Do something that you already do, but with more energy, including some creative and different elements
I tried today. I did my best to change my youngest son’s diaper with more energy. I sang some Bach as I took away the old one. He peed. I cleaned up the pee his mother’s handkerchief. (Oh the creativity!) I put some zinc cream on his foot. I found a new diaper with energetic hand movements. I sang some Britney Spears while making funny faces. I pretended to put the old diaper in the toilet bowl. I found the worst possible combination of clothes, stripes and squares in unharmonious colours. (At least I thought it was a bad combination, but I wouldn’t trust my own judgment when it comes to clothing.) I carried him downstairs sideways, almost up-side down.
Can’t say that changing a diaper with more energy and with creative elements made much of a difference. I have changed a few thousand in my life, and I doubt I’ll find a better way just by doing things differently. And energy? Diaper changing is about conserving energy, it’s about not falling asleep and not letting the baby roll off, it’s about cleaning up the mess and putting on the diaper so that it won’t leak. It’s not about needlessly spending more energy — especially when the baby is six weeks old and barely knows how to smile (and smiles more to the shower curtains anyway).
I’ve probably got something like a thousand diapers left before all our kids know how to control their bladders (more or less). I won’t spend those hours aiming for perfectionism, nor for lots of energy and creativity. I’ll just change diapers and do it good enough.
Someone once told me that everything you do, is worth doing well. The diaper case proves that that is nonsense.
On Old Age 