Pampers for the win!
The diaper-making giant is making headlines today after pledging to install 5,000 baby-changing stations in MEN'S RESTROOMS all over the country!
I've been that dad before. Like Donte Palmer or John Legend... trying to get creative when changing Kyla, my now 15-year-old daughter.
When she was a baby, Kyla would spend time with both her mom, who lived in Connecticut and then, Tampa at the time... and there were times I'd fly her back and forth to Hartford, or to Tampa, or wherever... and let me tell you... #PoopPlosions in the airport were nightmare scenarios for me. Sometimes, there weren't "Family" restrooms... and sometimes if there were Family Restrooms, they were occupied... at times by people who weren't traveling with family or kids. And as a parent - let alone a single father type parent - you know you can't wait to deal with a #PoopPlosion... and so you do what you have to do.
You become inventive, that's for sure.
I've spent countless hours in airport Men's Room stalls, cleaning the floor up, putting down the pad in the #DaddyDiaperBag... finding ways to change a little girl in the bustle of a packed airport and it's not easy... and finally, some airports have started including the idea of a Dad's Changing Station in public resrtooms, but it's not a guaranteed thing.
OR there were times we'd be on a road trip. I'm specifically thinking of the time when I lived in Columbia, South Carolina. I was dating someone who lived in Raleigh at the time, and Kyla and I would go hang out with her on weekends... I can't tell you how many times the TRUNK of my then four-door sedan was turned into a roadside changing station. See, rest stops don't have changing stations for dads, at least, not the ones I can remember, and so you get inventive. Rest stop parking lots, Fast Food restaurant public restrooms... these were the places you had to go to do what you had to do... I swear I could write a book about the adventures of diaper changes when on Interstate 95 NORTH and SOUTH from back in the day. From the trunk of the car, to the back seat, to the hood... to times I straight up went into the ladies room and locked the door hoping no women came knocking on the door, while speed-changing my kid... and then, hoping to get out of the ladies room without getting noticed because yeah, that's embarrassing and anxiety-inducing... I'd also like to shout out to all the hotels up and down 95 that I would stop at... knowing I wasn't a guest... but walking in acting like I was so that I could change my kiddo in the restroom closest to the lobby. Ya'll know why I like Hampton Inn and Red Roof Inn's a bunch? That's why. Holiday Inn, too. So many locations... so many places... I kinda still feel like I owe 'em for all of the times I did what a dad had to do while on the road when a #PoopPlosion would come.
OH... and then there were the airplanes. Let me just say that those restrooms are small enough as it is... and using the LAV on a plane isn't a comfortable experience for a grownup... but for a kid who hasn't been potty-trained yet who has a #PoopPlosion on a plane, now, this is just a bona-fide nightmare. I want to just thank the men and women of Southwest Airlines and the now-defunct Independence Air for tolerating me using empty rows on planes, or floor space in the back galley of planes, to do what you have to do to change a poopy diaper in flight. Thank GOD there were times when I was lucky enough to have an entire row to myself so that people didn't have to endure the sight of the diaper change... and I know at times the smell must have been a beast... but you have to do what you have to do... even if that means changing a friend's daughter in the seat of your flight that just landed in Tampa because that's what has to be done... and often times, it has to be done a the worst possible time.
Pampers stepping up with this #LoveTheChange campaign is just epic. It's a massive win for dads who have to do what they have to do now, more than ever, because as we know, changing the baby isn't just the job of a mom anymore. Hopefully, what Pampers is doing will spark further change... and other businesses, like restaurants, airlines, trans, etc, will consider that today, dad is on diaper duty just as much as mom is. It may not seem like a big deal... but it really is... and so, Pampers, thank you. On behalf of a dad who did so much diaper duty... and who may just have to do so again one day, know how much this move means to me... to us... and to countless dads everywhere.
Pampers... FOR THE WIN.
Thanks for reading... and by the way, that word #PoopPlosion... is a word I made up. You are welcome to use it if you wish. All rights reserved.