Tinkles123

I'm a baby boomer and I am there. Full time for six years at more than $1000/year for diapers.

Yes, literally, you had "no place to go!" I once went to change in a bookstore restroom, only to discover that I had no spare diaper with me. Thank God for plastic pants! I made it home, somehow, with only two small wet half moon marks on the back of my pants. Another time, I was near my office and felt what I thought was gas pressure. When I let it out, I discovered it was really some rank diarrhea. I waddled gingerly to the nearest restroom and somehow managed to clean up my personal mess without making a bigger one in the stall. Thank God I had a plastic bag for the used diaper. It was nearly destroyed.

The Family Babies – Chapter 38 – Where Are They Now? This is Teddy. I must apologize. A three month wait between chapters is way too long. I wouldn’t be surprised if all the regular readers had gone away by now. But I don’t like to leave things unfinished. It’s about time Linda, Gloria, Susan, and I brought this story to a conclusion. You deserve to know how things turned out. If you’ve been following the story since its beginning, you know it describes events that are more than fifty years old now. The year we talked about in the first 37 chapters of our story was a turning point in all our lives. “The Family Babies,” as Gloria and I were once known by our family, are senior citizens now. Gloria, Linda, and I are 60. Susan is 57. Patty is 65 and just retired this year from a long nursing career. Linda’s parents have both passed away. So have my dad and Uncle Phil. Mom and Aunt Bridget are still with us, but up in years. Aunt Bridget had to go back to wearing diapers full time quite a few years back. Her plumbing never was all that trustworthy. She and my dad were our family’s previous generation of “Family Babies.” Complications from Type II diabetes brought her back to complete incontinence. Recently, she’s needed help changing her diapers. She is, after all, 84 years old. Aunt Bridget and Mom share an assisted living apartment, and Mom helps Aunt Bridget with diaper changing and other things. Mom’s only a year younger than Aunt Bridget, though, and is beginning to need help, too. Mom became a big fan of “adult protective underwear” a while back. She doesn’t always need it, but knowing she has some protection on at all times keeps her more relaxed than she might otherwise be. Linda kept up the vigorous physical training program she began that first summer at Camp Celebration. A Master’s in Social Work equipped her well to work with families and kids with handicaps similar to her own. I studied law, like my father before me, and, slowly but steadily, developed a thriving practice working with disabled people. I didn’t become fabulously wealthy, but Linda and I have always lived well. Yes, our grade school crushes stood the test of time and Linda and I were married in 1972, while we were both in graduate school. We were blessed with two fantastic kids. Teddy Junior, born in 1978 (actually Edward Joseph Hawthorn IV – it’s a family tradition) looks like a younger but slightly taller version of me but is blessed with his mom’s great personality. He’s a physical therapist and a very good one. I’m happy to say that Teddy was potty trained at 2 ½, just like his Aunt Susan, and dry at night a little after he was three. Claire Elizabeth is six years younger than Teddy Jr. She has her mother’s gorgeous red hair and looks very much like her. But she’s always thought and acted a lot like her Dad, I’m proud to say. She also inherited the family problem, an underdeveloped genitourinary tract that has kept her in diapers pretty much all of her life. Sometimes it was tough watching Claire grow through all the stages I’d passed through. She found out, when she was four, that just about no one else her age wore diapers. Claire was as sad about that discovery as I had been, but her Mom didn’t let her stay sad for long. Remember how Linda always insisted that there’s more to life than peeing and pooping? There was no question of trying to potty train Claire so she could be like other kids at school. Meaningful bladder and bowel control was not possible for her. She always wore diapers. Nurse Richardson changed her diapers just like she’d changed diapers for Linda, Susan, and me. When, at about five, Claire wanted to try pooping in the potty, we worked with her until she grew discouraged with it – as we knew she would. She reminded me a lot of her Aunt Gloria when, pretty dejectedly, she asked her Mom and me if we’d mind if she just pooped in her diapers from now on. “That’s fine with us,” I said, speaking for both Linda and myself. “We’ve never minded changing your diapers and we never will. It would be nice if you’d let us know when you need changing, but whether or not you do, we’ll make sure you get changed when you need it.” That was pretty much that. Claire was always pretty casual about keeping track of the state of her diaper, so Linda and I had to ask and/or check her often. We had to check because, like so many kids, Claire would sometimes fib when asked if her diaper was wet or messy. It’s comical to hear and see a kid, with a solemn, straight face, say “No, Dad, I didn’t poop my diaper,” when your nose tells you she did just that. We caught Claire in many fibs. She did learn to drop whatever she was doing, though, whenever her mother or I told her to come and have her diaper checked. When kids – or sometimes adults – asked why Claire still wore diapers, she’d come back with something like “Because I need them. I hope that’s okay with you.” When she said things like this, she’d have the sweetest smile on her face! I wish you could have seen it. When she showed some signs of having limited control at about 14 or so, Claire chose not to do much about it. She’d heard from Linda and me, as well as Aunt Gloria, about what we’d gone through trying to be clean and dry, and she wanted none of that for herself. So she asked Linda and me if we’d mind if she just kept on using her diapers like she always had, at least until the control became strong enough to rely on. We agreed, of course. But Claire never did gain much useful control of either her bladder or her bowels. Claire had one advantage none of us had enjoyed at her age: disposable diapers. She’d grown up in Pampers, and wore them until she was nearly four. Then it was on to Attends Youth Diapers. Procter and Gamble made Attends then. They were a lot different than they are today. Linda and I had both taken to wearing them. I’d never felt so comfortably dry in my life, even when I was close to soaked. When Claire was nine, she learned to change her own diapers, except for the messiest ones. For those, she’d sometimes come and find me or Linda and ask for help. “Big load of cargo,” Dad,” she’d say. “I need extra help delivering it.” Claire loved not having to clean herself up after pooping her diaper, just like I had loved it years earlier. Sometimes Claire would ask her Mom or me to change her diapers just because she wanted a little extra attention. When her mother and I were growing up, being in diapers was a guaranteed way to get attention about six times a day. We could both understand the real reason for Claire’s request, and we made it a point to drop whatever we were doing to change her diapers whenever she asked. The Crinklebutt Crew was what Teddy Junior started calling the three of us. His Aunts, Susan and Gloria, and his cousins, Joseph and Patty were also enrolled as members of the Crinklebutt Crew. When all of us are together, the diaper noise is very noticeable, to be sure. If you’re a fan of children’s literature, you’re probably familiar with the work of G.V. Randle. That would be my cousin, Gloria. Victoria is her middle name. Her dad, Uncle Phil, loved the way the name sounded. Gloria didn’t, especially, but liked the sound of the initials, G.V... She keeps her original name for professional purposes, even though she’s married to Gilbert Sommers. They met in college when both were aspiring writers. Both have enjoyed successful writing careers. Neither of their two sons, Phil and Gil Junior, inherited the family bowel and bladder problem to a serious degree, although both potty trained a little later than most, around four, and continued night time wetting until they were nearly nine. You’ll remember that my little sister Susan became incontinent the summer she was eight, following a severe urinary tract infection. My little sister never regained bladder control, and her bowel control lessened as well. At first, Susan thought she’d brought the problem on herself by deciding to wear diapers for a summer to see what it was like. The infection attacked her several weeks into that experiment. Susan never was out of diapers after that time. Diapers didn’t keep Susan from dating and being a very popular girl in college and after. Her own situation inspired her to attend medical school, and Susan eventually became a pediatric urologist. She married a colleague, Joe Fisher, in 1986 and gave birth to three children. Little Joe, born in 1990, and his sister Patty, born four years later, both joined Claire in the new generation of family babies. So far, at the ages of 16 and 12, they’re both still in diapers. Kevin, born in 1997 seems to be as “normal” a kid as you’ll find. Potty training him was a little difficult, since he couldn’t understand why he couldn’t wear diapers anymore when his brother, sister, mother, aunts, uncle, and cousin still did, but eventually Kevin learned to appreciate being able to use a toilet. Still, though, he claims to envy all of us in the Crinklebutt Crew. “You can pee and poop anywhere without a problem, and you never have to wait in line for a toilet,” Kevin says. Every now and then, Susan and Joe let Kevin spend a weekend or even a vacation week in diapers. We all wonder a bit whether that’s such a good idea, but, so far, it hasn’t seemed to harm him. After nursing school, my sister Patty joined the Peace Corps, where she met Sam Morgan. They worked together in one of the developing countries, and returned to the states where Susan began working as an obstetric nurse in a hospital in Mayfield. Sam was drafted and sent to Vietnam, where he was killed in action in 1969. Patty never married, preferring instead to devote her life to her career, her volunteer work, and her brother, sister, cousins, nieces, and nephews. Susan’s daughter, Patty, is, of course, named for her aunt. Patty’s a strong activist for world peace. I guess you could say, also, that she’s becoming the matriarch of our family since Mom and Aunt Bridget started letting go of that role a few years back. I’m going to post two more chapters to this story. I plan to post them in the near future. In Chapter 39, Linda, Susan, Gloria, and I will each share some “then and now” observations and feelings about our own lives. The final chapter, Chapter 40, might be a bit of a surprise – or you may already see it coming.

The Family Babies 37 -- Third Grade in Diapers Hi, it’s Susan again. I sure was glad when Teddy, Gloria, and Linda came home from camp. Especially Teddy. My life had turned upside down over the summer. I hadn’t planned to wear diapers. But when Mom put me in them for the trip to Camp Celebration on that first visitors’ day, I discovered I liked the way they felt. I also liked the idea of not having to find a toilet when I had to pee or poop. Most of all, though, I LOVED the attention I got when my diapers needed changing. When I came down with the urinary tract infection that affected so many kids in my neighborhood, wearing diapers suddenly wasn’t fun anymore. And, when the incontinence that resulted from the infection didn’t lessen over the following weeks, I felt really trapped. Dad reassured me that I hadn’t made myself incontinent by wearing diapers, and that helped some. I got pretty depressed for a while, though, when almost all of the other kids regained bladder and bowel control and I didn’t. My friend Laurie – the first kid in the neighborhood to get sick – and an older boy, Jimmy, both were in about the same shape I was. The kids in the neighborhood were understanding and didn’t tease us. They’d all been in diapers themselves for a week or two because of the infection, and knew what it was like. Laurie was the only kid in the neighborhood who’d be in third grade with me, though. No one else would have been through what we’d experienced, I thought -- although I learned later that the strange infection had shown up in other neighborhoods as well as my own. And no one else would be in diapers. That’s why I was glad Teddy was home. I had talked with Teddy at the second visitors’ day at Camp Celebration, and again since he’d been home. I’d started taking chlorophyll tablets like he did, so my diapers wouldn’t smell as strong. When we bought my back to school clothes, I’d been careful to pick outfits that wouldn’t draw too much attention to the fact that I was wearing diapers. Laurie and I tried on all our outfits with each other. We agreed we looked pretty good, but we were both still nervous. Talking to Teddy helped. We had a long talk the first night he was home. I crawled up into an armchair next to him, and fell asleep, because it felt so comfortable just being with him. He didn’t move, but read a book while I slept for more than an hour. The day after we went shopping, while Laurie was at our house and we were trying on our new clothes, we both talked with Teddy. “What’s it like having your diaper changed in Nurse Richardson’s office?” Laurie asked. “Can everyone see you? Does she yell at you for wetting or pooping?” “It’s nothing like that at all,” Teddy said. “Don’t worry! Nurse Richardson is really great! She changes diapers in a private examining room with the door closed. She’s really good at it, and she never complains, even when you come in with a really messy diaper. You met her when you had your interviews at school about wearing diapers, right?” “Yeah, we did,” Laurie said. “I just wasn’t sure if she was really all that nice, or if she was just being nice because the principal and superintendent were there.” “You can always trust Nurse Richardson,” I said. “She’s a real friend, believe me. Anyone who tries to get nosy about the “diaper kids” gets in trouble with her.” Both Laurie and I were relieved at this news. “How bad is it when you poop your diaper in class, Teddy?” I asked. “No big deal,” Teddy answered. “It’s best if you get up and go to Nurse Richardson’s office as soon as you feel it starting to happen. But just leave the room as soon as you can. Even if you take chlorophyll so your diapers don’t smell so bad, people appreciate it when you go get your diaper changed right away.” “I’m gonna be embarrassed,” I said. “Everyone will know why I’m leaving the room.” “So what?” Teddy came back quickly. “They won’t make a big deal out of it if you don’t.” The conversation went on for a while. Then Teddy pooped his diaper and excused himself to go get it changed. By the time he’d returned, Laurie and I had both pooped, too. Remember I mentioned in an earlier chapter how, so often, when one of us in diapers pooped, the others pooped soon after? We’d just finished filling our diapers when Teddy came back. “I hate having poopy diapers!” Laurie said. “So do I!” I added, getting up to go have my diaper changed. “Does it show that I have a poopy diaper, Teddy?” I asked, hopefully. “Well, there’s a LITTLE bulge in the back of your shorts,” Teddy admitted. “But no one would notice unless they were looking for it. “Looks like a BIG bulge to me!” Laurie said. “Mine’s probably worse!” I looked. I could see a good size bulge at the back of Laurie’s shorts. We waddled off to find Mom. She cleaned us both up and changed our diapers in just a few minutes. Mom noticed that we both seemed pretty down. “What’s the matter?” she asked. “Anything you want to talk about?” “Aw, you know, Mom,” I said. “We’re both worried about having to wear diapers to school.” “Yeah,” Laurie chimed in. “It’s gonna be awful.” “It’s only going to be awful if you let it be awful,” Mom said. “No one’s going to make any big deal out of you being in diapers unless YOU make a big deal out of it. Just remember, like Linda Casey always says, that there’s a lot more to life than peeing and pooping. Enjoy school like you always have. You’re both great students and you have lots of friends at school.” “But they haven’t seen us in diapers,” Laurie said. They’re gonna laugh at us! “If they’re your friends, they won’t laugh,” Mom replied. “Some of them might even be curious about what it’s like to wear diapers. Remember how you were curious, Laurie?” “Boy, do I ever!” Laurie said. “Remember how I wet all over myself in front of the department store and Mom put one of Susan’s diapers on me?” “You were the first one to get sick,” Mom said. “We were all really concerned about you. Your mother was very sorry she had thought you had wet on purpose.” “I know,” Laurie said. “She’s been really nice to me ever since. She felt bad about thinking I’d done it on purpose. But sometimes I wish she’d let up a little. She’s always asking if I need my diaper changed. And if I say no, she asks “Are you sure?” and sometimes she even wants to check!” “She’s just being a mom,” my Mom said. “She’ll get over it. Ask Susan. It took me a while to get used to her being back in diapers, too. Now I pretty much wait until she asks to have her diaper changed … Although sometimes I think I should pay closer attention.” Mom was referring to a big wet spot I’d left on the couch the previous week, when I was watching TV and didn’t realize how wet my diaper was. I knew she wasn’t mad at me. Accidents do happen, she said. But I knew I needed to be more careful. It was just that I hated to think about having to wear diapers. Every time I had to ask for a change, I was reminded that it wasn’t a game anymore, that I really needed to wear diapers. The last few days of our summer vacation passed too quickly. Jimmy came over one day, wearing a pair of his new school pants. You could hardly tell he had diapers on under them. Laurie, Jimmy, and I had a good talk. Teddy, Gloria, and Linda were at our house that day, and they joined us for a while. Gloria remembered last year, when she’d tried hard to get by without wearing diapers for the first few months of school. “I worried all the time, never made it through the day without wetting, and my grades even started slipping,” Gloria said. “When I finally gave up the struggle and started wearing diapers to school, I felt a whole lot better.” “And you were a lot nicer to be around,” Linda added. Teddy didn’t say anything. Sometimes my brother can be pretty smart. I didn’t sleep really well the night before school started. I tossed, turned, wet, and pooped. When my diaper got too uncomfortable, I decided to see who might still be awake and willing to change my diaper. The only light on was under Teddy’s door. I knocked. Right away, teddy said “Come in.” He was lying in bed reading. “What’s up, Sue?” Teddy asked. Oh, Teddy, I haven’t been able to go to sleep. Now my diaper is wet and messy, and I really need a change. Do you think you could? Would you mind? “Just hop up on old Teddy’s changing table and we’ll get you cleaned up,” Teddy said. I did, and Teddy went to work on my messy bottom with surprising skill. In no time I was clean and dry. I thanked Teddy and asked if he’d mind if I crawled into bed with him for a little while, to see if I could get sleepy. He pulled back the covers and patted the sheets. I climbed in besideTeddy and cuddled up next to him. The next thing I knew it was time to get ready for school. My big brother had a very calming effect on me in those days. After I took my shower, Mom rediapered me and helped me get dressed. We’d already decided on the skirt and blouse I’d wear. With Mom’s help I looked pretty good. I was ready for school at the same time Teddy was, so we walked together to the corner where Gloria met us. Laurie joined us at the school yard. So did Linda, handling her wheel chair with more skill and confidence than ever. Teddy didn’t even offer to push her up the ramp. I saw Jimmy talking with a group of eighth graders and waved to him. He sort of waved back, hoping, I guessed, that other eighth graders wouldn’t notice he was waving to a third grader. Laurie and I had met our teacher, Mrs. Rosenberg, when we’d come to the school for interviews about wearing diapers to school. As soon as we walked into the classroom, Mrs. Rosenberg greeted us and told us she’d saved seats for both of us in the row nearest the door. “Everyone will have an assigned seat, so no one will notice anything different about you,” she said. “Whenever you need to leave the room, just get up quietly and go. There won’t be a need to ask permission or make a fuss. Welcome to third grade!” Laurie and I looked at each other, relieved. That went easily enough, we both thought. Soon other kids came filing in and the school day began. It wasn’t all that different from other first days of school. I probably wet more than usual because of first day jitters, but I managed to wait until recess before going to Nurse Richardson’s office for a diaper change. Laurie made it to recess before needing a diaper change, too. On the way to the nurse’s office, I pooped my diaper. Laurie did the same. In a way, I was relieved to not have pooped in class. On the other hand, I realized that the first diaper I’d be coming to Nurse Richardson with would be a really nasty one. I needn’t have worried. Nurse Richardson did notice, of course, that our diapers were both really wet and messy. Her only concern, though, was that we might have sat too long in uncomfortable diapers because we didn’t want to draw attention to ourselves. We both assured her that we were fine, and thanked her for taking such good care of us. As we were leaving Nurse Richardson’s office, Jimmy was coming in to have his diaper changed. He stopped and said “Hi” to both of us. We asked Jimmy if everything was okay. he said yeah, everything was fine. Everyone knew he was in diapers anyway, so it was really no big deal when he left the room for a diaper change. “I thought it was going to be awful,” Jimmy said, but it’s really not bad at all. I’m even able to pay attention to what’s going on in the classroom.” In the school yard, Laurie and I met some of the girls we knew. Everyone seemed to know we were wearing diapers, and no one seemed to have a problem with it. Some of the girls had also had the infection during the summer, so they’d worn diapers for a while, too. “I’m glad I don’t HAVE to wear them anymore,” one girl said, “but I kind of miss them sometimes. “Yeah, me too,” another girl admitted. “I remember how nice diapers felt. I miss them, too. I envy you guys just a little.” Other girls who hadn’t been made incontinent by the infection had different reactions, ranging from “Eww ... it must be awful to have to pee and poop in your pants!,” to “What’s it like having your diaper changed?,” to “Could I stay over at your house and wear a diaper, too?” The rest of the school day was pretty much fun. On the first day of school, no assignments are late and no one’s flunking anything, so no excuses need to be made. Mrs. Rosenberg passed out all our books and we started in learning multiplication tables which, of course, needed to be memorized. Wearing diapers didn’t cause any problems. In fact, I hardly thought about it the rest of the day, after that first diaper change. That first day pretty much set the tone for the whole school year. Third grade was the best school year yet for me. The fact that I wore diapers didn’t detract from it at all. Sure, I had my diapers changed several times every day. I pooped in class quite a few times, too. But I learned a lot, enjoyed my friends, started learning piano, and joined Brownies. Laurie and I stayed best friends, but not because we both wore diapers. We pretty much were friends with the same people and enjoyed the same things. It was natural for us to be best friends. I went for my usual medical checkups, and, of course, the issue of incontinence did come up. None of the doctors had any firm answers. My bladder muscles and nerves didn’t work properly, and there was no indication that they were recovering any of their lost function at all. Tests did indicate that I had some bowel control. Doctors agreed, though, that it wasn’t enough control to be really useful, and didn’t think letting me use my diapers for pooping instead of trying to use the toilet was a bad idea at all. Laurie’s test results were a little more encouraging, but not much. They showed minimal bladder control.. This meatnt that every now and then, she’d realize she had to pee, but not in time to get to a toilet. Jimmy had better news. By Christmas, he was still wearing diapers at night. During the day, though, Jimmy wore Uncle Phil’s ”Just in Case” pants and was staying dry almost every day. Jimmy never had poop accidents at all. As for Teddy, Gloria, and Linda, well, they’d be annoyed if I told you their story. They want to tell it themselves.

The Family Babies 36 -- Summer Winds Down Hi, it’s Teddy again. This story has turned into something much bigger than I’d ever thought it would be. Between Linda, Gloria, Susan, and myself we’ve remembered pretty much a whole year of our young lives. It’s been fun writing about what it was like to be “normal” kidswho just happen to wear diapers, and, in Linda’s case, need to use a wheel chair. This was a year when all of us went through some major changes. For Gloria, Linda, and me, the changes were very definitely positive. For Susan, that wasn’t quite the case. You’ll hear more from Susan again before the story ends. In our final weeks at Camp Celebration, we practiced extra hard for the upcoming competition with Camp Tall Pines. This time there would be another swim meet, gymnastics and archery competition, a softball game, and canoe and sailboat race. There woud also be an outdoor wheelchair basketball game. The events would be spread over two days, Wednesday and Thursday of our final week. Friday we’d have our closing campfire, and Saturday we’d all go home. In the only concession to the fact that Camp Celebration kids required a lot of diaper changes, Camp Tall Pines agreed that all events would take place at our camp, here diaper changing was a lot more convenient. Our softball team continued to improve. In our earlier game, we’d lost to Camp Tall Pines by two runs. Our pitching was okay. Hitting was where we needed to improve. The coach had me work with some of the weaker hitters, and we made progress, since I was (I say it in all modesty) the strongest hitter on the team. Our swim team had narrowly won over Camp Tall Pines in the earlier contest. The Camp Tall Pines kids had been certain they’d whip our diapered butts badly. How, after all, could a bunch of kids who wore diapers and went to Camp Stinky Pants win over them? As they boarded their camp buses after the competition, many of the Camp Tall Pines kids shook hands with us, congratulated us on our victory, and promised not to make any more nasty remarks about us or our camp. All swimmers knew we’d have toa be sharper than we were in the earlier contest. The Camp Tall Pines kids would be ready for us, very eager to even the score. Can diapered girls do well in gymnastics? Our girls thought so. Gloria would be competing in gymnastics. The coach said our girls were the equal of any girls their age she’d seen. The archery competition promised to be fierce. Kids in wheelchairs would be allowed to compete. Some of them, like Linda, had developed amazing upper body strength and were sure to do well in the competition. In sailing and canoeing, likewise, kids who used wheel chairs would be competing. We all looked forward to a very exciting two days of competition. Then there was wheelchair basketball. Here was one sport where OUR team was a little overconfident. Theyedefinitely had an edge, since none of the Camp Tall Pines kids needed to use a wheel chair. Unfortunately, the competition never happened. Our last four days at camp were very soggy ones, and not just because most of us wore diapers. It rained steadily, without any letup. Since all of the events were scheduled to happen outdoors, none of them could be held. The directors of both camps agreed that next year, they’d schedule the final competition a week earlier, so that alternate dates could be used in case of bad weather. We spent the time packing, reading, playing indoor games, watching movies, and at-tending classes. Gloria, Linda, and I had all learned to type 45 words per minute. We talked about ways to get portable typewriters so we’d be able to type all our school essays. Linda was able to continue with weight lifting, and Gloria could do some gymnastics. I used the time to read, write in my journal, organize the more than 100 photogrphs I’d taken over the summer, and play checkers with other kids. Linda had developed so much skill in using her wheel chair that she rarely needed a push anymore. She could maneuver the chair even in small spaces, and she could keep up with anyone on two feet when we went anywhere. We had a final “Diapers 101” class with Captain Roger. We were amazed at how much progress we’d all made over the summer. All of us, so long as we were wearing the special diapers with buttons, could change our own diapers unless they were messy. We were all taking chlorophyll tablets every day, so that even when we did have a mess in our diapers, the smell wouldn’t gross out the people near us. We had all learned to be more aware of when our diapers needed changing, and to take as much responsibility as we could for our personal hygiene. Because it was raining so hard, we couldn’t have a final campfire. Instead, we had our last gathering in Big Timbers. The celebration began with the best dinner we’d had all summer. Then there was some story telling, and an awards celebration. Every camper received a bronze Camp Celebration medallion, inscribed with the year. Spe-cial silver medallions were awarded to students who’d done well in the camp activi-ties, and gold medallions were presented to the campers who’d made the most pro-gress. Gloria and I received silver medallions, she for gymnastics, I for baseball, and both of us for swimming. Both Gloria and I were on our feet cheering when Linda was called to the front of the room to receive not one but two GOLD medallions, one for swimming, the other for canoeing. Beginning as a minnow, Linda had, over the summer, progressed all the way to a Dolphin swim badge. No one with a similar disability had ever progressed so far in one summer in the history of the camp. At the beginning of the summer, Linda had been unable to paddle a single stroke in a canoe. Now, she could paddle across the lake easily. Linda had been one of our scheduled competitors in both the canoe-ing and archery competitions, and she’d been a backup competitor for the swim team. We ended the evening with singing the camp songs, and a promise that we’d all be back -- well, all except the ones who’d be too old -- next season. All three of us loaded our diapers part way through the evening, but none of us had to go for a change. The chlorophyll tablets really did work wonders. As we walked -- I should really say waddled, since our diapers were so wet and messy -- back to our dormitories for the last time, we all agreed it had been the best summer of our lives. As I lay on the changing table getting cleaned up, I thought about how great it had been to be in an environment where more kids my age wore diapers than didn’t. Soon enough, we’d all be back in the “real” world where the sight of kids our age in diapers was unusual enough to raise eyebrows and cause comments. Some of the comments were anything but kind. I woke up no more wet than usual, and hoped I’d poop before I had to change my dia-per. Sure enough, I did. It was nice to take a nice warm shower and be rediapered extra heavily for the trip. We had thought we’d be wearing the diapers and plastic pants we’d arrived in, but instead everyone in diapers received the gift of a pair of Camp Celebration plastic pants and a double set of the old pin on diapers. The camp wanted to get rid of them anyway, so why not give them to the kids? I couldn’t help noticing that, even though the button on diapers were easy to change, the diapers with pins did fit better. They were also more comfortable. I didn’t mind wearing them at all, even if it meant I couldn’t change my own diapers. You probably realize that button on diapers never have caught on for regular use by most people who wear diapers. Today, of course, almost everyone wears disposables. We’d celebrated the previous night, so breakfast was really pretty ordinary. Oatmeal, scrambled eggs with bacon, orange juice, and milk. There would be snacks on the bus, of course, and we’d be home in time for a late lunch. Linda and I sat next to each other, and Gloria sat across the aisle. It probably would have been easier to let the two girls share a seat. They talked all the way home about what the upcoming school year would be like, and pretty much ignored me. I didn’t really mind, though. I dozed off about a half hour into the trip and didn’t wake up until snack time, two hours later. I knew my diaper was wet, but I didn’t think it needed changing. Linda had needed a change, though, and so had Gloria. Neither of them had been able to poop before we left. They probably could have waited, but neither wanted to ride all the way home in a messy diaper. All of our parents were waiting at Mayfield Center when the bus pulled in. Susan was waiting with Mom and Dad. She was wearing just her diapers and plastic pants, with a tee shirt and sandals. I knew, from letters I’d received, that Susan would be starting the school year in diapers. So would her friend Laurie and the older boy, Jimmy. They’d all been through the necessary exams and interviews, and had received permis-sion to attend regular classes in diapers. Nurse Richardson was going to have a busy year! We said our goodbyes to the other kids on the bus, loaded our stuff in the cars, and headed for our respective homes. Mom said lunch wouldn’t take more than a few minutes to prepare. While Mom was getting lunch together, Susan asked Dad to change her diaper. I asked Patty to change mine. “Do you want one of the new button on diapers?” Patty asked. “If it’s okay, I’d like to stick with pins for now, that is if you don’t mind changing my diapers,” I answered. “I don’t mind at all,” Patty said. “I kind of missed doing it while you were away. Wow, you’re soaked!” she exclaimed. “No leaks, though.” Patty changed me into a set of regular daytime diapers. Turns out it was a good thing I wasn’t counting on wearing the button on diapers. The “whole bunch” Susan said Mom sewed while they were at the farm turned out to be only a dozen and a half. Sewing buttonholes into a garment like a diaper wasn’t as easy in the 1950’s as it is now. Susan and I would be wearing diaper pins most of the time. At lunch, Dad proposed a toast. “You and Gloria grew up a lot this summer,” he said. “Here’s to your no longer being the Hawthorn family babies!” After everyone had drunk the toast, Susan said “I guess now it’s MY turn to be the family baby.” She was pretty much resigned to being in diapers. There were no signs that she could be potty trained again any time soon. “I don’t think you’ll be the family baby, Susan,” Dad said. Especially not since Aunt Linda and Uncle Ernie are expecting a baby next April.” Everyone smiled at that news. Aunt Linda was the youngest of Dad’s siblings. We all liked her a lot. She was a championship swimmer and the unofficial head lifeguard at the swimming pond. “That’s a relief,” Susan said. “I was afraid the baby stuff I was doing at the beginning of the summer was going to turn into a permanent thing.” “Do you mean the bottles and the burping and sitting on Dad’s lap and mine?” Mom asked. “We’ll only do those things if they make you feel comfy and you want us to. It’s been more than a month since you let us give you a bottle.” “And I won’t be asking for one anytime soon!” Susan said firmly. “Some day, Susan,” Dad said kindly, “and I hope it’s soon, you’ll finally realize that wearing diapers doesn’t make you a baby.” “Speaking of diapers,” Mom said, “would it be all right with you, Teddy, if I didn’t make any more of the diapers with buttons? They’re hard to make. And you need new plastic pants. You’re outgrowing yours. I can make those much more easily. What colors would you like?” “I’m fine with pin on diapers,” I said, “even at school if I need to wear them there. I’d like it if you’d make all my new plastic pants white if that’s ok. I’m getting kind of old for blue and yellow.” “Fine with me,” Mom said. Patty was working at the pool that afternoon. The rest of us decided it was a good day for a swim, especially after three days of rain. So we tagged along with Patty and en-joyed an afternoon of sun and swimming. Next weekend would be Labor Day. School would start the day after Labor Day. Susan, Patty, and I all needed new clothes for school, and we all needed school sup-plies. I don’t know why I let myself get talked in to going shopping with Mom and my sis-ters. We bought everything I needed, including a new pair of shoes, in less than an hour. Susan and Patty took a LOT longer to find just the right skirts, dresses, pants, blouses, shirts, and shoes for the new school year. Susan was especially hard to buy for. She wanted clothes that didn’t draw attention to the fact that she was wearing diapers, and she wanted to look at everything in those “bay window” mirrors the stores all used to have. It was getting close to lunch time when I finally had to tell Mom I needed my diaper changed. I’d pooped quite a load after we’d finished buying my clothes, and now it was starting to itch. I knew I’d wet a lot, too. It was all I could do not to tug at my diaper to try to make it more comfortable. Susan WAS tugging at her diaper, which, I noticed, smelled pretty strong. Mom had been waiting for Susan to ask to be changed, but now she asked her instead. Susan didn’t say anything. She just nodded her head solemnly. If you’ve been reading since the earliest chapters of the story, you know how much I hated having my diapers changed in women’s restrooms. The ladies’ room in the de-partment store was crowded, and we had to wait for stalls. Patty took Susan into a stall with her. Mom took me. Expert diaper changer that she was, Mom had me cleaned up and re-diapered in four minutes flat, even though the diaper was a major mess. Mom told me to close my eyes while she used the toilet. I was grateful. I didn’t want to wait outside the stall with all those women. We washed our hands and left the restroom without hearing any nasty comments. I did notice a few looks, though. We had lunch at Woolworth’s. I had a minute steak sandwich, a little salad, and two donuts which I had watched being made, along with a glass of chocolate milk. Susan had her trademark hot dog with ketchup (Yuck!), french fries, donuts, and chocolate milk, too. Mom and Patty had a vegetable plate with cottage cheese, along with some iced tea. Since we spent so much time shopping for clothes on Monday, we had to go back out shopping for school supplies on Tuesday. I ended up needing a diaper change again while we were out. This time, a three year old girl asked me what I was doing in a “wadies’ room,” since I was obviously a boy. I told her I’d just had my diaper changed. “Oh,” the little girl said, “Mama gonna change my dipee too! I wet and I made poopie.” “Yeah,” I said. “You have to have your diaper changed when you make poopie!” The little girl nodded “I know,” she said, a serious look on her face. “It hurt when you have a poopy diapee on too long! It stinks awful, too! And sometimes diapee leak all over the place.” “That’s no fun when it happens,” I agreed. Just then, the little girl’s mother led her by the hand into an open stall. The mother had seen and heard my whole conversation with her daughter. She gave me a little smile and said to her daughter, “Come on, Stinky Pants. Let’s get you nice and clean and sweet smelling again.” “Otay, Mommie,” the little girl said, waving goodbye to me. The rest of the week passed quickly. On the Saturday of Labor Day weekend, my fam-ily and Gloria’s had a huge picnic. Linda and her folks were invited, too. Everyone had a terrific time. The girls talked about their new clothes. All three of us talked about fifth grade. The next day, Susan and I talked about what going to school in diapers was like. “It takes a little getting used to, that’s all,” I said. “You don’t need to worry. Try to pay attention to when your diaper needs changing. When you feel the urge to start tugging at it, or when you know you’ve pooped, it’s time to go get changed. Just get up, leave the room, and go to the nurse’s office. You might get a little teasing, but if you don’t let it get to you, the teasing will stop before long. Laurie’s going to be in your class, so you’ll have a diaper buddy.” “Jimmy’s gonna be in diapers, too,” Susan said. “He won’t have a diaper buddy in his class.” “You never know,” I said. “He might. But even if he doesn’t, you, Laurie, Gloria, Linda, and I can all be his friends.” I was sitting in a big armchair. Susan came over and snuggled up beside me. There was plenty of room for the two of us.

The Family Babies 35 -- Stuck in Diapers I guess my, (Susan’s) story has developed a life of its own. I’ve thought about spinning it off into a separate story. Perhaps one day I’ll do that. My story is intertwined with Teddy, Gloria and Linda’s enough, though, that it still makes sense to tell them together. Teddy, Gloria, and Linda were enjoying a fantastic summer at Camp Celebration. Back in Mayfield I was miserable. The urinary tract infection, with the pain and messiness that went along with it, had taken all the joy out of my summer diaper experiment. Diapers weren’t fun anymore. Not at all. Although the infection had run its course, there seemed to be lasting damage to my bladder and surrounding muscles. Although urinating was no longer painful, I now experienced a near constant trickle which I could not control at all. My diapers needed changing about every two hours. I could count on Mom, Dad, or Patty to check the condition of my diapers at least that often, and, usually, change the wet diapers right away. They were concerned about rashes, since my urine was quite acid. Since they were monitoring me so closely, I had stopped asking for changes. As the infection subsided, and I realized I wanted to be done with diapers, I had, for a day or two, asked to have my diaper taken off so I could poop in the toilet. Mom tried to honor that request at first, but we discovered that the urge to poop so quickly became “I’m gonna poop right now!” that it seemed pointless to continue trying to make it to the toilet. Once I’d pooped just as Mom was unpinning my diapers. Another time I pooped on the bathroom floor, after the diaper was off but before I was seated. “I really don’t mind changing your diapers, Susan,” Mom had said. “It’s a whole lot easier for me if you just poop when you need to. I’ll get you cleaned up and changed as soon as you tell me you need it.” So that’s what I did. Just as I had when I first started wearing diapers, I pooped whenever and wherever I felt the urge. The sight of an eight-year old girl (in my diapers and plastic pants I looked about five, but most consider five rather old to still be in diapers) obviously filling her diaper in a public place did draw some funny looks. Mom told me not to be at all concerned. When she saw that I was pooping, she’d wait until she thought I’d finished, then tell me to come and have my diaper changed. Now and then, I’d have to tell her I wasn’t done pooping yet. Mom would wait patiently until I told her I was finished. I know that must sound strange, but that’s the way it was. If I was alone when I pooped, I didn’t always tell Mom I’d done it. She checked my diaper so often I’d just wait until she discovered the load herself. It was easier that way, at least for me. The thrill of sking “Mom (or Dad, or Patty) could you change my diaper please?” was long gone. Dad reassured me that I hadn’t caused incontinence (he actually did use the word) by wearing diapers for fun. The infection, Dad said, had caused it. Doctors couldn’t say when control would return. They did ask me to try to notice when I felt the urge to wet, and to try to hold it as long as I could. Trouble was, I never felt any urge at all. Sometimes I didn’t even know I was wetting untilsI felt the warmth in my diaper. The two other kids in the neighborhood whose control didn’t return to normal right away were now in about the same condition I was. I suppose it was worse for Jimmy, who was 12, than it was for my friend Laurie and me. He didn’t complain much about it, but I could see he felt very awkward wearing diapers. Jimmy was spending more time with Laurie and me than a 12 year old boy would normally spend with two 8 year old girls. He still hung around with friends his own age, but, because he needed to have his diapers changed every two hours or so, he didn’t venture too far from home. Jimmy had soaked through his diapers and plastic pants once while he was playing in the park with his buddies. They were all sympathetic, having been in diapers themselves when the infection first showed up. Still, Jimmy was really embarrassed. When he visited Laurie or me, our Moms would never refuse to change Jimry’s diapers when they needed changing. He could relax more around kids in the same predicament he was in, even if they were girls and four years younger than he was. The three of us, Laurie, Jimmy, and I, couldn’t help noticing that when we were together and one of us pooped, we all pooped within a few minutes. I still don’t know why that was. It didn’t matter who pooped first. We all took our turns. It was certainly the strangest game of Follow the Leader I’ve ever been involved in! We weren’t invalids anymore. The doctors and our parents agreed we should play outdoors and even go swimming. The ban on diapered kids in the big town pool was lifted, which also pleased the small group of diapered adults who also used the pool. We were no more infectious than anyone else. Of course, we got out of the pool and had our diapers changed immediately if we pooped. It looked like the three of us would have to go back to school wearing diapers. I prayed every day that this wouldn’t happen. But because our condition seemed not to be improving at all, it looked like wearing diapers to school would be unavoidable. I had looked forward to the second visiting day at Camp Celebration. I was really happy to see how good Teddy, Gloria, and Linda looked, and how much they had learned. I had seen their button on diapers and I was impressed with them. I wasn’t especially interested in changing my own diapers, but I could understand why Teddy, Gloria, and Linda were excited about doing it. While we were at the camp, I had a chance for another good talk with Teddy. We sat on the swim dock, and I told him how I was feeling trapped and didn’t want to wear diapers anymore. I wanted to be like other kids again. Teddy was sympathetic. He told me about several times in his own life when he’d had feelings very similar to what I was experiencing. One of those times was when I was potty trained and he still had to wear diapers, even though he was two and a half years older than me. That was the first time, Teddy said, that he realized how different he was from other kids. It really bothered him for a long time. I know I didn’t help the situation much with some of the comments I’m told I made. Teddy told me he felt a lot worse during the years when he and Gloria wore Just in Case pants (training pants sewn into plastic pants, an invention of my Uncle Phil) to school instead of diapers. he told me how he neer really managed to stay dry and how, when he asked to be allowed to wear diapers to school and received permission, he felt so much better and actually did better in school. “You have to be who you are, Sue,” Teddy said. Not wearing diapers when you need them is as dumb as not wearing eyeglasses when you need those. It took me a while to figure that out. I hope it goes easier for you.” On the ride home, I thought a lot about what Teddy had said. I felta little better. All of us stopped for dinner on the way home in a nice family style restaurant that had only recently opened. I had meatloaf and it was good. So were the mashed potatoes and green beans. the apple pie with vanilla ice cream was best of all. The restaurant had a family bathroom, just like the ones at Camp Celebration. Dad took me in to change my diaper. I really liked it when Dad changed my diaper. When we were out, Mom usually changed me because men’s restrooms were kind of gross. It was always a treat, though, when Dad could do it. I had pooped a pretty good load just as we finished eating, so I definitely neededda change. The restroom had a nice, big changing table, one that could easily accommodate someone much larger than me. It also offered something called wet wipes, so Dad was able to clean me up very easily. Dad was delighted, and so was I. After he changed my diaper, Dad had me wait outside the restroom while he changed his own. Remember that Dad and his sister, Aunt Bridget, had always had wetting problems just like Teddy and Gloria. We waited while Aunt Bridget changed her diaper in the family restroom, then we left for home. Dad spoke to the manager, and thanked him, not only for the good food, but for providing the family restrooms. “I’m glad you felt welcome!” the manager said. “Please come again!” Since I wasn’t wearing anything over my plastic pants, it was obvious to everyone that I was diapered. As Dad spoke to the restaurant manager, I thought the manager noticed the waistband of Dad’s plastic pants sticking out a little. I was a little surprised to see what I thought was the outline of a fairly thick diaper and plastic pants under the manager’s clothes. When we were in the car, I mentioned it to Mom and Dad. Mom said that there were probably many more people in diapers than we knew about. Diapers were nothing to hide or be ashamed of, Mom said. I knew she was saying this for my benefit. Dad’s vacation was coming up. Because Patty was working at the swimming pool, Mom and Dad really didn’t want to go away. Patty said she knew she could get a week off, though, and asked if we could all go to Grandma and Grandpa Hawthorn’s farm. That seemed like a good idea to everyone. We planned the trip. Uncle Phil, Aunt Bridget, Chuck, and Andy wouldn’t be coming. They were planning a trip to New Jersey, to see the ocean and visit a place called Palisades Amusement Park. The farm was a lot quieter this summer than in previous summers. Most of the aunts, uncles, and cousins were having adventures in other places. Some had visited earlier in the summer and left. Including Grandma, Grandpa, and the four of us, there were only a dozen people at the farm. I was grateful that two of the cousins close to my age were there. Becky was 9 and Billy was 7. Their Dad, Uncle Jack, was my Dad’s brother. Becky and Billy had been at the farm all summer. They were glad to see me. We weren’t all that close, since we didn’t live anywhere near each other, but we liked each other well enough and we looked forward to a nice week together. Becky and Billy weren’t surprised to see me in diapers. The story of what had happened had made the rounds of the family. Becky and Billy were both potty trained. Both had stopped wearing diapers before they were four. That was about normal in our family, although many kids were dry long before that age. Billy was still in night diapers. His folks said that when he could stay dry three nights in a row, he could stop wearing diapers to bed. In the three years he’d been out of daytime diapers, Billy had never managed to wake up dry more than two nights in a row. One night Billy confided in me that he sometimes wet on purpose so he wouldn’t have to stop wearing diapers at night. He missed being diapered, Billy admitted. Recently, Becky had started wetting in her sleep. Her Mom, Aunt Janet, decided she needed to wear diapers to bed after the third time Becky woke up wet. She was dry most nights now, but the night diapering continued. Becky was a little embarrassed about having to wear diapers and really wanted to be out of them again. Becky had a real thing about being grown up. Uncle Ernie and Aunt Linda were the other two people at the farm when we arrived. Aunt Linda, youngest of the six Hawthorns of Dad’s generation, was a championship swimmer, and the unofficial lifeguard at the swimming pond. It was a great week, really. We swam almost every day. Aunt Linda worked with me on several strokes, and taught me how to dive without belly flopping. Aunt Linda also showed me how good a diaper changer she was when I pooped down by the pond. She was there alone with me, Becky, and Billy. She made them get out of the water while she cleaned me up and rediapered me. I didn’t mind that they could see me being changed. We were all innocent kids. Billy got a look on his face that caused Becky to say, sharply. “You’d better get to the outhouse right now before you poop your pants!” Billy complied. Neither Becky nor Billy were especially good swimrers. Aunt Linda taught them a lot, though. Swimming was one of the best parts of every day. I was getting tired of Mom or Patty checking my diaper as often as they did, and I grmbled about it. “If you’d tell us when you need changing, Susan, we wouldn’t have to check,” Mom said. “Dad never sticks his hand in my diaper,” I answered. “He just asks if I need changing and I always tell him the truth.” Mom and Patty agreed to ask from then on, rather than checking my diaper. And I started telling them more often, without being asked, whenmy diaper needed changing. One day we took a trip to Playland. It was a great day! Dad rode all the rides with me, including the roller coaster. We rode it four times, twice in the front seat. Patty had her share of rides with Dad, too. Becky rode most of the big rides, too. Her dad was her riding partner. I was sort of envious that Becky stayed dry all day. She was wearing a pair of Uncle Phil’s Just In Case pants, but she didn’t need them. Becky went to the ladies’ room fairly often. I remembered doing that last year. I recalled that it had been kind of annoying. Today I had to have my diaper changed only twice while we were at Playland. In a way, I liked not having to go potty. But I still wanted not to have to wear diapers. And the men’s room where daddy changed my diapers wasn’t the cleanest. I did notice, though, that the men in the men’s restroom didn’t make any nasty remarks about a girl my age being in diapers. I remembered being with Mom and Teddy when some ladies in restrooms had said some very unkind things. I didn’t mind being changed in men’s rooms nearly as much as Teddy minded being changed in ladies’ rooms. Billy went with my Mom and his to ride kiddy rides most of the day. He’d asked if he could wear diapers to Playland. His mom let him. Billy certainly used his diapers well! He needed to be changed four times during the course of the day. His Mom kept Billy in diapers until the next morning, when he woke up soaked. Billy did have one accident the next day. He wet and pooped his pants. He said he didn’t remember he didn’t have a diaper on. Becky woke up soaked the next morning, too. Her Mom said she’d probably been so exhausted she just wet in her sleep. “Yeah, probably about four times!” Becky said. I woke up both wet and messy. My diaper had leaked and my sheets needed changing. When I stood up, there was a little yellow puddle in my plastc pants. While we were at the farm, Mom used Grandma’s sewing machine to sew buttons and button holes on a whole bunch of tee shirts and diapers. Since Teddy and Gloria could change their own diapers if the diapers had buttons, Mom wanted to make sure there were enough. Grandma and Grandpa told the adults that they were thinking of selling part of the farm to a developer. They’d keep the farmhouse and some land around it. The developer would put siding on the house so that it would resemble the new homes that would be built. The farm pond would be expanded into a community recreation lake that we could still use. It would be much larger than it now was, with a boat dock and real bathrooms. No more outhouse. Some of the money from the sale would be used to pay for college for the grandkids. Grandma and Grandpa planned to celebrate with a three month world cruise. Patty told me all of this one morning as she was helping me wash my hair and dress for the day. Patty had been hanging out with the adults. She was feeling very grown up. Dressing me was simple, just my diapers, plastic pants, and a tee shirt. Although I wasn’t especially thrilled about being in diapers, I rarely wore anything over my plastic pants. I liked to have on as little as possible. Soon it was time to go home again. Before we’d come to the farm, I’d had an appointment with the doctor. Dad had filed the application for me to wear diapers to school. He’d helped Jimmy and Laurie file their applications, too. Next week, we’d have our interviews with the school superintendent, the psychologist, the principal, and our teachers for the coming year. I knew all of this was necessary, but I very definitely didn’t want to go back to school in diapers.

The Family Babies 34 -- We?re Different Now Hi, Linda again. It was great to see my folks, and Gloria and Teddy?s parents on visiting day at Camp Celebration. Driving up to meet them all with the pony cart had been my idea, and it proved to be a good one. Teddy?s sister, Susan, wasn?t nearly recovered from the infection she?d had. I was a little concerned about Susan. I?d never seen her looking quite so weak and frail. And, although I was somewhat used to seeing her in diapers, it seemed to me that she really needed them now. She was wetting almost constantly, and her diapers needed changing every two hours or so. I didn?t think being diapered was just a game for Susan anymore, or a bid for attention. Susan would have had a tough time walking around the camp all day. But thanks to the pony cart she didn?t have to. Prince (the pony) and I drove her everywhere. She never had to walk more than a few steps all day. Her Mom changed Susan?s diapers by having Susan lie down in the back seat of the cart. I noticed that Susan didn?t have a whole lot of energy. She was in a good mood, though, and seemed glad to be with us at camp. All of us enjoyed showing off what we had learned so far at camp. I absolutely loved the astonished look on my parents? faces when they saw me drive up in the pony cart with no one helping me. They were even more astonished -- close to panic, really -- when they saw a lifeguard throw me into the lake. I bobbed right up, though, and began swimming for the raft. My parents could hardly believe how much stronger and skilled I had become in just two weeks. Swimming, diving, canoeing, and sailboating -- parents and other visitors saw a demonstration of them all. Campers challenged dads to a softball game. The campers were a much improved team from where they had started out. They put up a good fight, but still lost to the dads. Teddy was the star of the campers? team. He got three hits, made several amazing catches, and showed no embarrassment at all when he pooped his diaper and had to leave the game for a few minutes to have it changed. Lunch was served outdoors, picnic style. Hot dogs, hamburgers, sweet corn, potato salad, lemonade, and watermelon. Even after having birthday cake earlier, I still had plenty of room to enjoy all that good food. So did almost everyone, although I did notice that Susan didn?t eat a whole lot, and took a short nap right after lunch. Gloria won an archery competition later in the afternoon, beating older kids and even some parents. I overheard a lot of parents say how happy they were to see their kids so healthy and happy. And, yes, many parents couldn?t help noticing how we were all different now. Most of us might still be in diapers, but we were more grown up, more self-confident than we had been when we arrived at camp. Our visitors left at about 4:30. They?d all have dinner on the way home. I helped unharness Prince, and groom and feed him before going to get my diaper changed and washing up for dinner. Teddy, Gloria, and I were all glad we?d be staying at camp for the whole season. This was turning out to be the best summer of our lives. The next day, Sunday, it rained hard all day. It rained all of Monday, too, and most of Tuesday. By the time it stopped raining, we were all really eager toet back outdoors. You can read just so many books and comics, and play just so much Scrabble, Monopoly, chess, and checkers, and write just so many letters home before you start to go nuts! We practiced hard on Wednesday. Our first swimming competition with Camp Tall Pines was coming up in less than two weeks. The first inter-camp softball game would be played the same day. I wasn?t sure if I would actually be able to compete in the swim meet. All of the kids at Camp Tall Pines were able bodied, and no allowances would be made for any disabilities. I still wanted to give it my best shot, though. We won that swim meet. We didn?t win by much, and I didn?t get a chance to compete. The important thing, though, was that we won. I didn?t hear any ?Camp Stinky Pants? remarks from the Camp Tall Pines kids after we won the match. Even after Camp Tall Pines won the softball game (by only two runs!) there wasn? much gloating. all of the Camp Celebration kids had good reason to be proud. And, believe me, we WERE VERY proud! The second visiting day was the weekend after the swim meet. All our folks came back to see us. Susan came with them. Susan still didn?t have a whole lot of energy, and she was still in diapers. She got out of the car wearing just a tee shirt, diapers and plastic pants, and sandals. I had the feeling she was getting a little tired of being diapered, but I found out she pretty much needed diapers now. ?I got soaked on the car ride again,? Susan said, looking a little sad. ?I can?t stay dry at allanymore.? ?That?s a shame,? I said. ?You have plenty of company here, though, so there?s no need to feel embarrassed.? Susan smiled just a little. While we were sitting in the pony cart watching the softball game, Susan said ?Sorry Linda, I?m gonna have to poop.? ?I don?t mind, Susan! My diaper?s already loaded! Go ahead and poop!? Susan grunted, lifted one butt cheek, and filled her diaper. ?That feels better,? she said. Then she added ?I didn?t know you?d pooped. I didn?t smell it at all.? ?Captain Roger has been showing us some neat things this summer,? I said. We?re all taking clorophyll tablets every day. Makes our diapers not smell so bad. ?Neat!? Susan was impressed. Her own diaper smelled strongly of poop, but she asked ?Do you mind if we wait to be changed until tHe game is over?? It was the bottom of the final inning. The campers were behind by two runs. They had two runners on base, with two outs. Teddy was coming up to bat. ?Of course we can wait,? I said. ?I wouldn?t want to miss this! Teddy?s Uncle Phil, Gloria?s Dad, was pitching. His first pitch caught Teddy looking. The umpire called a strike. Teddy swung at the second pitch, but missed. Another strike. Then the pitcher relaxed a little too much, and threw two straight balls. Teddy was REALLY concentrating. So was his uncle, the pitcher. The pitch was a sneaky curve ball. We thought Teddy would end up swinging at empty air, but he caught the ball squarely and sent it flying over the infielders? heads. The ball was still climbing, heading for the fence. The center fielder leaped high in the air and nearly caught the ball. But nearly doesn?t count in softball. The ball cleared the fence easily and dropped into the meadow behind it. Teddy had hit a three run homer! The campers had won the game! I was so excited I wet my already soaked diaper, and it started to leak. I barely noticed. I hugged Susan so hard she squealed. Gloria was sitting next to us. She hugged us both. Teddy came over and hugged everyone. Teddy? Uncle Phil came over and shook Teddy?s hand. ?Great hit, Tedoy!? he said. I tried my best to strike you out but you clobbered my best pitch. Teddy?s Mom and Dad were smiling so broadly it looked like their faces would crack. My Mom and Dad looked pretty happy, too. ?I need to excuse myself,? Teddy said. ?My diaper is soaked. I need to change.? ?Want me to change your diaper, Son?? Teddy?s Dad asked. ?That?d be great, Dad,? Teddy said. ?But I can change myself now. Want to see?? ?I sure do!? Teddy?s Dad said. ?I was 16 before I got the hang of pinning and unpinning without getting stuck!? ?We?re not using pins anymore,? Teddy said. ?Our diapers button on now. If they?re not messy, I can change my own diapers.? ?So can I!? Gloria chimed in. ?I can change my own diapers,? I said, ?but I have to do it lying down and it?s a little tough for me to do. So I usually let someone else do it. They don?t mind.? ?I don?t want to change my own diapers, Susan pouted. I want to be potty trained again.? Susan?s Mom and Dad looked at her a little sadly. ?You?ll just have to be patient, Honey,? her dad said. That infection hit you pretty hard. It?ll take some time for you to get back to normal.? ?And nobody knows how long!? Susan added sourly. I could tell she?d asked the same question and received the same answer more times than anyone wanted to count. Susan?s Mom sniffed the air, trying not to be obvious about it. Susan knew what her Mom was about to ask and beat her to it. ?Yes, Mom, I pooped,? Susan admitted. ?I wanted to wait until after the game was over to get changed. It?s starting to feel nasty, so could you please change my diaper now?? ?Of course, Honey!? Susan?s Mom answered. I waited while she cleaned Susan up in the back seat of the pony cart and re-diapered her. Teddy?s dad went with him to his dormitory for a diaper changing demonstration. My mom went with me to my dorm, where Gloria?s mom was already watching admiringly as Gloria changed her own diaper. Since my diaper was messy as well as wet, I didn?t want to change it myself. My own mom was happy to clean me up and re-diaper me. She really liked the idea of buttons on diapers and wondered why no one had thought of it before. Gloria?s dad -- he was an engineer and an amateur inventor -- was wondering the same thing. It was time for lunch, which, again, was served picnic style outdoors. Everyone enjoyed the meal, even Susan, whose appetite had returned to normal, even if her bladder control had not. After lunch, we took our parents canoeing. My Mom and Dad joine me in a canoe. Dad helped paddle, but I was ?in command.? We explored most of the lake. I showed Mom and Dad my favorite little coves. They were very impressed with my canoeing skill, and they said so. After we?d finished canoeing, we all went swimming. Dad even lifted me out of my wheel chair and threw me in the lake. Mom and Dad swam with me out to the raft. I had earned my flying fish swim badge, and had become a fair swimmer. I kept up with my parents easily. I couldn?t do any diving, of course, since I couldn?t stand up, but I hauled myself up onto the raft with no help at all. When we?d all showered and dressed, we visited the photography exhibition. All of us had some pictures on display. Teddy had developed some of his own. Really, it was an impressive show. Many of the visitors offered compliments, and a few even wanted to buy some of the photographs. We werent? allowed to sell any of our work, but we definitely were honored by the requests! All too soon, it was time for the visitors to leave for home. The next time we?d see them would be in three weeks, when the bus brought us home from camp. Susan and Teddy were down by the dock, engaged in what looked like a serious conversation. They finally realized it was time to go and walked up to the parking lot together, holding hands. You don?t often see a brother and sister holding hands! Hugs were exchanged all around, and the visitors were on their way. Teddy, Gloria, and I went to our dorms for a diaper change before dinner. The last three weeks of camp passed by so fast we could hardly believe it. We continued working on our swimming, canoeing, and rowing skills. We worked out four times a week with weights. We became pretty decent typists, all of us managing to type more than 40 words per minute. Teddy was the undisputed star of the baseball team. Gloria was doing great in gymnastics. I was having fun playing wheelchair basketball. We had a pretty good team. After the first swim meet and softball game, we had challenged Camp Tall Pines to a wheelchair basketball game. We were delighted that they had agreed readily. We practiced hard, as often as we could. It wouldn?t do to lose at the one sport where so-called disabled kids actually had an advantage. It had been a great summer so far. Showing up well in the upcoming contests with Camp Tall Pines would make it a summer none of us would ever forget.

The Family Babies 33 -- Happy Birthday Susan! I felt like a very special little girl that first weekend, when Teddy, Gloria, and Linda left for camp. With Patty working and spending most of her free time with friends, I had just about all of Mom and Dad’s attention. I loved it! I felt totally cared for, and very loved. I had more or less stopped asking to have my diapers changed. Mom and Dad had become so used to asking me if I needed changing, or simply checking my diaper that I really didn’t need to ask. Most of the time, I still wet and pooped on purpose, but I didn’t give it a lot of thought. After that first time, when I had forgotten to pee until my bladder was full, I had no more puddles in my plastic pants. I was waking up wet just about every morning, though. That surprised me, because I had been dry at night for years. I think it surprised Mom and Dad, too. The Monday after Teddy left for camp, my bed was even a little bit wet. Mom helped me change the sheets without commenting, but I noticed a funny look on her face. All that day, she checked my diapers more often than usual. She never found me dry. Dad went to work like he always did. His vacation wasn’t until August. It was just Mom and me at home most of the time, because Patty was always busy. I didn’t mind that arrangement at all. I don’t think Mom did, either. Mom and I went to the local pool, where Patty worked. Diapered kids were allowed to swim, although some adults didn’t care much for that idea. I was probably the only kid in diapers to use the diving boards. We went to the local park, too . I loved the swings, slides, seesaws, jungle gym, and merry go round. All of us kids would take turns spinning the merry go round, trying to make it go faster. I loved the way the world kept spinning, even after the merry go round had stopped. There was a wading pool at the park, and a big sand box to play in. We kids took full advantage of both. After a few comments the first time I showed up at the park wearing diapers, few kids had much to say about it. They all knew my brother and cousin wore diapers. I guess they thought it was a family thing. Whenever we played house, my role as baby was pretty much a given. The kids were not allowed to change my diapers, though, no matter how wet or messy they were or how much the kids begged. I didn’t especially want kids my age changing my diapers, especially not the boys. I really did like all the attention, though. I liked it a lot. My friend Laurie kept asking me what it was like to wear diapers and have them changed. I shared my thoughts and feelings freely with her. Laurie asked my Mom to diaper her more than once when she was at my house. Mom would never diaper anyone without their parents’ permission, though, and Laurie was afraid to ask. One afternoon, while Laurie and her mother, my Mom and I were shopping in downtown Mayfield, Laurie suddenly said she had to pee REALLY bad. We were more than a block from the nearest restroom. “Why didn’t you say something sooner?” Laurie’s Mom asked, obviously irritated. “Because I didn’t realize I had to go until just now!” Laurie cried. She was doing the “potty dance,” shifting her weight from one foot to the other and holding her crotch. All of us walked as fast as we could toward Fletcher’s Department Store, where we knew there were restrooms close to the entrance. We didn’t make it. About fifty feet from the entrance, Laurie stopped walking and began wetting her pants. We watched the dark stain spread over her shorts. The pee ran down Laurie’s left leg into her shoe. A puddle began spreading around Laurie’s feet on the sidewalk. Laurie’s face turned bright red. Tears ran down her face. We waited until Laurie stopped peeing. Then we all entered the store and walked as quickly as we could to the women’s restroom. “Did you do this on purpose, Laurie?” her Mom asked. I wasn’t sure whether she was puzzled or angry. “No, Mommie, honest I didn’t!” Laurie cried. All of a sudden I started hurting down there and had this feeling I had to pee REALLY bad. I tried to hold it, but I couldn’t.” Then Laurie, looking panicked, quickly opened a stall door went in, pulled down her soaked shorts and panties, climbed on to the toilet seat, and started peeing again. Laurie’s Mom and my Mom looked at each other, realizing something wasn’t right with Laurie. They said something to each other that neither Laurie nor I could hear. Then Laurie’s Mom said “I’m sorry I was cross with you, Laurie. You’re obviously coming down with something, and we need to get you to the doctor right away. Susan’s Mom is going to clean you up and put one of Susan’s diapers on you while I go and buy a pair of shorts and sandals for you. We don’t want you to have another accident.” Laurie looked at me. She was hurting, but I could see she didn’t mind getting diapered at all. Mom cleaned Laurie up quickly, diapered her and put plastic pants on her. She was in the midst of changing my diaper when Laurie’s Mom came back with new shorts and sandals for her. Laurie’s doctor’s office was close enough for us to walk. We had to wait a bit, and Laurie wet her diaper twice while we were waiting. The doctor’s examination revealed that Laurie had an infection in her urinary tract. Medicine would clear it up in a week or so, the doctor said. In the meantime, Laurie would probably need to wear diapers because her wetting would be difficult to control. As we rode home in the car, I could see Laurie was hurting, but I could also see that she was happy. She was, after all, wearing diapers, and that’s something she had wanted. Today, when a potty trained kid needs to wear diapers because of illness or any other reason, it’s easy to just buy a package of disposables. They come in sizes to fit everyone, after all. In 1956, with no disposables available, the only choice was between cloth diapers and wet clothes and bedding. Mom loaned Laurie’s Mom a few pairs of Teddy’s old plastic pants, some diapers, and some pins. Soon, though, Mom was getting calls from all over the neighborhood. An epidemic of urinary tract infections was beginning, and no less than eight neighborhood boys and girls, ranging in age from three to twelve ended up needing diapers. Mom didn’t have nearly enough diapers and plastic pants to help them all. The neighborhood Moms got together to solve the problem. Mom shared a pattern she’d developed for making diapers out of birdseye fabric and another for making plastic pants. Moms with sewing machines made enough diapers and plastic pants to take care of all the kids’ needs. I came down with an infection just like other kids did. Late the same day that Laurie started wetting, I began having pains and wetting more heavily than usual. I also began running a fever. A trip to the doctor confirmed what Mom already knew. I had a urinary tract infection. Turns out it was a pretty stubborn one. Most of the neighborhood kids started feeling better after a day or two. Fevers went down, but wetting did not stop. Kids were allowed to play outside for limited periods. The sight of so many of the neighborhood kids in diapers was startling to people who had no kids of their own. The kids, though, took the whole incident in stride. The water in the wading pool and the sand in the sandbox both tested positive for the bacteria that had caused the infections. Both the sandbox and the wading pool were closed until they could be cleaned thoroughly. It was decided that diapered kids, for the time being, would not be allowed in the big swimming pool. No one wanted the infection to spread. Five of the eight kids bounced back quickly. Their fevers broke, the infections cleared up, the wetting stopped, and they were back to normal within a week. I was one of three who had a tougher time. By Wednesday of the second week Teddy was at camp, with my birthday and visiting day at Camp Celebration coming up quickly, my fever was finally subsiding. I had less pain, but I was soaking seven or eight sets of diapers each day with no control over wetting. Until I got sick, wearing diapers had been a lot of fun. It wasn’t fun anymore. Being sick meant I was held a lot more, fed my favorite foods when I felt good enough to eat, and read to whenever I wanted. I stayed in bed most of the time. I watched a little TV, listened to Dad’s portable radio (I wanted my own radio for a birthday present), slept a lot, and tried not to complain. By Thursday I felt a lot better and even went outside for a while. I wanted to show Mom and Dad how good I was feeling. Some of the neighbor kids came by and we played cards on our porch. Old Maid. I didn’t lose a single game, That made me feel better. Laurie, Jimmy Wilson, an eleven year old boy from down the block, and I were the only kids still wearing diapers. Jimmie and Laurie seemed to be feeling a little better than I was, but I pretended to be feeling great. After about an hour the game broke up. Jimmy and Laurie went home to have their diapers changed. They both looked like they needed changing. When I got up, I realized I needed changing worse than they did. I’d left a wet circle on the porch floor. I said goodbye to the kids, went inside, had my diaper changed and took a nap. Friday, I felt a whole lot better, although I was still wetting very heavily. Mom and Dad decided I was well enough to go to Camp Celebration. They had been talking about one of them staying home with me while the other went to the camp to visit. I was glad we’d all be going together, especially since Saturday was my birthday. Saturday morning we got on the road very early. Mom bathed, diapered, dressed and fed me like a baby princess. It was, after all, my birthday and I was still recuperating. About two hours into the trip, I woke up very wet. Without realizing I was doing it, I began to cry. “What’s wrong, Honey?” Mom asked. “WET!!” I exclaimed through tears. “Diaper, shorts, tee shirt -- all WET!” Dad pulled the car over to the side of the road. Mom cleaned me up and rediapered me. She didn’t put clean shorts on me because we had only one more pair with us. I agreed she should save the remaining pair of shorts for later. I was grateful that Mom had brought more than the usual supply of diapers. I slept most of the rest of the way to the camp. When we parked the car, Mom changed me again in the back seat. Because of the extra diapers I was wearing, there was no sign of a leak. We decided that I wouldn’t put on clean shorts right away, just in case. With most of the campers in diapers, the sight of someone’s little sister in just a tee shirt and plastic pants wouldn’t draw much attention. I was surprised to see Linda Casey drive up in a pony cart just as I was climbing out of the car. Linda looked tanned and happy in her Camp Celebration swim suit. Her crutches were laying on the back seat of the cart, a back seat designed for kids only. I learned that Camp Celebration owned six pony carts. Kids in wheel chairs shared them. “Hi!” Linda said. “Happy birthday, Susan! I heard you weren’t feeling great so I asked if I could be your special driver today. Hop in! Prince is a good pony. He’ll take us wherever we want to go.” Mom and Dad nodded their approval and I climbed into the pony cart next to Linda. She took the reins and expertly guided the pony cart along the path toward Big Timbers, the dining hall and main gathering place for Camp Celebration. Mom and Dad followed along at a leisurely pace. Quite a few families were already gathering in front of Big Timbers. Gloria and Teddy were waiting for us there, wearing their Camp Celebration swim suits and looking as great as Linda did. I noticed that, next to them, I looked really pale. Linda guided the cart to a stop next to a picnic table under a tree. The table had been set with a paper table cloth, a birthday cake, plates, cups, forks, napkins, and a big pitcher of lemonade. “Happy Birthday, Susan!” Teddy and Gloria said in chorus. Teddy helped me down from the pony cart and led me to a place at the head of the table. Mom, Dad, Teddy, Gloria and her parents, and Linda and her parents joined us. Everyone sang Happy Birthday. I cut the first piece of cake and Mom served the rest. There were cards and presents for me, including the gift Ihad wanted most, my own portable radio. I was a Very happy little girl. My big smile showed everyone just how happy I was. “Gee, thanks everybody, I said. This is the best birthday I’ve ever had! I’ll never forget the day I turned eight!” Everyone hugged me. We finished our cake and lemonade. Then Linda asked “Ready to get back in the pony cart and see some of what Teddy, Gloria, and I have been doing at camp?” “Sure am!” I answered enthusiastically. Mom and Dad collected the presents and cards and took them to the car. Gloria’s Mom and Dad cleaned up. We’d finished all the cake and Lemonade. Linda and I headed for the lake, where we’d see demonstrations of canoeing, sailing, and swimming. Teddy and Gloria were right behind us. The adults said they’d catch up. “What a great start to a birthday!” I thought, as Linda guided the pony cart over the paths.

Thanks for a promising start. I'll look forward to the next chapter.

The Family Babies -- Chapter 32 -- A Whole Lot Different from Last Summer Hi! It’s Gloria again. Linda and I are giving Teddy some time off. He’s been busier than usual. He’s shared this story with us, and we both had a part in it, so we’ll tell it from ourpoint of view for a while. Linda described that first day at Camp Celebration pretty well, I thought. Teddy and I were prouder of the way she took to the water than we were of our own Dolphin badges. My bed in the dorms was right next to Linda’s There would be other nights when we’d talk for a while after lights out, but tonight would not be one of them. We were both too tired. Each day of the week at Camp Celebration had its own energy. Yesterday hadn’t been a typical Saturday, but our first Sunday was pretty much like every Sunday. We were up at 7:00, diapered and dressed by 7:30. Breakfast was at 7:30. Church was at 8:30. Then we had free time until lunch at noon. We were encouraged to use this time to write home and/ or write in our journals. Girls are supposed to be made of sugar, spice, and everything nice, but 14 diapered girls, all with ammonia-smelling overnight diapers, most of them also poopy, create a powerful smell! The six potty-trained girls did their share, too, of course. I wondered if Teddy’s dorm smelled this bad. Probably did, I thought. Teddy and I had spent enough time together to know that boys and girls can both smell pretty bad. We were used to it. What was amazing was how fast the smell went away once everyone had gone potty or had their diapers changed. Diaper pails were kept covered and they were emptied several times each day. The washing machines and dryers ran practically around the clock. Church was okay, nothing special. A youth pastor came from a nearby town. We didn’t have a piano or an organ, but the group of us sang so well the preacher suggested we think about forming a choir. I wrote to Mom, Dad, and my brothers, Chuck and Andy. One nice long letter for all of them would be more fun than a bunch of short notes, I thought. I told them about the trip on the bus to camp, the swimming test, and our campfire, with the challenge from Captain Roger. I told them I missed them, but I didn’t feel at all homesick. (I had woken up in the middle of the night and heard some sniffling and a sob or two, but by morning there were no signs that anyone wasn’t doing okay.) With my letter finished, I wrote in my journal for a while, putting my dreams down on paper. I wanted to take first place in a swimming race, and I wanted to finish a short story that other people would actualy want to read. I knew praciticing as hard as I could was the way to win a race. I knew, also, that if I wanted to write a good story, I’d better start writing every day. I was concentrating so completely that it was 11:45 before I noticed the time. Realizing that my diaper must be soaked, I went for a change without even checking. Uncle Jack, Aunt Sally, and all the counselors were cheerful diaper changers. One of the counselors changed my diaper quickly, and I went to join the group gathering for lunch. “Another hour and we’ll have been here a whole day,” Teddy said. He was correct, our bus had arrived at 1:00 PM yesteday. “I’m still getting used to the place,” I said. “This is a whole lot different from last summer,” I added, remembering last year at our grandparents’ farm. “Sure is,” Teddy agreed. “Feelsa little strange getting my diapers changed by peosle I don’t really know.” “Yeah,” Linda chimed in. “At least they’re getting changed when they need it, though. The people here seem nice about diaper changing. They never make us wait.” “Boy, my dorm sure did smell this morning!” Teddy said. “About two thirds of the guys are in diapers, all of them with “morning diaper smell” and most of them poopy in the morning. It got pretty stinky!” “Our dorm got pretty stinky, too,” Linda admitted. There’s nothing much anyone could do about it. We wear diapers, we’re gonna wet them, and we’re gonna poop in them. They seem to clean things up prety quickly, though.” “They do,” Teddy agreed. “I wasn’t complaining.” “I know,” Linda said, and smiled atTeddy. Lunch was soup and sandwiches again, with banana pudding for dessert. It was nothing fancy, but it was good. After lunch, different people had different activities. Linda had her first “Driver Education” lesson for wheelchair kids. Teddy got his glove and went to play softball with some of the boys. I went to a weight lifting class, believe it or not. My Dad had told me that, if I wanted to get really strong and be a fast swimmer, I had to lift weights. It was hard work right from the beginning. One good thing, though, was that most of the kids in the class were boys. I really liked the attention I received! Our time for swimming was 3:00 PM. Teddy and I practiced the crawl stroke for most of our swim time. We did 50 and 100 yard sprints. Linda practiced floating, both on her face and on her back . Then they started her practicing with a kick board, back and fourth on a 50 foot course, to strengthen her legs. We were in the water until 5:15. The exercise pretty much wore us out. when we came out of the water, we showered, were diapered, and dressed for dinner. Sunday dinner was extra nice. Roast chicken, green beans, baked potatoes, and a cranberry salad..We had apple pie and vanilla ice cream for dessert. Stuffed, we went for a walk after dinner until the evening activity started. Linda tried pushing her own chair and did well at it. But her arms got sore and Teddy took over the pushing after a while. We hadn’t yet gotten back to the campfire circle, where the evening activity would take place, when Teddy suddenly pooped his diaper. As was so often the case, he had no warning. There were other kids around. I wondered if Teddy would be embarrassed to have filled his diaper so publicly. He wasn’t. In fact, he finished pushing Linda’s chair to a place in the circle, excused himself, and returned in just a few minutes smelling much better than when he’d left us. Linda and I had saved Teddy a seat between us. “Did I miss anything?” Teddy asked. “Not a thing,” Linda answered. “It’s not quite dark enough.” That evening’s activity was an astronomy lesson. We learned to find the North Star, and we also learned to spot some of the larger constellations. The night was clear, and there was no moon, so the stars stood out clearly in the sky. We didn’t use telescopes for this night’s lesson. We learned, instead, to apsreciate more of what the naked eye could see. There were a few blind kids among the campers. I was surprised at how much they were able to get into the astronomy lesson. They couldn’t see the stars, of course. One of them told me later that each blind person has his/her own way of “seeing,” of understanding the elements of the universe in relation to each other. One of the counselors shared the legend of the Big Dipper. Sure enough, next morning there were a lot of wet sheets and soaked diapers. I felt lucky to find just a small wet circle on my sheets in the morning. My diapers, though, were soggier than I had remembered them being in a very long time. Linda had a similar experience and, it turned out, Teddy did also. “It was a lot like the “falling in the lake” dream I had before we left for camp,” Teddy said. Monday was our first weekday at Camp Celebration. Each day’s activities differed a little from every other day’s. Swimming was part of every day for all of us. Usually we’d be in the lake from 3:00 until 5:00 or so. Teddy and I both signed up for typing lessons. He joined me in weight lifting class. We both had canoeing and sailing, although with different groups. I signed up for gymnastics, and Teddy signed up for baseball. Once a week, both of us had horseback riding lessons. Here again, though, there were separate groups for boys and girls. Teddy signed up for photography lessons. I decided my schedule was full enough without them. Except for typing lessons, oh, and an activity we began to call “Diapers 101,” more about that later, Linda didn’t share too many activities with Teddy and me. She had “driver education,” for wheelchair users. It was amazing to watch her ability to get around in her chair develop over the summer! In addition to “driving lessons ,” Linda was also learning to play basketball from a wheelchair. Linda also too part in special body building classes designed for kids who used wheelchairs. She went sailing and canoeing in groups made up of kids with limited mobility. Instead of horseback riding, Linda learned to drive a pony cart. I know it sounds like our days were pretty full. There was always time, though, to relax, write letters home, and write in our journals. Monday through Saturday, right after lunch, there was mail call. All three of us were surprised to receive letters from home at the daily “mail call” that first Monday The letters, of course, had been mailed before we had left for camp. Our parents wanted to let us know they were thinking of us. It didn’t take us long to settle into the routine of life at Camp Celebration. Like I said, it was definitely different from what our life had been like last summer. With all the fun we were having, we hardly noticed how much we were learning.. By the end of our first week, Linda had met all of the requirements for her Flying Fish swimming badge. She still kept a kickboard with her in the water, but she no longer needed either the life vest or the special device that lowered her into the lake. Instead, she’d roll her chair down to the dock and ask the lifeguards to thro her in! At first they hesitated, but Linda persisted. When the lifeguards saw how wel shemanaged in thelwater, they no longer had any hesitation about her somewhat unorthodox method of entering the lake. When her swim was over, Linda could now hoist herself up on to the dock. If someone brought her chair close and set the brake, Linda coul climb in unassisted. Linda’s legs were stronger. She’d probably never be able to walk unassisted, but she could manage more easily on crutches. Linda’s legs were of real help to her in swimring, too. She was leaning strokes about as easily as other Flying Fish. Linda’s upper body strength was increasing daily. It had become much more easy for her to “drive” her own chair. Now, she didn’t ask for help except on some of the hills. Teddy and I were getting stronger, also. Our increased strength was helping us swin faster with better endurance. The softball team was struggling. Only a few of the boys could play at all well. The coach was patient, though, and relied on boys like Teddy to work with less skilled kids. All three of us were getting a little sick of typing “asdfjkl;” Before the first week was over, though, the typing teacher was introducing new letters, and we were typing real words. My birthday was coming up in November. I already knew I wanted a typewriter as my gift. We hardly gave a thought to diaper changes. A changing table was rarely far away when you needed one, except if you were out on the nature trail. Even then, the walk to a changing table was not too bad. Most kids didn’t bother leaving the nature trail early if they were only wet, though. You could almost always see evidence of sagging or even leaking diapers on kids coming in from a naTure hike. The nature trail challenged the potty trained kids, too. Many of them had embarrassing accidents there. Some voiced the desire to wear diapers on hikes. Permission to wear diapers for kids who weren’t incontinent had to come from parents, though. The camp staff didn’t want to create diaper dependency in kids who didn’t really need diapers. They never madea big deal of changing wet or even messy clothes. Our first week at camp passed very quickly. Soon we were looking forward to our first parent visiting day. We all wanted to see our families. Some of the kids would be going home, having signed on for only two weeks at camp. New kids would be arriving, some for the rest of the summer, some for shorter stays. Teddy, Linda, and I were very glad we’d signed up for the whole summer.

I don't know that the power of social taboo is demonstrated anywhere more vividly than it is with regard to diapers and who has/has not the right to wear them. As far as I'm concerned, anyone who wants to wear a diaper, for whatever reason, ought to be able to do so unmolested by anyone who might question their need and/or choice. Unless the smell of another person's diaper is consistently offensive, or unless s/he leaks more than very occasionally on seats that others need to occupy, or unless s/he disposes of used diapers in an inappropriate way, I don't see why anyone has to care about another person's diaper wearing. Not all incontinents are conceited, stuck up, or judgmental of others, by the way.

I spend a lot of my free time writing diaper stories and perusing the message boards. And I watch quite a few movies. Have you ever had a diaper on when you really, really, wish you hadn't, or, conversely, not had one on when you really, really wish you had?

The Family Babies -- Chapter 31 -- A Very Special Saturday Hi. Susan again. Watching the bus pull away with Teddy, Gloria, and Linda aboard was a strange feeling. I was happy for them, and not jealous about not going with them. But I had never been away from Teddy overnight before, and now he was going to be away all summer. That was the reason why I felt strange. I suppose Mom and Dad felt strange, too. They were quiet for a minute, until the bus was out of sight. Then Mom and Dad, Uncle Phil and Aunt Bridget, Patty, and I all exchanged goodbyes and returned to our cars. We dropped Patty off at the town swimming pool. She hadn’t gotten the job as Assistant Playground Supervisor -- at 15 she wasn’t considered old enough -- but she had been hired to work at the pool, selling tickets, working in the refreshment stand, and helping clean up. Patty would also have the opportunity to earn her Senior Lifesaving Certificate, and qualify as a lifeguard for next season. Dad and Mom were proud of their oldest child, and told her so as we dropped her off at the front entrance to the pool. “See you later, Honey,” Dad said as Patty shut the car door. “Remember, Dad, I’m going out with some of the kids after work,” Patty said. “I’ll be home by 11:30, I promise.” As we drove away from the pool, Mom turned around in her seat and asked if I ‘d like to have an adventure today. I’d already noticed we weren’t heading in the direction of home. “Sure!” I responded enthusiastically. “I’m always ready for an adventure. Where are we going?” “To Crawford County Park,” Mom explained. You know, there are huge flower gardens to walk in, a petting zoo, and a lake where we might rent a boat.” Crawford County Park sounded like a great idea to me. The 40 minute drive passed quickly. As we pulled into the parking lot, Mom asked “Do you need to have your diaper changed, Susan?” “I think so, but I’m not really sure,” I answered. Could you check and see?” More and more, I was enjoying having my diaper checked. “It’s been more than three hours,” Mom said, pulling the elastic on my plastic pants and checking my diaper. “Oh, yes, this diaper definitely needs changing. You’re a very wet little girl!” I followed Mom to the women’s restroom. She carried the diaper bag. No one else was in the restroom when we entered a stall and shut the door behind us. Mom peed first, then flushed the toilet, closed the lid and stood me on it. “Could you pull up your dress?” Mom asked. “That would help me a lot.” I pulled my dress up and held it. Mom pulled down my plastic pants, unpinned my wet diapers, put them in a plastic bag, then cleaned me up and applied baby lotion. Then she pulled up a fresh set of diapers between my legs and pinned one side to the tab on my tee shirt. Next, she pinned the other side of the diaper to the tee shirt. Then she straightened the diaper, repinned one side for a better fit, fastened the two bottom pins to assure a snug fit around the legs, and pulled my plastic pants up snug around my waist. “All done!” Mom said, helping me to the floor. Mom washed her hands, then held me up to the restroom sink so I could wash mine. I know my plastic pants were clearly visible as I was washing my hands. I didn’t especially care. A woman at the next sink noticed I was diapered and frowned. But she didn’t say anything. Mom and I dried our hands and left the restroom. Dad was waiting for us with a neat surprise. He’d rented a stroller! I was small for my age -- I looked about five, and in diapers might have passed for four. When Dad lifted me into the stroller, I was delighted to see it fit me perfectly “A chariot for our princess!” Dad exclaimed. I smiled, giggled, and wet my diaper. That’s unusual, I thought. I’d just been changed, after all. I won’t even try to describe all the flowers, birds, or butterflies we saw that day at Crawford County Park. What a day! The last time we had visited these gardens, I’d had to walk all day. Today, I rode everywhere. It was grand. After seeing most of the gardens, we went to the petting zoo. Lambs and baby goats are very cute and fun to pet. They don’t smell so good, though. Hmm.. sometimes, neither did I. When we stopped for lunch, I stayed right in my stroller and enjoyed a hamburger, French fries, and strawberry milkshake. After lunch, I felt the urge to poop, so I did, right where I was. It was the first time I had pooped in a diaper while sitting down. “Pooping?” Dad asked, seeing me squirm a little, and grunt the way people sometimes do when they’re pooping. I nodded, and continued focusing on the task at hand. I had discovered it’s easier to poop while standing up, but I didn’t want to go to the trouble of getting out of the stroller. “Let us know as soon as you’re finished, Dad said. Okay?” He went back to his hamburger. It took a few minutes for me to finish pooping. I rested for a minute in the middle of pushing out the load. Like I said, it’s not so easy pooping sitting down in a diaper. “Okay, Daddy, I’m done” I said finally. A family at the next table had noticed what was going on. It was a Mom, Dad, and a son about my age, maybe younger. The son was wide-eyed, obviously surprised to see someone his age pooping in a diaper. There was a line outside the ladies’ room. Dad and Mom discussed the situation briefly, then Dad wheeled my stroller into the men’s restroom. It was the first time I’d been in a men’s restroom. No one else was there at the moment. I asked Daddy what the urinals were, and why there were big mints in them. Dad explained that they were for men and boys, so they could pee standing up. The “mints” weren’t mints at all, but deodorant cakes to keep down the pee smell. “I can pee standing up,” I said proudly. “Hadn’t thought about it, but I guess you can certainly do that in your diaper!” Dad said, lifting me out of the stroller. I waited in a stall while Dad quickly used one of the urinals Dad peed standing up. So did I while I waited for him to come change my diaper. Diaper changing this time was a little different because there was poop all over my butt. Cleaning me up took longer, but Dad was an expert. I was comfortably re-diapered in less than five minutes. Dad helped me wash my hands, washed his, sat me back down in the stroller, and we left the men’s room. The Dad and his son from the next table were coming in as we were leaving. The boy gave me the strangest look! I winked at him. He was holding his crotch, doing the potty dance. I remembered so many times when I had to make a dash to the potty. Diapers were definitely more convenient, when you really had to pee! I wondered what the boy was thinking. At the same time, I reflected on how, not very long ago, I would have been upset beyond belief at the thought of wetting my pants. Now I was doing it -- sometimes on purpose, sometimes by accident -- many times every day, and pooping in my diapers, too. I realized that I didn’t want to think about the time when I would have to go back to wearing regular panties. Of course, I didn’t NEED to think about going back to regular panties, at least not anytime soon. So I sat back in the stroller and sighed happily. “That was a BIG sigh,” Dad remarked. “Want to tell me what it’s about? “Oh, Daddy, I’m just happy!” I said. “Would a boat ride on the lake make you any happier?” Dad asked. “I don’t know if I could POSSIBLY be any happier than I am right now, Daddy,” I answered. “But I’d love a boat ride on the lake!” “So would your Mom and I,” Dad said. “Let’s go rent a boat!” We had to wait for Mom to come out of the ladies’ restroom. As I said, the line was a long one. When she finally did come out, she said “It’s not fair! We women always have to wait on lines to pee, and men hardly ever do!” Dad said “Yeah, I know. It isn’t fair.” “At least I didn’t have to wait!” I said. “True enough!” Mom said, smiling a little. “Maybe I should wear diapers and have Daddy change them.” “I’d do it gladly,” Dad said. “You’ve changed mine often enough.” Oh, but that has always been my pleasure! Mom said, grinning in a way I didn’t often see. “My point, exactly,” Dad said, matching Mom’s grin with one of his own. Then both Mom and Dad remembered I was with them, and began discussing what sort of boat we should rent. We rented a boat called a runabout. Made of wood, the boat was 16 feet long, with seats for four, an outboard motor, and a steering wheel up front. Daddy drove the boat, Mommy sat next to him, and I sat behind them. I wore a life jacket. Mom and Dad had life jackets, but didn’t put them on. We drove all around the lake, poking around in coves and sometimes speeding up down the main body of the lake. After a while, Mom drove, I sat next to her, and Dad sat in the back seat. Then, when it was getting close to time to take the boat back, Dad took the wheel again and let me sit on his lap. “How would you like to steer the boat for a little while?” Dad asked nonchalantly. “Oh, boy!” I answered. “Yes!” Turning the wheel took more muscle than I thought it would. My first attempt at a turn made the boat lurch so badly I thought we’d turn over! My second attempt was much more successful, with Dad’s gentle guidance. I steered the boat for about ten minutes. When I got up from Dad’s lap, I noticed a wet spot on his pants leg. I knew he hadn’t made the wet spot himself. My diaper must have leaked. I was mortified! I hadn’t realized how wet I was. In fact, I remembered wetting my diaper only once the whole time we were out in the boat. “Oh, Daddy, I’m so sorry!” I cried. Dad responded by hugging me. “No big deal, Princess,” he said. “My pants have been wet before, and this won’t be the last time they’re wet. I felt you wetting the first time you tried to turn the boat. You were busy and you didn’t notice. You were having so much fun you probably wet a few times that you didn’t notice. We’ll get you changed as soon as we dock the boat. Please don’t let a little diaper leak ruin a wonderful day!” “Okay, Daddy,” I said. “You’re too good to me sometimes.” “It would be impossible to be too good to you, Susie Q!” Dad said, expertly lining the boat up for a smooth docking. As soon as we were docked, Mom took me to a ladies’ room at the marina. She changed my diaper and put clean plastic pants on me. The plastic pants I’d been wearing were wet. “Sorry, Honey, these are plain white ones,” Mom said, pulling the plastic pants up over my diapered bottom. She was teasing me about my emerging “passion for fashion,” and I knew it. So I decided to play along. I pretended to pout. “Oh, Mommy,” I cried, over-dramatically, “How can I let anyone see me in plain white plastic pants? They’re so ORDINARY!” The scene was ridiculous, of course. I was not a pouty kid at all. and Mom certainly would not have apologized for putting me in plain plastic pants. Both of us laughed out loud. A woman came out of one of the stalls-- she must have heard what we were saying -- and gave Mom the strangest look. The woman looked like she was about to say something. It might have been the warning look Mom gave her that made the woman change her mind and keep quiet. Dad had reclaimed the stroller. He helped me back into it. Then we headed for the parking lot, returned the stroller, and climbed into the car. We stopped at Villa Roma on the way home. All of us liked Italian food, and Dad thought dinner out would be a nice finishing touch to a terrific day. I’d never been out to dinner with just Mom and Dad before. I really did feel like a Princess. I sat on a booster seat so I’d be more comfortable. I wore a paper bib, so that I wouldn’t get sauce on my dress. Mom and Dad wore bibs, too. Just about everyone did at Villa Roma. Lots of good sauce! I enjoyed my spaghetti and meatballs. Mom and Dad had lasagna. We all had salad. I remembered to eat like a proper young lady, wiping my mouth and chin and winding the spaghetti around my fork instead of sucking it in one strand at a time. We all had spumoni for dessert, one of my favorite kinds of ice cream. Not wanting to risk another leak on the way home, I asked Mom to check my diaper. She did, and said I wouldn’t need a change until we got home. The ride home took less than half an hour, but I dozed off almost as soon as the car started moving. I was tired, but very happy. I woke up as Dad was turning the car into the driveway. My diaper felt soggy. I knew I had wet again, so I asked Dad to change me as soon as we were in the house. After I was changed, Mom, Dad, and I watched TV in the living room until 9:00. I sat between them, and each one had an arm around me. I was enjoying myself so much I would have asked to stay up longer. But my eyes were closing and I didn’t resist when Dad carried me upstairs, changed my diaper one more time and tucked me into bed. Mom knew I wouldn’t stay awake long enough to drink a bottle, so she didn’t prepare one. She and Dad kissed me goodnight, turned out the light, and closed my bedroom door. I never heard the door close. I was already asleep.

I've been wearing diapers to work for more than five years. When you're incontinent, you sort of have to.

The theory that continued diaper use causes incontinence has never been proven. I wouldn't worry about becoming incontinent because of wearing diapers. What one CAN become, though, is forgetful. I've talked to several people who, at one time or another, forgot the didn't have a diaper on and absent mindedly wet all over themselves. Of course, there are folks who would consider that kind of "embarrassment" absolutely delightful. Wearing and using diapers is legal in all 50 states, as far as I know. Wouldn't it be nice if more people would be more accepting of it?

When I think of situations that are characterized by both intimacy and vulnerability, few can compare with having one's diaper changed. It can be a beautiful, memorable experience, or a nearly incredible humiliation, can't it?

The Family Babies -- Chapter 30 -- Dolphins, Flying Fish, Rainbow Fish, and Minnows Hi. I’m Linda Casey, Teddy and Linda’s friend, and maybe Teddy’s sort of sweetheart. I’m not going to tell you how all that worked out or didn’t. Not now, anyway. I was 10 years old when the events this story talks about were happening. just a few weeks older than Teddy. I had red hair, green eyes, and legs that didn’t work. I had never walked without crutches, and the doctors said I never would. I got around okay, though, between my crutches and my wheel chair. My plumbing didn’t work like other people’s. It never had. I had always worn diapers. Many kids like me wear them. I had no control at all over wetting. As for pooping, well, I not only didn’t have control, sometimes I made a lot of noise about it, like I did in the last chapter. I learned to make jokes about it a long time ago. My dad taught me how to do that. I inherit my sense of humor from him. I said when I first met them that Teddy and Gloria were different because they were the first kids my age I’d known who wore diapers. Before moving to Mayfield, I went to a school where I was the only diapered kid, and the only one in a wheel chair. I got a lot of attention, but not all of it was the kind I wanted. I’d never been happier than since my family moved to Mayfield. It felt like I was part of Teddy and Gloria’s family. I felt like another cousin, as they put it. Well, Teddy felt like more than a cousin, maybe, but I don’t want to talk about that right now. I don’t know, but I think I was looking forward to going to Camp Celebration more than either Teddy or Gloria. I wanted to go swimming. I wanted to ride in a pony cart, and maybe even on a pony. I wanted to learn to paddle a canoe and sail a sailboat. I wanted to learn how to handle my wheel chair like a pro. There were lots of things I wanted to do and learn. The first order of business was to have a swimming test. I was nervous about being tested in a skill I didn’t have at all. Uncle Jack (my dorm parent) told me not to worry. Everyone knew I’d never been swimming. The test for me would be to see how I handled the special harness and whether I was afraid of the water. I had pretty good upper body strength, and I was known as a gutsy kid, so Uncle Jack’s words cheered me up. So here I was, dressed in my Camp Celebration swimsuit, rolling toward the lake with Teddy and Gloria. Teddy was pushing the chair. I usually let him, even though I could keep the chair moving pretty well on my own. It was one of Teddy’s ways of saying he cared about me. I liked that he cared about me. We knew that swimmers were organized into four groups. The Minnows were beginners, kids who could not swim a stroke. That, I thought, would be me. Rainbow Fish could float and do a few strokes like maybe a doggy paddle for a distance of 50 yards. I figured I could become a Rainbow Fish before the end of the summer. Flying Fish were kids who had mastered basic strokes like the crawl, backstroke, and breast stroke for 200 yards. It was a big jump from Rainbow Fish to Flying Fish. Dolphins could swim 1000 yards using any or all of the basic strokes. They could hold their breath under water for a full minute, and they knew how to enter the water with a clean jump or dive. Teddy and Gloria might already qualify as Dolphins, I thought. They might be the youngest kids to make it. Sure enough, Teddy and Gloria jumped into the lake from the dock, swam to the raft and did some dives from it, well enough to qualify. Then they demonstrated all the strokes in the protected area between the raft and the beach. Finally, with a lifeguard in a rowboat following them, they and all the other kids who were trying to qualify as Dolphins swam a 1000 yard course. They had to use each of the strokes for at least 100 yards, and could use the stroke of their choice the rest of the way. While Teddy and Gloria were swimming the long course, I was helped into a life jacket, then lowered into the water using the special harness they’d used on the day of the open house. The water wasn’t as cold as it had been that day, but it was still cold enough to cause me to wet my diaper. I was asked if I felt safe being released from the harness. I said I’d try it so long as they didn’t leave me there all alone. The lifeguards reassured me they’d never do that. When they released the harness, I floated free in the life jacket. Cool feeling! I liked it right away. They encouraged me to try to paddle some with my arms, and to kick with my legs if I could. I was surprised that my legs did move some, probably not enough to help me move forward, but they didn’t just hang there either. With my arms, I was able to paddle from one lifeguard to the other, a distance of about 25 feet. That was fun! The next step was to first lie on my back wearing the life jacket and try to move, then do the same thing facing forward. Success both ways! Then, while one life guard held me, another unfastened the life jacket. I was kind of skinny, and I didn’t think I’d float. At first, I hung on to the lifeguard for dear life. She convinced me to loosen my grip, finally, and held me out at arm’s length. My feet started kicking to hold me up, which the lifeguard said was great. I had followed a natural reflex. Without letting go of my hands, the life guard asked me to hold my breath while she counted. If I could hold my breath to a count of 30, we’d try it under water. I not only made it to 30, I made it to almost 50! So we tried doing it under water. The first time I let myself sink under the surface, water went up my nose and I came up spluttering, coughing, splashing, and wetting. “Hold my hand with one of yours, and hold your nose with the other hand,” the lifeguard advised me. That time I stayed under the water for 20 seconds. The next time it was 30, then 40 seconds twice. We stopped at 40 seconds for that day. Finally, with a lifeguard standing on either side of me, I was encouraged to lie back and let the water support me. What a feeling that was when I succeeded! (on only the third try.) As I learned to relax, I found I could float for three full minutes. As I was lifted out of the water, I felt exhilarated. After being tested, every camper received a badge to pin on his/her swimsuit to let the lifeguards know their skill level. I expected a minnow. Instead they gave me a “Special Rainbow Fish” badge because I had made so much progress in this first lesson. They told me that, within a week, they were sure I’d qualify for a regular Rainbow Fish badge, and that I had a good chance of making Flying Fish by the end of the summer. Wow! Teddy and Gloria had returned from their swim in time to watch me floating. They applauded loudly, as did some of the others who were watching. They made such a fuss over my Special Rainbow Fish badge that I didn’t notice their own Dolphin badges right away. They’d qualified on the first try. Gloria pushed my chair back to our dormitory. We all showered, washed our hair, and got re-diapered and dressed for dinner. Dinner that night was meat loaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn on the cob, cole slaw, and watermelon for dessert. Good food and lots of it. After dinner, when the plates were cleared away, we all went out to a meadow for the season’s first campfire. We’d sung a song or two when, all of a sudden, I noticed a flash of motion from a house above the meadow moving toward us. Then I saw the flash was an incredibly fast moving wheel chair! In the chair was “Captain Roger” McCormick, the owner and senior director of Camp Celebration. Captain Roger had come to celebrate with us, and, boy, did HE make an entrance! Captain Roger rolled his chair to a position in front of the group, and stopped it short right before the campfire with a fancy 180 degree turn and a little wheelie. Impressive! I couldn’t help seeing that Captain Roger’s legs stopped at the knees. He had a patch over his left eye, and scarring on his face and left arm. Captain Roger didn’t say so, but we learned he had been injured in the Korean War. He’d founded Camp Celebration as a way of doing something good with his life to make up for some of the awful stuff in the world. Captain Roger didn’t need a microphone to be heard by everyone in the crowd -- except the deaf kids, of course. At every meeting in camp all summer, someone would stand in front of the group and translate what was being said into sign language. “Hello, campers!” Captain Roger boomed. “Have you been having a good first day at camp?” A loud chorus of “Yeah’s!” and enthusiastic applause greeted Captain Roger’s question. “Good!” Captain Roger continued. “You’re here to have a good time. You’re also here to stretch your limits, to do things you might not have thought you could do, and learn about fascinating things you might not have known existed. We hope you’ll also make new friends while you’re here.” Captain Roger went on to tell us about some of the things we’d be doing. In addition to swimming, canoeing, crafts, and things like that, there would be activities designed to help all of us manage our individual situations. For kids in wheelchairs, (he said there were 27 of us) Captain Roger promised special “Driver Education” lessons, where we’d learn to maneuver our chairs with more skill -- and maybe show off a little, safely of course. We would also learn to strengthen our upper bodies. That would make it easier for us to get in and out of our chairs, swim, paddle canoes,and do other things, even play basketball. Deaf kids would have lessons in advanced lip reading, advanced sign language and, if they wanted, typing lessons. “It’s important that all of us learn to communicate in as many ways as possible,” Captain Roger said. Kids who weren’t deaf would be allowed to learn sign language and typing, too. Blind kids would be getting what was called “mobility training” to help them learn to get around more easily without getting lost or bumping into things. Kids in diapers --86 out of 120 campers -- would have classes in managing incontinence and learning to live free and happy in a world that didn’t easily accept that some older kids and adults needed to wear diapers. “There are things we can do to show other people we’re very normal folks who don’t need to be ridiculed or feared,” Captain Roger said. “I’m still the same person I was before I started wearing diapers,” he continued. “I’m always looking for new ways to help people understand that.” Toward the end of the summer, Captain Roger told us, we would have a swim meet, canoe race, sailboat race, and softball match with Camp Tall Pines, a camp for so-called “normal” kids that was located across the lake. “Some of the kids at Camp Tall Pines” Captain Roger said ,”have a bad attitude. They make up insulting names for Camp Celebration, names like Camp Stinky Pants or Camp Cripple. We don’t pay much attention to their insults. We just work as hard as we can to win the competition each year. I think this will be one of the years we succeed!” Captain Roger reminded us that there would be church tomorrow for Protestant and Catholic kids. He suggested that it might be good, someltime tonight or tomorrow, to write home and let our folks know we’d arrived safely at camp. Captain Roger made one more suggestion. He invited us to dream. He said “Dream of something you’ve been wanting to but you’ve been told you couldn’t. Write about your dream in your journal, and let’s see if we can make those dreams come true before this summer’s over!” I had a dream, not a huge one, but a dream. I dreamed of swimring to the raft before the end of the summer, and climbing up on it all by myself. After the campfire, and a cowboy movie, which most of the guys liked better than most of the girls, it was time for 8-12 year olds to go to bed. Teenagers could stay up until 11:00 on Saturday night. Gloria and I said good night to Teddy as we headed toward our dorms. I tried “driving” my chair without help, but it was hard work! Reluctantly, I let Gloria push me half the way. I was amazed at how Uncle Jack and Aunt Sally made getting 20 girls, 14 of whom wore diapers, ready for bed look like it was no work at all. It felt, while I was being changed, like I was the only person Aunt Sally had to care for. Camp diapers felt different from the diapers I was used to, but they weren’t uncomfortable, and they hadn’t leaked on me yet. I noticed that Chester came by, collected all the used diapers and plastic pants, and dropped off clean ones. I started a letter to Mom and Dad, but started falling asleep with my pen in my hand before I’d written a line. So I rolled my chair over next to my bed, locked the wheels, and pulled myself out of the chair and into bed. I fell asleep almost instantly, and didn’t wake up until morning. So far, I thought as I was falling asleep, Camp Celebration is a REALLY cool place.

Hi, Light Angel... I can understand your wanting to be a diapered four or five year old instead of a baby. Kids that age can be more interesting, and, yes, a few are still in diapers. There are those with medical problems, and also those who have been willful enough to resist potty training. Welcome to Daily Diapers. You'll be an interesting member of the group, I think.

Interesting point, Mike. Others have said the same. I guess for folks like you the fact of being in diapers triggers something in your mind that allows you to wet. I guess it's good that the "switch" is turned off when you're not in a diaper.

I suppose it's a matter of individual preference. Val, I appreciate your situation, certainly. But I prefer the standing position. Seems easiest for me.

I travel a lot also, and diapers have been noticed in my carry on luggage. But no one has ever said anything. I had assumed security personnel were trained in how to respond when they encountered a diapered adult. I didn't think they were supposed to say anything. I hope I wasn't wrong. That young agent was out of order.

Does she simply enjoy wearing them? Or does she like to wet them, too?

I agree, you should see a doctor. In the meantime, "adult protective underwear" wouldn't be a bad idea. They're not overly expensive, and they'd offer some degree of protection. You didn't say how much you were wetting, so I don't know if it would be enough protection.

The Family Babies -- Chapter 29 -- Camp Celebration This is Teddy again. During the last day or two before we left for camp, I read, reread, and pestered Mom and Dad about making sure we’d done everything we were supposed to do. I suppose, by the time Gloria, Linda, and I waved goodbye from the bus windows, they were happy to be rid of us. The instructions told us to be sure we had our names printed on all our clothes with indelible laundry markers. A machine at the gift shop had already stenciled all our camp uniforms with our names. We needed to stencil everything else we were bringing, including the diapers and plastic pants we’d be wearing on the bus. All diapered campers should board the bus diapered sufficiently for at least a five hour period, preferably six. Parents were reminded that campers might be wetting more heavily than usual because of the excitement of the day, and to please take this fact into account. Diaper changing was available on the bus, of course. Diaper changing on a moving on a bus, though, wasn’t especially convenient. If possible, then, campers should plan to make the trip without a change. Soiled diapers would of course, be changed immediately. The diapers and plastic pants campers arrived in would be washed, folded, and packaged to be worn again on the trip home. Snacks and drinks would be served on the bus, but campers were reminded to eat a good breakfast before boarding. Any special dietary requirement should have been made known to the camp director when the camper was enrolled. The camp staff would make sure that snacks were available for all special diets. Campers were to be carrying copies of doctor’s certificates, parental permission forms, lists of medications they were taking and any treatment plans they needed to follow. The medications themselves were to be delivered by parents to the camp staff member assigned to each bus. Refrigeration was provided for insulin and other medications requiring temperature control. Telephone contact information for both parents needed to be on file with the camp office. Any parents who had not provided this information previously could give it to the camp staff member assigned to each bus. Campers should bring a supply of stamped , addressed postcards and/or envelopes and stationery to be used for writing home. there would, the instructions said, be plenty to write home about! A waterproof flash light and extra batteries were required for all campers. These could be purchased at camp or brought from home. A notebook or diary of some kind was recommended but not required. Cameras were permitted, as were binoculars, although the camp provided both cameras and binoculars for nature study. There were photography classes available for everyone. Campers who were interested and mature enough to handle the equipment could learn to develop photographs. Campers were not allowed to carry cash. When we had registered, our parents had deposited money in our camp account which we could use to buy candy, film, comic books, and other items from the gift shop. Additions to campers’ accounts could be made by mail. I had memorized the instructions. I was bringing two notebooks, three ball point pens, my binoculars, enough stationery to allow me to write home nearly every day, and the new Brownie camera Mom and Dad had bought for my birthday in May. I was now officially ten years old. I had four rolls of film for the camera, and hoped to be able to buy more. Taped to the inside cover of my larger notebook were photographs of Mom, Dad, Patty, and Susan. Susan had asked that she be photographed wearing diapers, because that was how she wanted all of us to think of her, at least for now. I suggested that I wear both a set of night diapers AND a set of day diapers for the trip. I’d never been diapered that heavily during the day, and I knew the extra diapers might make walking a little interesting, but I didn’t want to be the only one to have to have his diapers changed on the bus. “Sometimes, Teddy, you’re a real worry wart!” Linda had said when we were discussing preparations for camp. “If you have to be changed on the bus, it’s no big deal. Why get so concerned about it? I thought I’d taught you better than that!” My red-haired diaper buddy and sort of sweetheart HAD been a very positive influence on my and Gloria’s attitude toward wearing diapers. “Okay, I’ll stop worrying,” I said, “but I’m still gonna wear extra diapers.” Gloria, too, planned to wear extra diapers. If anything, Gloria had been more of a worry wart in the past than I was. She had tried hard to be best at everything. Both Linda and I wondered if Gloria would be uptight about being the dryest diapered camper. Gloria surprised both Linda and me in that regard. “I’m not going to make any effort to stay dry or to avoid pooping,” Gloria said. “This summer is about having fun, and I’m gonna have fun!” Even if I pass gas or poop my diaper when we’re having church on Sunday, it won’t bother me. That statement marked quite a change from the Gloria who wouldn’t ask permission to wear diapers to school last September. I hoped I could learn to become as relaxed as Gloria already seemed to be. I was up before dawn on the day we were to leave for camp. I tried hard to poop so I wouldn’t have to do it on the bus. I succeeded, too. Twice. Two poopy diapers in an hour and a half. The second one was hardly wet when I asked Patty to change it. It was plenty poopy enough, though. Patty remarked about how easy changing was with me wearing my camp uniform shirt. I wasn’t wearing snap crotch pants, but pulling my shorts up and down was no problem. My diapers were pinned to my tee shirt, like they always were. The snaps in the crotch of my camp tee shirt kept the diapers even more snug than usual. Even wearing the extra diapers, the snaps on the tee shirt closed easily. And the tee shirt would never become untucked. I was feeling too excited to eat breakfast. Mom reminded me of the instructions, though, and I calmed down enough to eat a bowl of cereal, a cheese omelette, and a piece of toast. Oh, and I had a glass of orange juice, too. We were all going to Mayfield Center, where the bus was scheduled to leave at 8:00. Everyone was ready, and had eaten breakfast by 7:30. Even Susan had been up on time, had her shower, been dressed and diapered, and finished breakfast on time. Susan had pooped in her night diaper, as she often did, so she probably wouldn’t need to be concerned about a messy diaper for a while. By the way, Susan was awfully cute in a light green sun dress with white trim. The dress was short enough that her white, ruffled plastic pants sort of played peek-a-boo. I supposed that’s what ruffled plastic pants are for, being noticed. Susan was wearing white ribbons in her light brown hair, hair, and white sandals. She looked adorable! She also looked like she was almost five, instead of nearly eight. Both Susan and I looked quite a bit younger than we were. “Wow, Sue!” I exclaimed. “You’re going to be the prettiest girl at the bus station!” I said. Susan gave me her prettiest smile. “I’m having fun, Teddy!” Susan said. “I can’t explain it, really, but everything I’ve been doing since the day of the open house has been making me SO happy! Thanks for not making fun of me for trying to be little again.” “Aww...” my face turned pink. “It’s been kind of fun for me watching it all, Sue. I can hardly wait to find out what adventures you will have had by the next time I see you.” “That will be in two weeks,” Susan said, “on visiting day. Maybe I’ll have a surprise for you!” “You’re not going to the farm?” That was news to me. “No, not now at least. Maybe Mom and I will go later. Patty can’t go, ‘cause she’s working, and you’re not going. So Mom and me thought we’d see what a summer at home was like. I can go to the playground and the pool, and see my friends.” “What do your friends think about you being back in diapers?” I had to ask, I was too curious not to. “Billy Walker has been teasing me, but, funny thing, he comes around a lot more often than he used to, Susan said. “Some of my girlfriends tell me they think it’s weird, but they all still play with me,” she added. “They want to play house a lot, and guess who gets to be the baby? I always had to be a mommy before, and once even a Daddy when we couldn’t get any boys to play. The kids like having a baby who really wets and poops. None of the moms will let them change my diapers, though. An adult has to do that” “You’re not going potty at all anymore?” “Not since the morning oi the open house. That was two weeks ago. I’ve only gone in my pants since then. Mom and Dad both said it’s okay, as long as I don’t make a fuss about getting my diaper changed. I like all the attention I get getting changed. One way to get people to notice you for sure is to poop your pants!” “Yeah, I know!” I said. “I’ve always had more attention than you because I wear diapers. I’ll bet that made you mad sometimes.” “Not mad, Teddy. I knew it wasn’t your fault. But I did want to know what all that attention felt like.” “I guess now you do?” I said, a bit of a question in my voice. “Yeah, I’m starting to,” Susan admitted. “And, Teddy, I REALLY like it!” In that instant, I saw more clearly than I’d ever seen before how differently Susan and I had been treated. She was the good girl, obedient, rarely giving anyone any trouble, often unnoticed. I had always received special attention all the time because I wore diapers and diapers demanded constant attention. At nearly eight years old, Susan had found a way to get the kind of attention she had always seen me receiving. What Susan was doing might not make sense to a whole lot of people, but I was beginning to understand I looked at my “baby sister” with new respect -- and admiration. “I’m happy for you, Susan. I really am.” Dad had the car loaded and it was time to go. We were the first one to arrive at Mayfield Center. Gloria and her parents arrive a few minutes after us. Linda’ family followed a few minutes later. There were also three other families from other towns waiting for the bus. We didn’t know any of them. A girl on crutches had probably had polio. She looked about 9 or 10, close to our age. A boy signing with his Mom and Dad was likely deaf. He looked 8 or 9, but I barely looked 7, so I couldn’t be sure. Another boy, who seemed “normal” except for an obvious diaper bulge looked about my sister Patty’s age. He came over and introduced himself. “Hi, I’m Larry. I guess this your first time at Camp Celebration? “Yeah,” we all said, and introduced ourselves. “You’re gonna love it,” Larry said. “I’ll be a junior counselor this year. I’m 15, and this will be my fourth summer at camp.” Larry introduced us to Wendy, the girl on crutches, and Stan, who couldn’t hear but could read lips and understand everything we said. Stan could talk, too, although his speech sounded different from most people’s. The bus rolled up at 7:55. Hugs were shared all around, and I thought I saw both Mom and Dad wiping a little tear. Suitcases, wheelchairs, and crutches were loaded in the lugdage compartment. A big, strong man named Chester came off the bus and carried Linda and Wendy aboard. Gloria sat next to Linda. I sat across the aisle, next to Stan. About 20 kids, including the six of us, were on the bus. We waved to our families as the bus left Mayfield Center. We were on our way to camp! The trip took longer than it would in a car. We made four more stops. Between four and eight kids got on at every stop, until the bus was full. Chester, the big, strong man who had carried Linda and Wendy aboard, worked at the camp. We would learn that he was a very kind man. Nick and Karen were also aboard the bus. They were camp counselors. it looked like both were wearing diapers. Nick wore a brace on his right leg. We sang the silly songs all kids sing on camp buses. We had snacks and drinks. Some of us had to have our diapers changed, and all of us dozed off now and then. Gloria pooped. It wasn’t an especially nasty load, but she pushed the call button by her seat and told Nick she needed to have her diaper changed when he came by to see what was up. Nick took her to the back of the bus, changed her diaper, and had her back in her seat in less than five minutes. “That wasn’t bad at all,” Gloria said, commenting on the experience. By the time we reached camp, my diapers were pretty well soaked. I suppose most kids’ diapers were soaked. Ours was the first bus to arrive at camp. We gathered at the flag pole to receive our dormitory assignments. Junior counselors showed us where the different dorms were. Gloria and Linda were bunking together. I was in a dorm where the only guy I knew was Stan. We were still learning to communicate. I was a little scared, and tried not to show it. As we entered our dorm, we were greeted by a man and woman who were “dorm parents.” They lived in a little suite that was part of our dormitory. They asked us to call them Uncle Pete and Aunt Marie. Nine guys from our bus were assigned to this dorm. Only three were potty trained. The rest of us were in diapers. The three kids who were potty trained went off to the bathroom. The rest of us lined up for diaper changes. The diapers were a little different from what I was used to wearing, but not bad. The plastic pants were plain white with one blue stripe near the middle. The pants were really soft, easy to wear. I liked them. “You almost didn’t make it without a leak!” Aunt Marie said as she tossed my diapers into the large diaper pail. “There’s not one dry spot on these diapers. I hope you weren’t afraid to ask for a diaper change on the bus!” “i did want to see if I could make it without one,” I said. Next time I’ll ask for a change.” “Better to have a diaper change than to have to change ALL your clothes,” Aunt Marie said. “I know a lot of you kids are tired of having to have your diapers changed. We try to make it a pleasant experience.” “You’re nice,” I said. You remind me of our school nurse.” “I AM a school nurse,” Aunt Marie said. “Uncle Pete and I have been working here in the summer since the camp opened.” With the last pin fastened, she pulled up my plastic pants. Finished changing my diaper, Aunt Marie helped me down from the table. We found our beds and began putting away our things, which had been brought up from the bus. I wrote a few lines about the trip in my notebook. Then Uncle Pete led us to Big Timbers, where chicken soup, grilled cheese sandwches, chocolate chip cookies, apples, and milk were being served for lunch. Each bus load of campers would be fed soon after they arrived. The second bus was pulling up now. I looked at my watch. It was 1:00 PM exactly. I found Gloria and Linda in Big Timbers. We ate together. Gloria and Linda had been assigned beds next to each other. They were already settled in. Like me, they’d both had their diapers changed in their dorms. Their dorm parents’ names were Uncle Jack and Aunt Sally. “These diapers are folded differently from what we’re used to,” Gloria said. “But I like them well enough. The plastic pants are really soft.” “Softer than what I’m used to,” Linda agreed. “My hinee says thanks!” Gloria and I couldn’t help laughing. Linda could make anything funny. After lunch, everyone who was physically able helped clear the tables. We were free to do whatever we wanted until 4:00, when we’d have our swimming test. “I didn’t study,” Linda said. “I’m gonna flunk!” Actually, Linda was looking forward to her first swimming lesson. Until the day of the open house, she’d never been in a lake or pool. We decided to check out the nature trail. It was a big loop that went about half a mile into the woods. A bridge on the trail crossed a creek where there was an abandoned beaver dam. Some of the trees and plants had signs with their names printed on them. We could see some animal tracks on either side of the trail. We explored until 3:30. Linda’s chair rolled easily over the path, so we had no trouble moving around. As we were starting to head back to the dormitories, Linda passed some noisy gas. All three of us giggled. Farts, I guess, have always made kids giggle. The noisy gas was just the preliminary, though, as it so often was. Linda scrunched up her face and filled her diaper. “There, “ she said. “That feels a lot better. Better out than in, I always say.” “True enough,” I agreed. We were almost back at the dorms before Linda and Gloria realized the poop smell wasn’t all coming from Linda. Without the fanfare that had accompanied Linda’s pooping, I had pooped my diaper, too. “Sneaky!” Linda said. “Can’t take you anywhere,” Gloria added. I smiled. “It’s nice when someone else’s diaper gets noticed more than mine. I appreciate you, Linda.” The rules said you always had to have your diaper changed before going swimming unless the one you were wearing was absolutely dry. I was soaking wet and messy, so of course I went to be changed. There was no line of kids waiting to be changed, so Uncle Pete changed my diaper right away. “We have a Super Duper Pooper Club here, Uncle Pete said. You’re going to qualify for membership.” It took me a minute to realize Uncle Pete was only kidding. Freshly diapered, and wearing my swim suit and beach sandals, I went down to the lakefront to wait for Linda and Gloria.

Consider this, Inconlady... when the urge to be here becomes overwhelming, and you find yourself neglecting other work you need to do, could you, perhaps, be trying to soothe an inner hurt or fill a deep need? Sounds like you're a bit harsh with yourself, when maybe you're just doing what you need to do. Anyway, I enjoy reading what you have to share.