The little one decided he didn’t want to take his Pampers off. 
Wet and soggggy, weighing a few kilos but No, touching mamma! 
Zach, can I please take that off? 
NO!
But it’s leaking…you are completely wet. 
NOOOO Mamma.
If you got angry, he would snap back and if you forced them off, he would start crying, terribly upset, kicking his legs and taking the new ones off as you put them on. 
Begging, pleading, getting upset nothing was working…

Till I told him about a dragon, that loved to eat wet soggy diapers. 
From far out, he would S-N-I-F-F them out, 
                     in a swoosh bite them off, 
                    and goodness what if he got a bite of his bum too!
        Oh No! oh No…

Enthralled by the dragon, the wet diaper was off. 
But a new one, nope…

Oh dear, oh dear 
he can smell a wet bum from far too 
and there is only ONE THING that keeps the dragon away. 
DRY pampers*, cos when he sniffs them, (*The Brand and Make I recommend)

“tch atchoo, tch atchoo!!!“

The pampers were back on and he was delighted at the thought of a sneezing dragon, who had been fooled away!

I was relieved, even surprised.

Often these days, I find myself weaving stories. 
They are not as perfect as the ones appacha used to tell us at night as we sneaked in to his bed during the holidays. Nothing mattered then, the fact that the room didn’t have a fan or the windows that I was so scared to stand next to as it grew dark was right next to the bed, because in the soft voice (never dramatic) he would start pandu pandu orru kalathu (Long long time ago) and the world was perfect!

I am not a story teller but my kids don’t seem to care. 
They stare at me at me in fascination as I make up the croco-la-la under the bed, who is waiting for them to get off; or the big chip and the little chip who are having a discussion about who gets eaten up first…As I make up voices, prance and jump, they squeal in delight, the crying stops, and then we are together a team and it’s not me against them. 

Together we bring in some pixies to sprinkle some funnies, shout like an ogre who is allergic to tears and when sadness overcomes, we chant the magic words to make the smile come back. 
But the chant, it has to be done right! 
Look them in the face, use your fingers going round and round as though they were pulling out any sadness from deep within and say 

“abra-ca-dabra-gilli-gilli-choo“. 

Try it someday, but at your own risk! 😜