Chapter 5
“Wakey, wakey.”
You dimly register the words before snuggling more deeply into your bedcovers. You can feel some hair tickling your nose, so without any thought brush it behind your ear and try to go back to sleep. But, even after rushing it away, it’s still tickling your nose. You can hear a light laugh as you groggily open your eyes to find your vision obscured by Bow Kid’s hair, and the source of whose hair was ticking your nose.
“Sorry, but you’re going to have to get up.”
You register the voice as mum’s.
“Mum — mummy ,” you say tiredly, shuffling up your pillow to look over Bow Kid.
As Bow Kid Stirs, you spot mum sitting at the edge of your bed in her PJs.
“Sorry, sweetie, but we’ve got to get up early today,” she says apologetically. “We’ve got to get to the shops to get some supplies before your friend gets here.”
Bow Kid pushes herself up, rubbing the tiredness out of her eyes.
“Oooh,” says Bow Kid in comprehension. “We’ve seeing Moustache Girl today!”
Mum laughs at the name.
“Come on, lets get you two some brekkie.”
Following mum to the kitchen, you both waddle behind her in your wet nappies. Mum gets some cereal from the cupboard and milk from the fridge, before setting out some bowls, letting you and Bow Kid pick your favourites.
“What do you think we could do today?” Bow Kid asks over breakfast as mum has a quick shower.
“There’s lots of stuff,” you reply. You don’t know exactly what you will do, but there are lots of things to do. “We could keep playing the spaceship game with the chef gangsters. We could also go an adventure. We could make costumes for an adventure too. There’s loads of stuff.”
Bow Kid seems to light up with each suggestion. She seems excited but also clearly thinking of other things you can do.
Soon, mum is back and changed into her clothes for the day. She’s still drying her hair with a towel when she smiles at the two of you.
“Lets get you two changed and dressed,” she says.
Going to your room, your mum gets Bow Kid in a clean nappy before moving onto you. She helps you get your PJ bottoms off and then makes quick work of your wet nappy.
“Have you got enough clean clothes, sweetie?” mum asks of Bow Kid.
“Umm —” she replies, before looking in her bag and pulling out a dress. “I’ve only got this,” she says, holding it up.
“Alright — when we get back, I’ll wash all your clothes.”
Mum then goes to your wardrobe and pulls some things out. After selecting a white t-shirt and a dark-purple romper, she helps you get into it.
“Got enough socks?” she asks Bow Kid again.
Bow Kid looks thoughtful before looking through her bag again. She eventually turns it upside down and shakes her head, looking slightly worried.
“It’s okay, there are plenty of clean socks around here,” your mum reassures her, patting the spot on the bed next to you.
As Bow Kid sits, mum goes to your drawers and grabs two pairs of socks. She helps Bow Kid get her shoes on, then helps you as well.
T_T_T
“So, I was thinking that you two might like to pick a nappy design.”
You’re waiting at the traffic lights, not far from the shops when mum asks you.
The question makes you give mum a surprised look before glancing at Bow Kid. She squirms slightly in a happy but slightly embarrassed way.
“What kind of designs?” you ask.
“All sorts,” Bow Kid explains. “But it’s been ages since I looked.”
Mum smiles at you from the rear-view mirror.
“I’m sure that you two will want to pick something cute out, right?”
It sounded nice, but at the same time, it was slightly embarrassing to think someone might see you with a big box of nappies. It seems to show on your face.
“Don’t worry, sweetheart. No one is going to care about the nappies.”
The words reassure you slightly, and you are further assured when you find Bow Kid smiling at you. You suddenly remember that Bow Kid’s mummy had bought her nappies loads of times.
“Okay, mummy,” you quietly agree, to Bow Kid’s wider smile.
Parking and then grabbing a trolley, you and Bow Kid ride on the front again as mum pushes you into the store. As she goes past, she grabs some things like bread and milk, before detouring past the snacks aisle. There she grabs some sweet things and some chips.
“For later,” she tells you.
Soon, she wheels you past the toothbrushes and shampoo, and into the nappy section. Getting off the trolley, you nervously look around, before Bow Kid surprises you and takes your hand.
You mum immediately grabs baby powder before looking over the other items. You’re not sure what the other packet of things she grabs is before she puts both in the trolley. After several seconds of scanning the shelves, mum crouches down to your level.
“I know you guys said you didn’t want pullups, but how about I get a small packet just for today? Then you won’t have to worry so much about getting changed while your friend is here.”
You glance at Bow Kid who is chewing her lip.
“They leak,” she says.
You mum gives her a kind smile.
“When you sleep on them?” mum asks her. “I think they’ll be okay if you’re standing up. This way you can slip into the bedroom and put on a dry nappy when you need to.”
It does sound like a good idea to you. This way you won’t need to go find mum to change you and then have to explain it to Moustache Girl.
“I’ll still get you tape-ups, so if it doesn’t work out, I’ll get you changed into them. Okay?”
“Okay,” Bow Kid agrees and you nod too.
Standing up, mum grabs a small packet of pull up nappies and puts them in the trolley.
“So, what nappies do you want?” Mum grabs some packs from the shelves and lets you get a look. “We’ve got Minnie Mouse, Disney Princess, and Sesame Street.”
Mum sets the packets down in front of you to take a look before turning back to the shelves.
“Ooh, I want this one,” says Bow Kid, holding up the princesses.
You smile alongside Bow Kid as she looks at the artwork.
“Now that’s cute,” says you mum, reaching for another packet.
She crouches down in front of you again and holds it up. The designs are of animals.
“These ones have got animal faces on your bum,” she explains humorously.
You giggle at that, quickly followed by Bow Kid. Bow Kid reaches out for the packet and mum hands it to her. Looking over Bow Kid’s shoulder, you can see what mum means.
“Can we get these?” Bow Kid asks.
You nod as well. They seem really cool.
“Sure can.”
Mum then picks up the other packets and sets them back on the shelve, as Bow Kid puts the packet in the trolley. Mum laughs lightly.
“I think we’ll need a bigger packet.”
You and Bow Kid look up at mum curiously.
“Twenty four is a lot, isn’t it?” you ask.
Mum smiles knowingly.
“You two easily need four nappies each per day,” she explains, holing up a hand. “That’s eight total per day. Eight plus eight is sixteen, and sixteen plus eight is twenty-four.” As she counts each lot of eight, she raises a finger for each day. She pauses a moment as you think about the maths. “So, that’s only three days.” She wiggles three fingers for emphasis.
Mum then pulls the packet out of the trolley and places it on the shelve, before grabbing a bigger box and putting it in the trolley.
“This box has got one-hundred and eight nappies in it.” That sounds like a really big number to you. “That’s enough nappies to keep you two dry for two weeks.”
