Column: Something About Nothing

I heard a little tidbit on the news the other day that amazed me. Although I don’t know why I was surprised considering the fascination people have with designer labels. The little tidbit on the news was: Designer Cynthia Rowley has created a line of designer diapers for Pampers. Apparently Huggies already has designer diapers and Pampers did not want to be left lagging.

My first thought was “Why would you want designer diapers? Isn’t that carrying things a little too far?”

I decided to investigate and checked on the new designs that Pampers has. There were 11 designs of the diapers to choose from. My why-do-you-need-them attitude changed immediately. I loved the frilly pink diaper that looked like it had ruffles on it. They were so cute! Should you feel I am favoring the girls the boy’s designs were awesome too.

I don’t have any grandkids in diapers anymore but if I did I would have been converted to buying a designer diaper or two once in awhile.

Diapers have come into their own. When I had my first child some 40 years ago I started with plain, white cloth diapers. Once in awhile I put cute rubber pants over the diapers but it wasn’t so important to have him look good in his diapers. All I cared about was that they were clean and dry. Sorry Matt, I know you have always liked looking good so you might have liked designer diapers or at least something other than white.

Disposable diapers were just starting to be used when I had my first child. By the time I had my second child disposable diapers were the way to go. They hadn’t quite perfected the legs so occasionally they didn’t fit quite right. Shopping for disposable diapers was no problem. At that time they were always white. The decision making part was to decide what brand to buy.

By the time my daughter was born the tabs on the disposable diapers were much easier to use but I don’t remember any patterns or colors.

I have to admit by the time my grandchildren were born I had to get an education. I had no idea what a diaper genie was and play pens were now “pack ’n’ plays”. Kids didn’t get to play with tin toys anymore and walkers were forbidden in the house. I think my boys remembered the time their sister decided to go down the basement steps with her walker to meet her dad coming half way up. It was a close call and a good thing dad was a good catcher.

When I had grandkids I had learn how to change these new fangled diapers all over again. Grandpa had a hard time telling the front from the back. Diapers don’t work quite as well if they are on backwards. Diapers had graduated to having ducks or Sesame Street.

Apparently diapers have arrived in our culture so we needed designer diapers. These designer diapers also seem to be more expensive than non-designer diapers. Kids can start with designer diapers and move up to designer kids clothes. Recently there was a conversation that some young girls were having about the cost of a skirt that was overheard by an adult. These girls were discussing how much a skirt had to cost to be worthy of being acceptable. The acceptable price for a skirt for a young lady that isn’t a teenager yet was $40. Will designer diapers change a kid’s attitude toward their future clothing choices? Is it all in the name “designer” and in the price?

I can’t leave Huggies designer diapers out of my story. I happen to think their cute diapers that look like jeans are adorable.

I do have to be honest. If I were a young parent and I could afford it I would buy those cute ruffle designer diapers. They would be perfect under that cute, pink, ruffled dress that I would choose for my daughter. Did I mention I might not have had designer diapers to finish off the outfit but I did manage to find many pink ruffled dresses? I can’t understand why my daughter doesn’t like pink and runs when I point to a ruffle.

Wells resident Julie Seedorf’s column appears every Monday. Send email to her at thecolumn@bevcomm.net.