I Love You Duct Tape!!!!

What started out as a little bit funny has now turned into a nightmare. The first time I saw CamCam run past me with his little nakie butt poking out under his shirt, it was cute. I had a good chuckle, told the kids to look at CamCam, how funny was this. Put his diaper back on and told him he was a silly boy. Once I went to check on him during his nap and he was sleeping on his belly with his little butt in the air. So funny again! I slipped a diaper on him and he didn't even wake up.

Then this event started to become more and more frequent, and it wasn't quite so funny. Accidents started happening. Peeing on my bathroom floor. Peeing on his bedroom floor. Peeing on my washer. Peeing on my laundry. Peeing on a blanket. Now I wasn't chuckling and I wasn't telling the kids to look at how funny this was. This is no longer cute.

Then this became a new power struggle between us. He was constantly taking his diaper off. "Mom, CamCam has his diaper off!" I'd hear one of the kids yell multiple times a day. Even "Mr. Trouble" would let me know. It was so cute to see little "Mr. Trouble" go into daddy mode with CamCam: "CamCam! Put your diaper back on- right! now!" EVERY time I tried to get him in for a nap, he'd take it off and throw it over the gate. I'm quite positive it was thrown in anger. You're going to try and make me take a nap? THERE! (throws diaper) that'll show you!

But then it was taken to a whole new level. I was folding laundry outside his room waiting for him to fall asleep during his nap. He opens the door and says "poop ma". I turn around to see him holding his diaper in both hands over the gate. Yuck! Now here's the kicker- about half the time he'd take his diaper off and hand it to me when he pooped. And half the time he'd leave it on, and when I went to change him he'd have an absolute fit and yell and scream and thrash around. I thought he was taking it off because he hated being in poop, but it just goes to show you can never understand a 2 year old mind.

Tonight I went out... (YAY!) ...and when I came home I went to check on CamCam who was "in bed." I use that term very loosely. Of course he's diaperless. I ask him where his diaper was and he says: "ba ma abaa bah da". I start getting his brother ready for bed and tell CamCam to find me his diaper so I can put it on him. He goes over to the door, and pulls it out from under a sheet and pillow he'd thrown over the gate earlier. I told him to bring it to me, and I walk over to grab the pillow and my foot steps in something wet. YUCK!!! It's an enormous puddle of pee right inside his door! Gross! I need to clean this up without little hands and feet in it, so I tell CamCam to take his diaper down to dad and have dad put it on. I tell "Mr. Trouble" to stay on his bed, don't get down, the floor is gross and mama needs to clean it. Whatever you do, don't get down. I use the sheet that's already there half covered to finish the initial wiping up of the offensive liquid when what rolls out from under it??? Yup, you guessed it! Now I realize that at this very moment, CamCam is carrying a diaper that's probably full of this stuff down 2 flights of stairs to dad!!!! I go running and yell "DON'T PUT THE DIAPER ON HIM!!!" Obviously a little boy of almost 4 cannot be expected to sit on his bed and ignore all this excitement going on around him. So I run back upstairs to see him standing in the middle of our lovely mess asking me what's wrong. Ahhhhhhh!!!

So after lots of cleaning up of kids, lots of bed stripping, lots of blankets, sheets, stuffed animals and anything else in the vicinity of this horror put in the wash, tons of scrubbing and disinfecting, little guys are back in bed. And I go down to the kitchen, grab a roll of duct tape and cut off a very long strip. I bring it back upstairs and wrap it around the front of his diaper tabs so it meets in the back. Guess what the best part is? I bought this duct tape to go around our white air conditioner in our white trimmed window, so it's white. And so is CamCam's diaper! Hahaha- he can't tell where the duct tape ends and the diaper begins and so won't be able to take it off!

I *think* I may have won this battle. :)