Never Leave Soiled Diaper in the Bathroom

“Kak, someday when you have children of your own, remember this - never leave soiled diaper in the bathroom”

Our helper had been complaining to Mak about the extra job she had to undertake whenever one of my aunties with babies or toddlers come to stay over at our place – taking care of soiled diapers left in the bathroom

“But Mak, maybe the mother had intended to take them all out to the garbage bin in one go but had forgotten to do so before she leave”

“No. Young kids depend on their parents. When they are hungry, you feed them. When they want to sleep, you lull them to sleep. When they soil their diapers, you change them. And then you discard the diapers immediately, not simply leaving them re-folded on the bathroom’s floor. That’s very unhygienic as well as insensitive,” Mak was adamant.

Well, our helper called the practice of leaving soiled diapers in the bathroom as ‘jorok’ (filthy). Most of diaper changing had been performed in the bathroom on the ground floor – the one she makes use of daily. Thus, most of the time, our helper ended up taking care of the dirty business once the houseguests had left.

“She could have asked any of her older kids to put the dirty diapers in plastic bags and take them out to the garbage bin. But simply leaving them on the floor, not even bagged properly, they caused bad odour. Sometimes the stench could get very nauseating- and the bathroom is just next to the kitchen…” I remember our helper complained not long ago.

Missing her two-year old daughter who she had to leave in Medan, our helper initially welcomed the chance to play with and pamper my two-year old cousin when my auntie and her family stayed with us for a couple of days recently. But the dirty diaper thingy was something she badly wished she could have done without.

The day my auntie went back home, I returned home to find a super stinking toilet – a soiled diaper was left in my bathroom. Despite her tender age, my two-year old cousin was keen on trying and munching anything edible, so the diaper was understandably putrid. After securing the rotten-smelling diaper in a bag and dumped it in the garbage bin outside the house, I sprayed and re-sprayed the toilet with air freshener to get rid of the left-over odour.

As I entered my room, I remind myself to jot an additional note in the little book I’ve bought years ago at a car boot sale for a couple of pennies entitled “101 Things I Wish I knew Before I Had Children”. I think I shall add in - “never leave soiled diaper in the bathroom”.