Diaper Duty

Diaper duty definitely ranks near the top of the list of things that Joe and I do differently in parenting. I have noticed that our styles are similar to our approaches to another repetitive, thankless household task of making the bed. As a sleeper who doesn't move much, I have always made a bed by tugging up the sheets, straightening the pillows and calling it good for the day. It looks presentable, but Martha Stewart certainly is not calling me to shoot her next magazine cover of my bed. Similarly, for diaper changes my approach is swipe, wipe, get out of there and get on with playtime, storytime, etc.

Joe, on the other hand, strips the bed down to the fitted sheet each and every time he makes it, perfectly smoothing and tucking in each layer and obsessively arranging the top sheet bottom-side down so that it will be top-side up when folded back. He could easily start working as a hotel maid at a five star joint with little or no training. With diapers, he is the Inspector General of bottoms. The other day when I had changed a particularly messy diaper and Joe stepped in to pinch hit for me on closing up the new diaper while I washed up, he noted that I had missed a spot on AJ's little guy parts that was the size of a freckle or smaller. I found it quite humorous when Joe informed me that it is "insulting" for a guy to have anything less than scrupulously clean guy parts. He feels a strong fatherly sense of responsibility to look out for his little boy that I find very sweet.