Following my senior year of high school, I had the great fortune of traveling abroad. Because we traveled for an extended period, upon return from my European adventure, I was unable to take up my regular summer gig of lifeguarding at the local swimming hole as it would have led to insufficient funds for the year ahead. Instead, I enrolled in a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) class at the Wilber Care Center and prepared myself for an in-depth look at universal precaution, Ted Hose and peri care.
After having Barrett, I’ve determined that all PITs (Parents in Training) should find some time to take the same course. Surely some of the aspects would be lost on PITs but a lot of the general tasks are quite applicable to parenting… proper care and changing of dipes, how to change a sheet with the person in the bed, massaging before bed time, and general love and care for a person who can’t quite get it all done on their own. The training at the Care Center followed by my employment there as well as St. Elizabeth’s Hospital really opened my eyes to a whole new world. The ick factor went completely out the window as I regularly emptied catheters, provided clean dressings, measured out JPs and most frequently, changed pads and diapers. Following my time as a CNA, I knew two things: first, being a nurse was way more work than I’d previously suspected and second, whether people like to talk about it or not, everybody poops.
The other night Adam, Barrett and I returned home following a weekend at my sister’s house in Iowa. It was a long car trip for Barrett and so we determined that it was definitely a bath night — a nice reward for a long day. Adam got the bath ready and placed a smiling, giggling Barrett into the tub for a good soak. Just seconds later, I heard Adam talking to Barrett … “Barrett, are you grunting? Oh! Barrett!” …{giggles from Barrett} … “Okay, out of the tub”. I walked in and saw Barrett on the bathroom floor, Adam draining the tub and two brown turds where Barrett once sat. Adam and I were rolling with laughter and he headed downstairs to grab cleaning supplies while I kept Barrett occupied. {To be perfectly honest, this was not the first time Barrett had let one free in the tub, he had done it once before at his Auntie Lynn and Uncle Kevin’s house {mortifying} but I think we both figured it was a one time thing.} Upon Adam’s return, Barrett continued to roam about his room in the buff and made his way back into the bathroom. Just seconds later {again} “Oh! Barrett! Ash…”. I walk in through our Jack and Jill only to find one mr. Barrett grinning from ear to ear and a smear of poo behind his rear. We exploded into fits of laughter {while cleaning up the poo of course}, dropped B back in the bath and continued to laugh well past Barrett’s bedtime. Since then, Barrett has managed to keep his BMs in check and under wraps… must have been something in the water. The very moment that you think life is predictable, your child poops on the floor and completely throws you for a loop.
I’m a believer that each thing that you do in life prepares you for the next and so I suppose that even though I wasn’t so sure that children were to be a part of my life back in the day, God knew I was a PIT and led me to the CNA gig to prepare me for such occasions. Had I not had those experiences, I don’t know if I would have gotten the ick factor out of my system and picking up poo off the floor would have seemed like a crappier situation.
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