On Explosion And Parenthood

"LARGE EXPLOSION MAY NEED BACKUP.

YES I SAID LARGE EXPLOSION MAY NEED BACKUP.

I HAVE TO WAIT

SHE'S STILL GOING..."

This was a desperate text from a husband to his wife.  He was watching 3-month old baby, while she was working out at the gym.  This cracked me up so much!

The wife happens to be my good friend, Lori. Her daughter, 3-month old Bianca, is the newest addition to my growing pool of godchildren.  I went to see them last week at Bianca's baptism in San Diego.  And one of the things we ended up talking about when I was there, inadvertently over lunch, was "explosions".

For those of you who aren't parents yet, "explosion" is what we call the incident when a baby releases too much soft poop.  More often than not, it's too much for the diaper to contain that it soils the clothes too.  Every parent hates dealing with this (admit it, parents!)--I know of some who would just rip or cut the clothes off and throw them away and not even bother washing them. I am one of them, although when this happened a few times with Lucas, my one-of-a-kind, keeper husband dealt with them.  He lovingly hand-washed the poop-soiled clothes before throwing them into the washing machine.  He did this so many times.

I have huge admiration for dads who are very hands-on with their kids.  Those who set aside time to take care of the kids so we, moms can be relieved of baby duties, get away or do our own thing and keep our sanity--just like my friend Lori's husband who happily takes care of Bianca while her mommy watches a movie with her friends or goes to the gym to get back in shape.  Lucky her!  And lucky me--I have one of those too! :-)

I also admire dads who stay home and be the kid's primary caregiver while the wife works full time.  It's not because these husbands don't want to go to work, in fact I know how bad this is for their ego and morale.  But they choose to do it because at the end of the day, it is the most practical and makes the most financial sense.

In this day and age where men and women have equal opportunities, I think it matters not who takes care of the kids.  What matters is that the kids get adequate care and attention from both parents, including working parents like us.  We only work an average of 8-10 hours a day, out of 24. There has to be plenty of time left.