Help a Mama Out

I have a rant.

We were in the waiting area while Auntie V was in an appointment today and I realized little man needed a diaper change... badly. I'm pretty sure anyone within 10 feet of him realized he needed a diaper change. I asked the receptionist if their restroom had a changing station. She had to check. And when she came back, the answer is "no, we're not really set up for anything like that". I looked around to see a basket of toys and books, a Little Tykes picnic table, a toddler sized car-track table and the usual doctor's office wooden bead mazes. And Nick Jr. on the TV. But no changing table. Okay... Granted, this is not a pediatrician's office but clearly they expect young children to be around.

She offered an alternative to changing him in the waiting room "if we wanted more privacy" - we could go into the exam room where my sister was seeing the doctor. Really? You work in a medical office and you're more concerned about the privacy of my toddler during a diaper change than my teenage sister during a doctor's visit? Not that Auntie V would have minded if we needed it, but I replied that I thought it would be best to give HER some privacy and stood there, waiting...

Waiting for her to offer up another alternative... perhaps an empty exam room? Its a Saturday and the office was almost completely empty but the end result was me changing Squirmy's diaper in the trunk of my car. It was, well, gross.... suffice to say that Z came back wearing no socks, a completely new outfit and the scent of baby wipes over practically his entire body. And call me what you will but as I threw the diaper away outside, I was more than a little tempted to bring it back into the office and hide it in one of their fake ficus trees.

As mothers we change diapers where we need to - in strollers, on laps, in the seats and trucks of cars and tailgates of trucks, on chairs and sofas and our own clothing, and occasionally on a bathroom floor lined with free publications. And we make do. But any time I can extend some help to another woman to make life, or that moment anyway, a little easier, I try. Whether its a tip on where the nearest acceptably clean restroom is or a baby wipe, tissue, or emergency snack for a kid in need, its the least I can do because we've ALL been there. We've all had those moments. I guess the receptionist didn't have children. But someday, I hope she does and I hope she has to change a really gross diaper on top of a brand new really expensive jacket that she later has to throw away because one side is infested with whatever she was trying to protect the baby's butt from and the other side is covered in poo.

Okay, I don't wish that on anyone, but come on lady! Help a mama out!

Rant over.