Diaper Begging

Yesterday I experienced a "first." Elijah and I decided to go to the Ft. Worth arts and jazz festival with my brother. We were having a nice time, enjoying the weather, cruising through all of the many booths filled with artists and their crafts. Some really great artists, some really not so great, which are good at starting up conversation and laughter. It had been a couple of hours since we had gotten there, and Elijah was due for a diaper change and bottle. We spent at least 20 minutes looking for a decent place to take care of all of this business. Once we found a bench in the shade, we got everything set up and ready go, only to find out that I had failed to re-stock the diaper bag before we left for our outing. I couldn't believe it. I knew it would probably happen at some point, but this was probably the most inconvenient time and place possible. And believe me, this was NOT a diaper that needed to be left alone and unchanged. Something needed to be done. So, I left my brother, diaper bag, stroller and my pride at the bench, gathered Elijah in my arms and went searching. Somehow, in the "family area" of the festival, I couldn't find any children that looked to be in the same age range of Elijah. But once I found one, I pounced. Now, anyone who knows me knows that asking a favor of a total stranger on the street is not easy for me to do. My shyness compounded with a sense of pride tends to make me run in the other direction of a lot of situations. But, since it involved Elijah, I didn't have much of a choice. So, I begged them for one of their diapers. Being a mother myself, and knowing how precious and expensive these diapers are, I was just praying that they were nice people and that they had plenty on hand so that they wouldn't mind giving one up. Just as I should have expected in the first place, they were very nice, understanding and helpful. They even asked if I needed any wipes, and if I only wanted one diaper. So, thank you to the nice family that helped us enjoy another couple of hours looking at art, and for chipping off another little piece of my pride.