Desperate Times and Desperate Measures

When we first moved to France, I was lost on the baby aisle of the grocery store and at the pharmacy. There are so many different products for changing diapers here that I still haven't figured out exactly what product is for what! Wipes are like the really modern convenience way to change a diaper, but most people use pulled cotton with water instead of wipes and a product like "lait de toilette", "savon de toilette" or "eau de rincage" with a "gant de toilette" (wash glove). Fortunately for me, they do have Pampers and Huggies products, so I have always been able to buy wipes and change my babies the "American way"- until today...

Today I scored a spot at the local garderie for SA. The garderie in our town is a sort of "Mother's Day Out" solution for me that's conveniently located in the all cobblestone "pedestrian only" medieval district of our town. When CG was a newborn, I was slightly worried that she might have shaken baby syndrome after riding to the garderie in her stroller. :) No, seriously, it took a long time for me to become comfortable with leaving SA there, and she still doesn't go on a regular basis as there is not alot of availability for us, but when she goes, it is so nice to have a little break! Desperate times call for desperate measures sometimes. I am learning to accept the choices that I have here and trust God in them instead of always longing for the choices that I would have if we were at home in the States.

Anyway, she went to the garderie today and I had a morning to do errands that I couldn't easily have done with her. When I went back to get her, she had eaten lunch and played and had a great time. Just before leaving, she told me that she needed to go to the potty. Currently she still wears a pull up and we are continuing to work on potty training. Upon taking her to the bathroom, I discovered that she had a dirty diaper after I had pulled it down her legs! CG was strapped to me in the baby carrier and I had a couple of diapers for SA but no wipes. I send the pull ups with her, but I don't send wipes as they have told me before that they use "the gant". So, I had to learn on the spot the French way of changing a diaper. The Directrice kindly offered to hold CG, and I tried my best with just toilet paper, but, well, it just wasn't doing the trick. After trying my best to no avail, I had to ask for the use of their diaper changing facility.

Now, I have changed CG's dipaers the French way, but as you mothers know, that is a whole different ballgame than changing the diapers of an almost 3 year old. So I had to ask for directions from this woman and then use the pulled cotton, the "savon de toilette", and the gant (wash glove) and tap water. It was an experience that I would not care to have again, thank you! Can you imagine how much yucky laundry that would create? I guess that is the way our grandmothers had to do it too, but let me just say, I am so thankful for disposable diapers and wipes!