Nanny McGyver

Sometimes I find myself in a situation that requires my inner McGyver to come to the surface to save the day.  Today, was one of those days.   While I'm almost embarrassed to write about this story, I was so pleased with the results that it would be a shame not to document the success.

Plus, I already told the child's mother and she laughed about it, so I guess I'm clear to tell you about it here.

First of all, I'm writing with the assumption you all know of McGyver.  To be honest, I don't remember watching the show when it was on the air, but a few years later, my husband was watching it in syndicate and I asked, "What movie is this?"

He looked at me in horror and told me that it wasn't a movie, but a television show and how could I possibly be unfamiliar with McGyver?!  That didn't stick with me and every time (every couple years or so) I saw him watching an old episode, I would say something about, "Oh, that movie is on again?"

After a few times of being corrected, I started to catch on about how annoyed he'd get when he'd have to explain to me, again, that it was a TV show and not a movie.  That just inspired me to continue referring to episodes as a movie because it was fun to get a rise out of him.

Yeah, I have a mean, jokester side of me, too.  Just ask C.  But he loves me anyway.

So fast-forward to today.

I went across town to Trader Joe's to replenish some of our Paleo supplies so I can easily keep on going with this diet-thing. 

Then as we were headed back towards home, I realized I needed some gas (soon!) and wanted to run into the Dollar Tree because yesterday I'd bought these fun little Grow Your Own Crystal Tree kits for the kids to do as part of school and when I got home, I realized one was a Grow Your Own Crystal Snowman and did not want to have to deal with the arguing about the one unique project.

Before we could get to the gas station and Dollar Tree, I got a call from my sister that L had gotten sick at school and could I go pick her up (yes, it seems there are still plenty of V's left for 2012).  K was already home with a similar illness and N was home with the sore throat and congestion illness that has passed through all of our kids now (but still not me! yay!).

So after picking up L, dropping her at home and continuing on, E started to get really fussy.  She was wet.  Really wet.  Soaked.

I used to carry a diaper bag of sorts when she was really little because it seemed like she needed a change every four minutes back then.  Now, her bladder is a little bigger and she can go run a couple errands and all I need is some wipes and a diaper stashed in my purse just in case.

But I guess the last time "just in case" came up while we were out and about, I didn't replace the single diaper in my purse.

We got gas (it's down to $2.94/gallon here -- miracle of miracles) and then went into the Dollar Tree.  My hope was that they sold a couple diapers for a dollar and we'd be good.  But no.  They sell wipes and powder, but no diapers.

Sigh.

By now, E was really crying because she was nearly soaked through.  There was no way I was going to be able to coax her back into her car seat with her diaper like that for the drive home where diapers awaited.

So I bought a hand towel and some safety pins for a dollar each.  Dollar Tree sells those items.

S was with me and looked at me in shock and was trying to suggest I run across the street to Walmart to get diapers (but I have a huge box at home and just the car ride to Walmart was going to put poor E into screaming fits).

There is no changing table in the Dollar Tree bathroom, so I took her outside to the trunk of the Suburban to change her there.  I've changed many diapers in that space over the years.

E has naturally sensitive skin (like me), so I worried about an unwashed towel up against her more gentle areas, so my solution was to line the inside of the hand towel with a maxi-pad that I had in my purse.  I closed up the towel and pinned it together a la cloth diaper style and pulled up her pants.

Sure, it was  a little bulkier than usual and more cumbersome for her to walk around in, but she stopped crying.  She was dry.  She was happy.  We successfully got our errands run and made it home in time to change her into a "real" diaper before she even needed another change.

Dollar Tree McGyver diaper: towel, pins, maxi-pad.

In a pinch, this worked just fine.

E is 16 months old today and when her mom texted to remind me, I said, "And you're going to die when you find out what I got for her birthday!"  A cheap hand towel.  Happy birthday, Baby.

I'm glad D has a good sense of humor and mostly trusts me to provide ample care to her kids.