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by Keith D. Fraser
For the first time since switching bodies with Mathew, I genuinely felt shame. I'm not sure why exactly. It wasn't my choice to be stuffed into a toddler's body. There certainly wasn't anything I could do, at that moment, to change the situation. As I was to find out later, my shame was a side effect of a peculiar kind of mind meld that was underway. The body, in which I was imprisoned, clearly belonged to Mathew. In the beginning, I thought that the mind remained entirely under my control. But as time passed, I began to realize that the mind was only partially mine. The intellect was mine and I had retained many of my adult perceptions. These included an adult sense of what constitutes proper conduct and I also had a tendency to think before I acted, a trait that Mathew seemed to lack. But motor control was clearly Mathew's domain and somewhere in between, ownership of the ego - the perception of self -- was still being contested.
Mathew and I were battling for control of the ego. A consequence of this battle was a melding of my conscientiousness with Mathew's impulsiveness. For instance, at the same time that I'd been working methodically at removing the diaper to try to keep it dry, Mathew was busy peeing in it and enjoying every second of the experience. As I had stood with my face pressed into Kim's crotch, I'd been trying to control my adult sexual impulses, while Mathew was busy squirming in an orgy of sensual delight.
The reality of the situation was that Mathew couldn't care less about his body. He left it on autopilot most of the time. The rest of the time it was just a toy he played with. The only time he paid any attention to his body was when someone else was doing something to it and only then when there was some sensory stimulation from which he could callously derive pleasure.
Were it not for my foreign presence in the equation, it probably wouldn't have made any difference. It was clear from the encounter with Kim that she expected from Mathew exactly what she was getting. In Kim's view of the world, Mathew was a toddler and toddlers wet their pants.
My role in this strange melding of adult mind with toddler's body was as conscience. My shame was the result of my unsuccessful attempt at keeping my pants dry, while at the same time holding on to my adult perception that I should be able to control my sphincters. We're conditioned from an early age to accept that urine and feces should be stored and later released into an appropriate receptacle. For babies and toddlers, a diaper is considered the appropriate receptacle. In fact, when babies and toddlers wet or soil, adults sometimes consider it charming or endearing behavior and respond with gestures of affection and approval.
But as we mature and begin to understand the real implications of wearing a diaper; it ceases to be the appropriate place to deposit waste. On the contrary, it becomes symbolic of shameful and childish behavior. Even worse, from a child's perspective, is that adults assume that indifference to a diaper and its contents, implies a whole set of other factors.
Adults assume that children that aren't toilet trained are indifferent to being naked in front of people. They also assume that they are too immature to feel shame and embarrassment when their diaper is removed and its contents discussed openly by others in attendance. This was, in fact, at the root of the shame I was feeling at that moment. Mathew's body was behaving in a manner that implied this indifference, but my mind was fully aware of all the implications. The product of the melding of these two factors was shame. Like everything else associated with Mathew's body, I was having difficulty controlling these feelings of shame.
I looked around for a moment. "What do I do now?" I thought. I looked over towards the fence, where the switch had taken place. It was the last place I'd actually felt in control, the last place I'd felt like my own man. Some inner impulse beckoned me toward the fence with the little plastic dog in tow. When I got to the fence, I stood looking through the wire. "Where was my real body?" I thought. "How would I find it and get back into it?" These questions were troubling, but I had more pressing concerns. "How could I continue in this situation and maintain any sense of my self as an adult being?"
With so little control over my situation and my body, I might be in danger of becoming psychologically, not just physically trapped. How could I control the situation, if I couldn't even keep myself dry? Worse still, I'd actually enjoyed wetting. That is until afterwards when I'd realized what I'd done. What would happen when inevitably I'd need to move my bowels? It would be terrible to have to do it in my pants. I was horrified by the thought of standing around in stink, waiting for one of those women to treat me with the same indignity as Kim or worse. How could I gain the respect of people who believed that I was more than happy to sit in a pile of feces, until I was cleaned up? I needed their help, not their disrespect and the undignified acts they would perpetrate on my person.
I'd have to be very diligent, I thought, and do my best to communicate effectively with them. Then I had a thought. Maybe if I tried to verbalize my needs again, they might understand. If I told one of them that I needed to use the bathroom, and if they understood me, they might be inclined to take me to a toilet. If I communicated effectively enough, they might even let me go in privacy. If I were successful once, maybe they would do it again the next time. I could establish a pattern that would be the beginnings of gaining their respect. Eventually it might lead to them actively participating in helping me to find my real body.
There he goes again, you say. He's not thinking clearly. It seems completely naïve to think I could convince these people that I wasn't really a baby. Standing there, all 30 pounds of me, in a wet diaper trying to convince a daycare person that I was actually an adult just like them was completely crazy. In hindsight, I guess I was naive. But again, you have to consider the changes that had taken place in my mind and the turmoil and inner struggle I was having with Mathew's toddler body.
My thoughts returned again to the present. I suddenly became aware of some commotion that was happening behind me somewhere in the compound. I instinctively turned to see what was happening. Kim was busily gathering children around her. There seemed to be some activity starting up. Children were being summoned from everywhere. The other woman, Lisa, was helping by rounding up the stragglers. I knew I'd have to join the party. Besides, I needed to buy some time.
Suddenly, Lisa was behind me shewing me in the direction of the crowd. "OK, we're going inside now, little one. Everybody has to go." I felt her hand cupping the back of my head as she gently directed me towards the door at the side of the building. "We're going inside now for snack, little boy who's name I don't know."
As I toddled toward the door, I looked up at Lisa. She looked to be eighteen or nineteen. With all the girlish good looks of post adolescence, she could have been anybody's 'girl next door'. She had a pretty face and an attractive figure, with nice buttocks, and well formed breasts. For a moment, my adult instincts returned and I again found myself having erotic thoughts. Within my close proximity to her, I could feel the warmth of her body and smell the delicate fragrance of her cologne. I felt a strange attraction to her breasts. In my adult body, I wouldn't have described myself as a 'breast man', but I found Lisa's irresistible. As I peered at them, I felt a peculiar sensation and then realized that a small trickle of saliva had formed at the corner of my mouth. I was drooling, I realized. I quickly licked my lips to clear away the drool.
I felt hungry. Maybe it was all this talk of snack. I usually didn't eat between breakfast and lunch, but today I felt famished. I wondered what they would be serving for snack. At least, I thought, I'd get something to eat for putting up with all this indignity.
Once inside, all the children were herded into the center of a play area. Kim then pulled a big, gray box from a shelf on the wall and dumped the contents on to the floor amongst us. The box contained toys of all sorts. Many of the children seemed to have their favorites and quickly laid claim to the ones they wanted. While this was going on, Kim and Lisa retired to an area at the back of the room to supervise and talk. A third woman also joined them. She hadn't been outside in the play area with the other two.
I was definitely not interested in playing with toddler toys, so I made my way discretely to the back of the room, near where Kim, Lisa and the other woman were standing. For a while, I stood listening to their conversion. The more information I could learn, the better off I'd be in developing a strategy to get out of this situation. So I loitered around the back of the play area, pretending to be playing while I eves dropped on their conversation.
Kim seemed to be explaining something to Lisa. "Lisa, this is Mae. Have you met? Mae has been here at Wee Care for a couple of years now. If you need anything and I'm not around, Mae should be able to help you."
"Yes, we met earlier this morning before the children arrived" Lisa responded.
Kim glanced at Mae. "Mae, Lisa is a student. She is studying Early Childhood Education at Huxley College. She's here for the summer as part of a co-op program. She'll be helping us for a few months and learning some of the practical aspects of childcare."
"Welcome on board Lisa. Hope you have an enjoyable summer. We'll try not to work you too hard," Mae laughed. Lisa smiled shyly.
"Do you have any experience with small children, Lisa? Any little brothers or sisters?" Mae asked.
"I have an older brother, but no sisters. I baby sat a few times when I was younger. I don't have any experience beyond that, I'm afraid", Lisa responded.
"That's OK," Kim interjected. "It shouldn't take you very long to get into the routine here" Kim hesitated for a second. "It's after 10:00 now, Lisa. As I told you before, this is the time we usually begin doing the diapers. We change the children that need changing and then send them for snack. As you can see, we've invented lots of different ways to make this activity go smoothly. One of the things we do is keep a box of toys that we only bring out at diaper time. These keep the children occupied long enough for us to separate out and change the ones that need changing."
"As you might expect, Lisa, a lot of our time here is spent attending to diapers. You don't sound like you've had much experience. I'm going to walk you though the procedure we follow to show you how we change diapers. I hope you're not squeamish. There'll be few little messes" Kim glanced at Lisa as if to gage her reaction. Lisa again smiled shyly. "Anyway, you'll get used to that in the next few days", Kim continued. Lisa nodded enthusiastically. "We usually start new people off by having them do the lion's share of the diapers. This allows them to introduce themselves to the children, learn their names, and to begin to get a feel for their schedules."
Kim continued. "Let me start off by giving you our diaper changing philosophy here at Wee Care." She paused for a second. "Most of the children in our nursery school are in diapers around the clock. At any given time, some of the moms may be introducing their children to potty. We like to help them with toilet teaching, as much as we can. But we don't really have time to check the readiness of individual children, given all the other demands on our time. Diapering is all we really have time for."
"Having said that, I've found that I often can take a little extra time with some of the older children, to communicate to them what they've done and what I'm in the process of doing. This only works for the toddlers. The younger children have no awareness of their bodily functions. For them, it's best just to get the job done quickly and efficiently. I like to start off by giving them a hug to show them my approval and I finish up with an encouraging pat on the bottom to get them started into their next activity. There is no benefit for younger children in talking to them about potty or diapers."
"For the toddlers though, we have an opportunity to begin the first stage of toilet teaching. On weekdays, we change their diapers more often than their parents. Because of this, we can do a little more to ready them for using the toilet. In my view, that's part of the service that we offer. I like to talk to the toddlers about their bodies and what comes out of them, while I'm changing them. I also show them their clothing and explain what I'm doing as I dress them."
"Point number two. Cleanliness is an absolute must when you're handling diapers. This goes doubly so for dirty ones. The bugs present in human feces can travel like wildfire in a daycare center like ours, so it's essential that you wash your hands thoroughly every time you change a diaper."
Kim motioned in the direction of the sink attached to the changing station. "This is the mildest hand soap we've found. Even so, you'll find that after washing your hands twenty or thirty times a day, your skin will become dry and damaged. Have you ever heard the expression 'I've changed so many diapers that my hands have diaper rash'?" Kim chuckled. "Well exactly that will happen from time to time. That's why we diaper in shifts and another reason YOU will be doing most of the diapering for a while. You'll be giving Mae and I a break."
"Anyway, diapering is a chore you'll get to be very good at during your time here at Wee Care. After a while, it'll become so easy and natural, that you'll find yourself enjoying it. It might seem strange, but it's not the ugly chore you probably think it is, Lisa. Many parents find that the time they spend diapering is the most intimate time they spend with their children. The simple act of dressing another human being and wiping someone else's bum can give you an exhilarating sense of closeness and caring. When you're changing a child's diaper, you'll get the feeling that you're doing a really important job."
"I'll give you a bit more of my philosophy, Lisa. Changing diapers is one of the most human things that humans do. Changing a diaper is every bit a natural and shameless human activity. Don't let any of your friends make you think diapering is something that is shameful or dirty, Lisa! I'm forever scornful when I see a mom or a dad in a shopping mall hunting desperately for some private, secluded place to change their baby's diaper. It's as if they're ashamed of their baby or of themselves, for doing something that is entirely natural and, of course, inevitable.
"Of all the things that people do openly in public, without hesitation or shame, changing a baby's diaper should be at the top of the list. Diaper changing is a celebration of our humanity. It is a statement to the world that we accept ourselves and our children in the most primal and biological of ways. When we change a diaper in full view of the world, we are telling the world that we see ourselves and our children as an integral part of the human community."
"As you know Lisa, every human defecates, you and I included. The result is pretty much the same, regardless of whether we deliberately release it into a toilet or accidentally load it into a diaper. The next time you find yourself grossed out by what you find in a diaper, just remember that you and I have had more diaper changes that any of these children. We have no need to apologize for a baby that spontaneously does what's natural. We should pat him on the back and celebrate his achievement. But at the same time we need to be responsible and get him changed in a timely manner. That doesn't mean letting him sit in a pile of poop, while we pretend he smells like a rose and we look for some private place where we can change him in secret. There is no reason at all for us to be apologetic about when or where we change a baby." Kim hesitated for a moment as if to allow Lisa to contemplate her message.
"You probably think I'm crazy don't you Lisa? If you ever get the opportunity, change a dirty diaper, on a bench, in a busy shopping mall, and you'll see for yourself that what I'm telling you is the truth. When you've finished, and are disposing of the diaper, make eye contract with those who've witnessed what you've done."
"The young people, high school age and young adults will avoid your eye contact. That's because they're embarrassed, for you and for themselves. They haven't yet reconciled their perception of self, their ego, with the reality of their biological functions. They haven't yet come to the realization that beauty isn't found in a handsome face or a shapely figure. It's found in the natural cycle of life that begins with the consumption of a banana and ends with the spontaneity and innocence of a soiled diaper."
"In the eyes of parents, you'll probably see indifference. They've 'been there and done that' a thousand times before and are too busy shopping to concern themselves with the spirituality of someone else's diaper duty. The sights and smells of a baby's dirty diaper is something they experience everyday, so they have no incentive to drop what they're doing and contemplate yours."
"If a policeman wanders by at the right time, look into his eyes. There you'll see approval. You're being a law-abiding citizen, but there's more to it than that. You're doing something that he has sworn an oath to protect your right to do. The very fact that you've been able to sit on that bench and leisurely wipe a baby's bum, without fear or trepidation, is proof-positive that the community that he's sworn to protect is not only thriving, but also teaming with new life. That dirty diaper spread wide open for all to see is like a flag flying at the top of a flag pole, signaling everyone present that this is a family place and that this policeman is doing a great job in keeping it that way."
"Lastly, look into the eyes of elderly men and women. In the eyes of the oldest and wisest of the community, you'll see what I'm talking about. For it's there you'll see empathy, and respect, and maybe even envy. Lisa, it's when you realize that the oldest and wisest amongst us would gladly spend their remaining days changing baby's diapers, that you realize that childcare is the noblest of all professions."
"Here is another way to look at it Lisa. The next time you feel intimidated by the wealth and power of some chairman-of-the-board type, like Bill Gates, imagine yourself asking him 'yes, you say you're rich, but how many diapers did you change today? Pardon? None? You didn't change even a single diaper? Why? You were too busy making money! Well, I guess I had a more productive day than you did, I changed forty diapers today. Half of them were filled with number two. I'll probably change at least that many again tomorrow, I'm happy to tell you because MY responsibility doesn't stop with just making money! I also have responsibility for the well being of some of the most important and vulnerable members of our society. I'm going to have a fulfilling and productive day tomorrow, Bill. Want to trade places? Too bad, I don't!' That's my philosophy of diaper changing Lisa, and that's the last you'll hear of it from me."
"Point number three", Kim continued. "Normally we try to change any dirty diapers first. Some of the children have bowel movements around mid morning. We start with the dirty ones because often by the time we've changed two or three, there will be another dirty one waiting to be changed. OK, let's get started. Who's first?"
Kim scanned the room looking from child to child. For one agonizing moment, her eyes lingered on me as I loitered near the changing station. I was about to turn and beat a hasty retreat, but instead of picking me, she continued searching until her gaze finally fell upon one of the other children. The child she selected was the boy that I'd encountered inside the playhouse. "Andy! Do you want to be first, this morning?" Kim glanced at Lisa. "Lately, Andy has been soiling during the early morning play period. It might seem strange right now, Lisa, but after a while you'll get to know instinctively the bowel habits of every one of these children."
With that Kim walked over to where Andrew was playing with a toy. Reaching down, she picked him up and carried him back to the change station where Lisa was waiting. She placed him in a standing position on the station and gave him a big hug. "That's a good boy Andy! Kim needs to change your pants." Then, placing one hand behind his head and the other under his behind, she stretched him out on his back on the counter of the changing station.
Andrew immediately adopted a classic diaper change posture, as if he'd been there a thousand times before. He seemed to acquiesce and wait patiently for what would follow. With his feet dangling loosely above the surface of the counter, his bottom lay partly exposed and pointing directly my way. His pants seemed to bulge on the sides and front, and were pressed flat on the bottom, as if he'd been sitting in them for a while and they'd kept that flattened shape.
Kim bent forward and took a quick sniff. "Phew, Andy. You're stinky. Did you fill your pants again?" Standing six or eight feet from the changing station, I couldn't smell what Kim was referring to. But I knew from the incident inside the playhouse that he must be quite stinky. Without waiting for Andrew to reply to her question, Kim grasped his ankles and with one quick motion, she lifted his bottom and pulled his shorts to his knees. Lowering his bottom, she removed the shorts and placed them on the changing station above Andrew's head.
As Kim proceeded, Andrew lay helplessly kicking his legs, dressed only in a tee shirt, a disposable diaper and his shoes. "Good thing for your diaper, Andy. Looks like you went pee-pee, too" Kim said in a patronizing tone of voice. As she spoke, Kim released one of the diaper's tapes and then the other. Then grasping the front of the diaper with her right hand and Andrew's ankles with her left, she raised his bottom up and out of the diaper.
For a moment, Andrew's naked bum seemed to float in mid air. I could see clearly that it was covered in feces. It looked like he had been wallowing in it for some time, because every part from his penis to as far up his back as I could see seemed to be encrusted with bowel waste.
Kim seemed in no way perturbed by the mess or the smell. She glanced across at Lisa. "Andy's had a big one this morning. He often has a second one in the afternoon. That one is yours to look forward to Lisa. There's a chance he won't have it though. Sometimes when he has a big one in the morning, he skips the one in the afternoon."
I glanced across at Lisa. She seemed to be reeling, as if shocked by the smell and the mess. Kim saw this too and quickly moved to reassure her. "I know, it's pretty gross isn't it? Don't let it bother you though. Just remember that this brown, mushy stuff is a completely natural product. Baby poop isn't poisonous. It won't burn holes in your clothing if you get some on you. In fact, the odor is probably a good thing. It let's us know when a child needs changing. If there weren't any odor, we'd have to stick our fingers inside and do a test. I'm not sure which is the best method. Some parents actually prefer the finger method, because it's one hundred percent accurate. I still prefer the sniff test though. It's a little faster when you have lots of diapers to change like we do here. Anyway, you can do it whichever way you prefer. Either way, you'll have to wash your hands after every change. Anyhow, don't' let it get to you. In a couple of days you'll have your masters papers and you'll be changing diapers like an expert."
Kim's speech seemed to relax Lisa a little and their attention returned to Andrew. "A ha, Andy! I was right, wasn't I? You did make a big poop. Pretty soon Andy, mommy is going to want you to start making these in the toilet. Mommy and Kim can't keep wiping poop off your bum for ever, you know." With that said, Kim began wiping feces from Andrews behind with the unsoiled front of the diaper. As she worked, she talked Lisa through the process.
"The first thing you do after you unfasten the tapes is pull back the front of the diaper and survey the damages. If the diaper is only wet, you can just remove it and put on a fresh one. If the diaper is dirty, like this one, obviously you'll need to do some cleaning first. If the front of the diaper isn't in bad shape, you can begin cleaning with it. This works best if the diaper is quite wet. Pee makes a diaper act just like a wet cloth. I prefer to begin in the front and then work my way to the back."
Kim slid the diaper forward a little and then again lowered Andrew's behind. Grasping the front of the diaper, she began cleaning feces from around Andrew's penis and scrotum. Then grasping his ankles and pushing his legs into his chest to expose his buttocks and anus, she continued cleaning his behind. "When there is a lot of poop like with this one, I use the front of the diaper to wipe away the big stuff. Then I use wipes to do a more careful cleaning." When she finished with the diaper, she folded it forward in half and lowered Andrew's bottom. She then reached under the changing station for a wipe.
Placing her left hand on Andrew's abdomen to hold him in place and holding the wipe in her right hand, she began a second and more careful cleaning of his penis and scrotum. "It's important to clean carefully in all the little crevasses and folds. You'll be surprised at how much poop can accumulate and that's usually where a diaper rash begins."
After finishing cleaning Andrew's penis and scrotum with the first wipe, Kim reached under the table and obtained a second wipe. Again grasping Andrew's ankles, she raised his legs into his chest, exposing his bum. Then she began carefully cleaning everywhere between his buttocks, paying special attention to his anus.
"You have to be especially careful cleaning the anus, Lisa. This is where the poop comes out and where most of it accumulates. If it isn't cleaned thoroughly, the child will get an itchy, sore bum and eventually a diaper rash. Sometimes you'll see a child squirming and uncomfortable and your first thought is that they've filled their drawers. Most toddlers don't give two hoots, if they're wet or dirty, so they're probably squirming for some other reason. Then you change them and discover they're just a little wet. Many times if you check their anus, you'll find that it's red and enflamed. This is the result of improper cleaning during previous diaper changes. When this happens, we use some of this zinc oxide cream, we keep down here." Kim directed Lisa's attention to the diapering supplies stacked in the area under the changing station. "We normally only use cream or nursery jelly when there is a problem with rash."
Kim directed Lisa's attention to Andrew's bottom. "Take a closer look at Andy's bum, Lisa. This is what a baby's anus should look like when it's properly cleaned." Both women leaned over for a closer inspection of Andy's behind. "See how the anus has a pinkish color and a slightly puckered appearance. There should be no visible traces of feces and there should be no redness. But don't get carried away with the cleaning, either, Lisa. If you wipe too aggressively, the wiping itself can cause inflammation. After you've changed a few dirty ones, you'll begin to get a feeling for how much cleaning is required."
Kim continued with her presentation. "Let's carry on, Lisa. Like I told you, some of the older children are beginning to show awareness of what they're doing when they wet or soil. Andrew is at that age. It might be quite some time before he can actually control his bladder or bowels, so he won't be out of diapers any time soon, but he is old enough to understand a little about what he's doing. This is a good age to begin explaining to him what he's done and why he's being changed. "
Without hesitating, Kim again raised Andrew's legs and this time slipped the dirty diaper out from beneath him. Then, grasping the soiled diaper by its corners, she lifted it and dangled it six or eight inches from Andrew's face. "See Andy! This is your diaper. I just took this diaper off your bum, because you made a big poop in it and you peed in it too." Kim rotated the diaper slowly in front of Andrew's face to give him a good look at the feces stained gatherers at the leg openings. "See what a mess you made, Andy? Soon you'll start telling mommy when you need to make a poop. Then mommy can take you to the bathroom and you can make the poop go bye-bye in the potty. Andy, you'll feel like a big boy when you start making poop and pee in the potty, instead of your pants."
Andrew gazed at the diaper with a look of concentration on his face. He seemed to enjoy the attention that Kim was lavishing upon him, and kicked his legs playfully. He giggled a few times and then reached out to grasp the diaper. In spite of what Kim had said about his age, to me he showed no indication that he understood what he was reaching for. That diaper might just as well have been a toy or a banana.
As he tried to touch it, Kim quickly withdrew the diaper from his reach. "Oh no! Your diaper is not a toy, Andy. Kim can't let Andy play with a diaper. Andy, your diaper is where you make poops until you learn how to make them in a toilet. For now, Andy, Kim and mommy understand that your diaper is where you will go poop when you need to. That's OK. That's what your diaper is for. But when you get to be a bigger boy, you'll start making poop in the toilet. Andy, diapers and poop are not toys to play with. When you make a poop, you come tell mommy, or another adult, so they can change you. OK?"
Kim reached over and picked a fresh diaper off the stack sitting on a self behind the changing station. "That's OK Andy. Next time you think you need to go poop, you try to tell mommy, OK? For now though, Kim is going to put a fresh diaper on you." As she spoke, Kim unfolded the new diaper and grasping Andrew by the ankles, she lifted his bottom and slipped the diaper underneath.
As she deftly adjusted the diaper's position, she again addressed comments to Lisa. "That reminds me, Lisa. You'll have to be cautious with some of the older children. Some of them have started trying to take their pants off when they dirty. It's usually the smart ones that discover how to do this first and before you know it you have a major stool smear on your hands." Kim glanced around the room and her eyes lighted upon me. "That little boy Mathew over there", she motioned in my direction, "has started trying to take his pants off." I flushed with embarrassment. Suddenly, I had become the subject of a diaper discussion. It hadn't seemed so bad when it was poor Andrew suffering the indignity of having his bowel movement used for a training course. But diaper talk involving me was a whole different kettle of fish.
"For the last few weeks, his mom has been sending him to school in cloth with pins and a diaper wrap. He can get the wrap off, but the clasps on the diaper pins keep him from taking off his diaper. We have no facilities here for handling cloth diapers, so this protection from stool smear only lasts until his first diaper change of the day, when he gets a disposable. After that you'll need to keep an eye on him or we'll end up with a serious mess on your hands."
"Mathew's mom sticks a zip lock freezer bag in his clothes sack. The first time you change him, you can put the cloth diaper in the zip lock bag and put it back into his clothes sack along with the wrap and the diaper pins. If it's dirty, don't worry about trying to dispose of the poop. Just roll it up in the diaper. Mathew's mom will handle it later. We do the same thing with any soiled clothing. The parents always place a clean change of clothing in clothing sacks. If a mess happens, you can use this change of clothing and put the soiled clothing back in the bag. Any questions so far?"
As Kim finished adjusting the tapes on Andrew's diaper, Lisa replied. "What do we do with dirty diapers?" she asked.
"Good question", Kim replied. She pulled open a cupboard door under the change station and directed Lisa's attention to a green garbage bag. The bag was pulled neatly over a frame so that the top was held open. Kim picked up Andrew's soiled diaper and dropped it into the bag. "We place used diapers in a garbage bag. We use this bag for diapers only. When it's full, we place it out back by the fence. Twice a week, a local recycling company sends a truck by to collect the bags. They recycle the diapers into plastic products and the wood pulp is cleaned and sold as packing material. We usually toss out between ten and twelve bags of diapers a week."
As Kim continued to address Lisa, she guided Andrew's shorts over his ankles and then slipped them up over his knees. Then she stood him on the surface of the change station and finished slipping his shorts up over his abdomen. "There we go Andy. Fresh as a daisy." Kim adjusted Andrew's shorts a little and then gave him a hug and a pat on the butt. Then she lowered him to the floor and then scooted him in the direction of kitchen on the other corner of the playroom. "You go see Mae, Andy. She's got juice and a cracker for your snack. OK, off with you. That's a good boy. I'll do one more, Lisa, and after that the rest of the diapers are yours. OK, who's next?"
I realized at that moment that Kim was scanning the room looking for another victim. I felt instant terror as her eyes lighted upon me. For a second, I thought that I might escape the fate that Andrew had just suffered. Then Kim spoke. "Mathew, do you want to be next?" In a panic, I turned and started to bolt to the other side of the room. I had to escape. The thought of the indignity I'd face having my clothing removed in front of these women was too awful to contemplate. I was acting on impulse. I had to get away from there at any cost. But before I could take two steps, I felt Kim's grasp under my arms as she lifted me. My feet were dangling free as she carried me to the change station. I wriggled and squirmed with all my might in an attempt to escape. But it was no use.
"Where do you think you're going you little squirmer? You were wet half-hour ago. You're probably even wetter now or worse. Let's take a look and see if your drawers are full?" I was trapped and about to suffer a terrible personal indignity. Would this terror ever end? I didn't know it then, but salvation was on its way. I needed only hang on a little longer.
End of Episode 2
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