“Look honey, I know this is kind of weird. You are lucky she didn’t want to talk to you about this. I hardly knew what to say myself.”

Ted had thought that for once, everything was going as normal. He had left for work, and had a pretty good day. Dinner had been good, and everything had seemed normal. Then when he had finally gotten into bed and turned out the light, his wife tells him that his daughter wants to start wearing diapers again.

“Yeah, well it is probably just as good she came to you, I have no idea what I would have said. How on earth did this come up?” Ted asked in a puzzled tone.

“Well Julia came up to me and asked if she could talk to me about something. Then she asks me if I remember the trying policy, and I start thinking ‘oh no, my daughter is about to tell me she wants to try smoking or something’. I had to work pretty hard to get her to talk about it at all. I had to follow her into her room and really coax it out of her. She was really scared that we would think she is weird.”

“Well, if you ask me wanting to wear diapers is a little weird.” Ted said matter of factly.

“Well honey, I can think of a few things that you tend to enjoy that a lot of people, your daughter certainly, would find more than a bit weird.” Shirley said in a semi sarcastic tone, and gave her husband a sly little look that only married couples who’ve had their share of bedroom fun and games can have.

“Well, yeah, OK I can see your point, but still.” Ted said defensively.

“Still what?” Shirley responded questioningly.

“Well, still, um, well I don’t know. But you can’t be seriously considering putting Julia back in diapers? I mean she is 15. I don’t even think they make diapers that big.”

“Ted, first of all I can guarantee you that they make diapers that would fit Julia. I mean, you don’t think that in this whole world there are no people our daughter’s age who still wear diapers? I know for a fact that there are diapers out there that will fit Julia. Second of all, yes, I am seriously considering it.” Shirley added this last part with a bit of determination.

“Ok, maybe you can explain to me why on earth you would think it might be a good idea to put our daughter back in diapers.”

Shirley sat up and turned on the light next to her side of the bed. Ted knew he was about to get a speech that had probably been rehearsed. Any time Shirley sat up in bed and turned on the light, it meant she had something to say. Ted and Shirley had a very good relationship, one that was built in no small part of good communication. Over the years, Ted had learned when to pay attention. This was one of those times.

“OK?” Shirley asked.

Ted kind of smiled and shrugged. He nodded his head to let his wife know that he was taking her seriously.

“First of all” Shirley began, “I think that it is very important that we show Julia that it’s OK for her to come to us with things that she feels uncomfortable about. I mean, how great is it that our daughter felt comfortable coming to us, well to me, about something so personal? I saw how hard it was for her to talk about. And I think it is really important that we show her that we support her coming to us. I mean, who knows what will happen in the next few years Ted? I want my daughter to know she can come to us about anything.”

“Well,” Ted agreed “I can certainly see your point there, although I really don’t like to think about anything bad like that.”

“Yeah, me neither, but I think it will do us a world of good if we show Julia that coming to us is the best thing.” Shirley took a breath and continued, “Second of all, there is the whole trying policy. I mean if we are serious about it, shooting her down when she wants to use it is a pretty bad idea.”

“I thought the trying policy was about stuff like drinking?” Ted added

“Well, I thought so too, but when I think about it now, I can see how Julia got the idea. I mean, what did we really tell her? As I recall the concept was this: If you want to try something, we want you to come to us. We will let you try it on our terms, and you won’t get in trouble. We never said anything specifically about what it was that she might want to try.”

“True.” Ted admitted.

“And well, here she has done what we had hoped she would do. I am worried that if we say no, it will be the first and last time we ever get asked to use the trying policy, and I think we both can agree that that is not what we want.”

Ted had to admit that his wife did have a point. The whole trying policy had in fact been his idea and he had gotten it from his own father. He still remembered the first time he asked his dad if he could try a cigarette. His dad had laughed and said fine. The next day, with his father instructing him (and laughing as he turned green), Ted had smoked his first and last cigarette. This train of thought gave him an idea. Before he could say it, Shirley started again.

“And Ted, you know what else? The more I think about it, the more convinced I become that we should do it. I mean, what harm is it going to do anybody if our daughter is wearing a diaper? With the clothes they wear these days, I can’t imagine that anybody is even going to notice. Plus we really should reward Julia for coming to us, not punish her.”

“Yeah, I agree” said Ted. “It’s just that I can’t believe that we are rewarding her by putting her in diapers.”

“Well, yeah, I will admit it is a bit different. But it’s what she wants. And like I said, it is certainly not hurting anybody. Although I do have to admit, I am not looking forward to having to change her.”

“I don’t even want to think about that.” Ted added quickly.

Shirley looked at her husband, and asked in a voice not unlike that of her daughter, “Well honey, I think we should do it, at least to show her that we support her. What do you think?”

“Well, I can’t believe I am saying this, but I guess you are right.”

“Ted, I think it is for the best. So are we agreed?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“Good, but I am not sure how we should go about doing this. I mean, how you think we should approach this?”

For the first time in the conversation, Ted felt like he had a good answer.