Philosophical Monday: Not So King of the Road
Betty's special road-trip edition of GTRL. Who sang: "Hotel motel Holiday Inn..." -- Guesses in the comments!
Hey-ho! We’re back from our road trip to Santa Fe and back. I’ve been joking on Facebook that this was basically guerilla diaper-changing training, but that pretty much nails it.
Somehow I had never noticed the lack of changing tables in all but the family friendliest of restaurants. Those cute little cafes that you discover in the middle of nowhere — no changing tables. Gas stations — no changing tables. Even non-chain diners, which were supposed to be family-friendly — no changing tables. And then even if there’s a changing table in the women’s room, there’s often no changing table in the men’s, which makes it really hard to receive any help from your partner.
And let’s not even get into nursing. I was shocked that so many childcare books basically browbeat you into nursing without mentioning how hard it is to do anywhere but in the privacy of your own home.
But the upshot of this is that I can now change Betty just about anywhere. I even changed her on my lap a few times. Same almost goes for nursing. I can’t feed her while walking around a store at the same time as one friend can do, but I have pretty much mastered the art of the car feed and so has Betty. She’s become 10x more efficient at eating during the course of our 5 days on the road, and she even occasionally unfrogs her legs to help us with diaper changes.
Part of me feels like, “Well, you just shouldn’t take Betty anywhere, as this always seems to be a problem when you go out, even in LA.”
The other part of me is annoyed, b/c I saw tons of families on the road with babies in diapers and I knew that they must be having the same problems. I understand that kids require sacrifice, but are we mothers really supposed to stay home with them all day, never leaving the house for more than 2-3 hours at a time, never vacationing b/c it’s too much work — that doesn’t seem like a good way to avoid post-partum depression.
I had a great time in Santa Fe and Flagstaff, but at this point I can guarantee that I won’t be taking a long road trip again until Betty and any siblings that she might have are out of diapers. Next time we’ll fly and stay in one place for an extended amount of time and only eat at chain restaurants.
I know that you’re supposed to support small businesses, but that’s quite hard to do when small business doesn’t support you. And quite frankly, I just don’t feel like giving our money to any more restaurants or businesses that want parents to patronize their establishment but can’t be bothered to even put in a changing table. That’s all.
Since being pregnant I've been scoping out bathrooms to check for changing tables, just to get a sense. Places like airports are the best, but I have found them even in tiny family-owned restaurants.
Depending on the city, there are some websites and travel guidebooks (generally labeled as For Kids or For Families) that list restaurants with and without changing tables, including whether there's a changing table in the men's room. Certainly would be easier if everyone just had them, of course.
But I will say that in this part of the country, where buildings and bathrooms aren't even necessarily handicap-accessible, and where restaurants are often in buildings that are hundreds of years old, it seems like a lot to expect.
Since being pregnant I've been scoping out bathrooms to check for changing tables, just to get a sense. Places like airports are the best, but I have found them even in tiny family-owned restaurants.
Depending on the city, there are some websites and travel guidebooks (generally labeled as For Kids or For Families) that list restaurants with and without changing tables, including whether there's a changing table in the men's room. Certainly would be easier if everyone just had them, of course.
But I will say that in this part of the country, where buildings and bathrooms aren't even necessarily handicap-accessible, and where restaurants are often in buildings that are hundreds of years old, it seems like a lot to expect.