To Sock Or Not To Sock--That Is The Question

So, I've been away from the internet for a while--busy being a mom.  But I have a host of new outrages to share.  Just to catch you up:  baby boy is 3 1/2 months old now.

My mother-in-law is very old-school in her approach to child care.  And she loves to over dress and bundle my son in layers upon layers of blankets.  Since he was born, she and I have had this little passive-aggressive conflict of me pulling layers off and her additions whenever I turn my back.

Well, the other night we all went out to eat.  My husband handed the baby off to me for a diaper change and my mother-in-law followed baby and I to the restroom.  I sat baby on the cold granite countertop (the only surface available), and she expressed concern for him.  I assured her that he wouldn't be there long enough for it to matter as I peeked into the diaper to discover quite a mess.  I pulled off his socks to prevent them from getting messy.  She objected with a grunt.  I reached for the diaper bag for supplies, but she had moved in to play with the baby.  I tried awkwardly to reach around her for diapers and then again for wipes, each time she was impeding my efforts and kept repeating to me that she thought he was cold.  Frustrated, I offered to let her take over.  She was happy to do so, and I returned to the table.  When she delayed, I returned to the restroom to find her lining the counter with soiled diapers and she gasped, "He's not finished!" I could not believe that she didn't just put a single diaper in place and let him finish!  She ran an assembly line of diapers as if she was filling up ice cream cones with soft-serve!  It was truly a Lucile Ball moment!

I jumped in and got him all cleaned up, and disposed of 8 dirty diapers as well as a large pile of discarded baby wipes. His clothing had to be changed, and the counter had to be cleaned.  I reached into the diaper bag to find only one clean diaper left!  Then she said to me, "Didn't you bring any more diapers?" as if I had miscalculated our needs for a single dinner outing!

So, this is the kicker:  in all that time worrying about him laying on a cold surface, she could not get a diaper on him, but she managed to put socks back on his feet!