In my experience, there’s something magical about changing diapers with only one hand. My wife thinks it’s less magical, and more…totally unfair. I can’t explain the science behind it, but every one of my three children were perfect angels when I changed their diapers. They would smile and coo and lay there while I swiftly, yet somewhat awkwardly, cleaned them. Even the blowouts were fine. I mean, I was frustrated, but they (usually) refrained from grabbing their own poop or rolling around. It was as if they knew. They knew their daddy only had one hand, so they needed to help. It’s eerie to think about now, actually. On the other hand (so to speak), the relative ease with which I changed their diapers drove my wife bonkers. They cried and squirmed and rolled around with her. You know, like normal. She even tested it out sometimes. She’d have me come in and watch from the doorway as I took care of business. I could sense her behind me, shaking her head in unbelief. I’m fairly sure she was also jealous. No, I’m certain. Now, with our children ages four, six and eight, changing their diapers is a distant memory. A fond memory for me; not so much for my wife. It’s become lore, though. Whenever we’re around friends who have a new baby we get to share the story. And each time it gets more magical. “I actually had Sam changing his own diapers by the time he was eight months old,” I might say. “Yeah, and he only did it for RYAN! Whenever I went to change his diaper, he’d take it off and throw it in my face or wipe it on the wall,” my wife might say. See? Magical. Why ever they did it, I’ll always remember it with a smile. I will always believe that it’s because we had some special connection from birth. They could sense there was a difference with their daddy and they did what they could to help him out. That, or I just have a really bad memory. Nah, I’m sticking with the connection thing.
Ryan Haack is married with three children and lives in Wisconsin. He created the Living One-Handed community and you can find him at: LivingOneHanded.com, at Facebook.com/LivingOneHanded and on Twitter at @LivingOneHanded.
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