Griffin rarely cries during diaper changes—he giggles and smiles and generally seems pleased-as-punch to get his fresh, dry diaper. It was, therefore, surprising that he started crying this morning right after I fastened on a new one. It was, after all, a beautiful day. And we were out in the garden at Sarah’s school having a great time. But Griffin was definitely crying. Since I was busy rolling up the old diaper (a delicate task) and because a quick glance didn’t reveal any problems, I said something silly and remained focused on not getting any pee on my fingers.

But Griffin would have none of it—he yelled. Loudly. Fearing that one of Sarah’s colleagues would come running out to rescue my baby from me, I tossed the diaper aside and pulled out the big guns: tickle time! Except it didn’t work. He kept on squirming and yelling and acting like I had poured Tabasco in his diaper. Accepting the fact that he was going to melt down here on the school lawn, I reached around him to pick him up. That’s when I was distracted by a sudden pinch on my hand. A small army of tiny ants were besieging my fingers. Huh. Where’d they come from? Oh. OH!

Recommendation: Don’t put your changing pad down on an anthill.