A New Use for a Diaper

We've been enjoying unseasonable October temperatures. Today it soared into the mid-70's, unheard of in Michigan at this time. Two years ago on this date it snowed in Grand Rapids!

To take advantage of the beautiful weather and reward ourselves with some family time, Derek and I loaded the kids, our rollerblades, and the burley into the van and set off for Kent Trails. (We picked that particular trail because it is relatively flat and we thought Derek would have more control over the stroller.)

Ethan had never seen us rollerblade before, so when we got there he was thrilled to see his mom and dad with wheels on their feet.

"I'm going to rollerblade when I get to be a grown-up," Ethan informed us.

"Really," I said, "You could do it right now. Kids can rollerblade, too, just like Miss Allyson's son Ben was doing the other day. He was wearing pads on his knees and arms and wrists, and a helmet, too. That was to keep him from getting hurt if he fell down."

"I don't want to fall. I'm going to rollerblade when I'm a grownup."

"I fell when I was a kid and I was okay," I told him.

I was thinking about the time I was on brand-new inline skates and tripped over a railroad crossing. That left me with nice road rash and a scar that took too many years to go away.

The kids squealed with delight as Derek pushed them down the trail. "This is way faster than when you jog us, mom! This is fun!"

As we breezed down the trail I thanked my husband for the outing, soaking in the beautiful evening that shouldn't be a part of October. The trees were just starting to turn and everyone was in a great mood. Awesome.

We reminisced about times past spent on the trail. The last time we'd been to Kent Trails was pre-kids. A lot had changed. We used to dream about building a house, or having kids, as we'd blade down the trail. Now we were in the middle of a huge house remodel and we had the kids. There's a huge difference between dreaming about these things and actually living them. They are so all-consuming, so life changing that you cannot fathom the life changes that come with a house and kids. But I digress...

After the "tunnel of trees" (where I languished in more memories) we were coming to a stop sign. Derek was saying something, I remember, when my skate hit a stick. Before I even realized what had happened, I was on the ground holding my left leg and watching blood come out of cracks on my right knee.

Derek looked back. "Are you okay?"

"No."

He steered the stroller over to me. I didn't want to remove the pressure from my left leg...the pressure was the only thing keeping all of my insides from falling out, I'm sure. Reluctantly I peeled my hand back and surveyed the damage. Really, it was just a minor case of road rash that happened to go halfway down my calf. Lots of chunky gravel embedded in there along with some nice red blood for color. "There go the mini-skirts," I muttered.

What was I going to do? I couldn't skate down the path like that; I'd leave a trail of blood the whole way. Anyhow, I needed to get it cleaned up. And who was going to take care of me? I'm the "nurse" in the family, and Derek had the two kids to keep an eye on.

As I hadn't fallen in fifteen years, I was not prepared to nurse wounds on the fly. Looking in the back of the Burley yielded one water bottle and one fresh diaper. Hmm... I did grow up in a family that prided itself on ingenuity. Take what you have and make it work.

I rinsed as much blood/gravel off of my leg as I could with the water bottle. That got me a semi-clean leg and wet socks. Next, the diaper. It turns out that a diaper nicely fits around my calves. I pulled the tabs tight for a snug fit. Voila! The world's first diaper bandage.

Awkwardly standing back up, I told Derek that I would try to skate back and that we'd have to go a bit slower now.

So I paraded down Kent Trails, bleeding out of one knee and with a diaper on the other. The funny thing is, some people didn't even notice. Some kids gave me funny looks, and one set of women started chuckling after I passed by. At first I was really embarrassed. Then I realized that there was nothing I could do about it, short of sitting and wallowing in self-pity. Didn't want to go there, so I plodded on at half-speed.

As I skated, a verse came to mind:

Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.
Proverbs 16:18

My pride did come before this literal fall. If I had not been overly confident, I would have watched the ground more carefully. If I wasn't prideful, I would have bought geeky looking knee pads and wrist guards and wore them. I also realized that I was prideful of my calves and bummed that they had to become road rash.

Interestingly enough, I wasn't even aware of any pride problems in this area. I guess I've learned to keep my eyes open, not only looking for sticks but hidden sins, like pride.