A little too much independence

Yesterday afternoon I happened to be at Costco and we happened to be needing new diapers, so I decided to try theirs out for the first time. I was a little nervous about buying a giant box (140) of an unknown product, but I'd heard good things about them and they were the same price per diaper as our usual favorite, Luvs. We took the giant box home and stored it in S-Boogie's room this morning. However, I was feeling lazy and didn't get around to making room for it in her closet before her nap. I should have known better.

Naps lately have been somewhat hit and miss for her. Some days she is really tired and falls asleep quickly, and stays that way for several hours. Other days it's more the routine of quiet time that prompts nap time and she just plays in her room for an hour or so before I give up and let her out. Today seemed like one of those days, since just a few minutes after I read her stories and put her in her bed I heard the tinkling of her little play piano. I was sitting in here on the computer and the thought of the giant box of diapers crossed my mind, but I figured she couldn't make too much of a mess with them. (Yes, I'm that lazy and that addicted to the internet).

Then, after half an hour of "naptime", I heard her door swing open and suddenly smelled a Very Bad Smell. I turned around to be confronted by the sight of a very naked, very distressed, and very poop-smeared child. She reported: "Mommy, I brown." Yeah.

Apparently, she had decided to attempt to change her poopy diaper herself. The giant box of diapers probably didn't have much to do with this, since the wipes and diapers are usually within her reach, but the sight of the exciting new diapers probably spurred a burst of creativity. I filled up the bathtub, plopped her in it (which means I get to go clean my tub now--hooray), and went to inspect her room. I found several diapers smeared with poop, a large pile of poopy wipes, and a big blob of poop mushed into the carpet. Luckily her clothes were piled neatly out of harm's way and her bed and ducky seemed to be unscathed. Her room also smells like the monkey house at the zoo. After "naptime" (she is currently clean and back in bed, although I hear singing, not sleeping) we'll be making a trip to Target to find some sort of cleaning product that can remove poop completely from carpet. And Mommy is definitely buying supplies for making caramel popcorn, which will be consumed by the parents after S-Boogie's bedtime tonight.

So, we have yet another rule for our home: S-Boogie does not get to change her diapers herself. If being grossed out by dirty pants is a step towards potty training, this child is going to be in diapers until she graduates from high school.