Here's a nice, heartwarming Mother's Day story for you! This Sunday, police got called to a Denver Starbucks after a baby being changed on the seating area situation turned ugly. Really?
The whole thing is a wee bit Jerry Springer, what with the name calling and the "hand gestures." Watch for yourself:
I particularly love the reenactment of the Venti coffee being thrown on the floor!
Little Thiago shall have some special Mother's Day memories, indeed! But all that classy drama aside, the basic problem here is that babies should NOT BE CHANGED in public eating areas. Full stop. No ifs, ands, or buts!
Come on, fellow moms. It's really not that hard to carry a portable changing pad with you. Simply place it on the floor of the bathroom, place the baby on the pad, and change your baby's diaper. Amazing! If you really can't stand the thought of your little snowflake being that close to the floor (and trust me, she'll be fine), then simply walk out to your car and do the deed on the backseat. Once done, return to your nice Starbucks and finish your coffee. You've earned it! (Don't have a car with you? Then bathroom floor it is!) In a couple of years, all this will be behind you, and you'll feel nostalgic for your jam-packed diaper bag. Honest.
When my own daughter was a bambina, I spent many a moment hovering in awkward positions in small, NYC bathrooms, fearing germs and cursing the fact that my hubby could get away with handing diaper duty over to me (because face it, men's rooms are always second best to women's when it comes to overall ick factor and therefore are a last resort), but just getting the job done so I could join the rest of the civilized people (and my glass of wine) back at our table. So can the rest of you.
"As a mother, you have to do what you have to do. Wherever you have to do it," says Burgos of her ordeal. Um, yes ... if you're talking about saving your child's LIFE or something. Not if you're talking about grossing out fellow customers with the sight of a dirty diaper!
Of COURSE places like Starbucks should have changing table in their bathrooms -- it's just bad marketing if they don't. But they don't OWE it to parents; if you're not happy with their bathrooms, let them know and/or stop going there. Simple as that. But changing your baby in an eating establishment does nothing but give us parents a bad name.
Do you think it's acceptable to change a baby in, say, a Starbucks?
Image via CherrySweetDeal/Flickr