A Typical Family Dinner

Yesterday was an eventful day. So eventful, in fact, that it will take three or four posts just for me to get everything on this blog. And instead of starting with the first thing that happened, I'm going to start with this gem, because I don't want to loose any of it's hilarity.

Yesterday was hot, around ninety something degrees. And we have no air conditioning. This is why, when the kids got a little wet before nap, I stripped them down to diaper and underwear, and just let them run around that way. All day. Even though we have been trying to establish a "Must Wear Pants" rule for Nick, who seems to strip off everything each time he pees.

We were eating dinner - which means Steve and I were at the table and the boys were running around - when Nathan suddenly made an appearance sans diaper. Nude. Completely naked. "Where is your diaper?" I asked. Nathan looked down, as though surprised at the fact that he wasn't wearing one. "Go get a diaper and I'll put it on you," I said. Nathan ran to the bathroom, his little bottom wagging behind him. Nicholas told us that he had taken Nate's diaper off. He was, for some reason, pretty proud of this fact.

Nathan returned with his old diaper, which was indeed soaked and I asked him to go get a new diaper. We also tried to convince Nicholas to bring us a new diaper. "Nick, " we said, "You took the diaper off, so please bring us a clean diaper. Nathan doesn't use the potty like you do, and he's going to pee all over the floor." Nicholas dragged his feet and asked "Why" a few dozen times while Nathan ran back and forth through the kitchen, from the table to the bathroom, free and naked and I actually envied him because I was hot and he looked so much cooler than I did.

Finally Nicholas headed off towards the bathroom, walking backwards and very, very slowly, his eyes on us the whole time, as though he would slip away the moment we broke eye contact... and then suddenly he started wailing.

The cry began softly and then grew in distress and horror and pitch and volume, and finally he screamed "He pooped! Nathan pooped!" Nicholas was pointing to a spot in the bathroom doorway, and was also holding his leg and foot in a very awkward and stiff way.

Nathan was happily running in circles around us at this point, and it appeared that he was indeed responsible for the mess, as quite a bit of it was still covering him, and he was busy smearing it over as much of his leg and torso as he could reach. He was laughing and babbling and having a happy time. Nicholas was crying and screaming and begging me to get the poop off his toe. And I was laughing because of all the time we had spent trying to explain to Nick why Nathan needed a diaper, and this event was doing a far, far better job.

Eventually I just picked the kids up and dumped them in the tub. The floor was easily cleaned. And I haven't laughed like that in a long, long time.