. When I was a new dad in the 1970s, I, like my father before me, changed a grand total of only one diaper before throwing in the towel or I should say throwing in the diaper.
As I started to change my first diaper, I had one mess to clean up. Before I finished changing the diaper, I had two messes to clean up, my child’s and mine. Messy diapers had the power to make me as sick as a fifth of Jack Daniels on a Friday night.
I remember being alone with my small child and thinking, if I am going to be a good father, I will need to delegate. With that thought in mind, I put my infant in the child seat of my bicycle and pedaled as fast as I could for five miles over to Cathy Spong’s house. I said, “Cathy, is there something wrong with my daughter? She smells funny.” Cathy said, “She needs to have her diaper changed.” I said, “Would you?” And she did.
Then there was the diaper change involving two brothers. The older brother paid his younger brother cash money to change the diaper any time the older brother’s child needed his diaper changed. True story.
How about my new pal, Jim, who I just met at a guys and gals baby shower. Three kids and he never changed a single diaper.
The generation that followed proved to be much better dads. My son-in-law is a terrific dad. He pitched right in and helped out like he was in a race with my daughter to see who could change the most diapers.
The current generation is taking diaper changing and baby cleaning to a new level. My photo shows a modern day dad coming out of a 25 cent car wash right after a diaper change and baby clean. I know he is a good dad because he used extra soap as he ran his infant son through the do-it-yourself car wash. The carnauba wax really put a shine on the baby stroller making it look like new.
Even if you are one of those people who have a closed mind when it comes to running a child through a car wash, you have to admit, he is a better dad then us dinosaur dads. He is at least a hands-on dad personally changing diapers and looking after his baby’s cleanliness.
Photo by Peg Morgan.Just because I failed to earn the “Father of the Year” award, does not mean I can’t pass on some top caliber baby care tips to today’s dads. Scoff now, but wait until using a car wash pressure washer starts to catch on.
