The end of my first-grade school year was approaching in the late spring of 1957. The prospect of being out of school and the beginning of a long summer of fun with neighbor friends was something I was particularly looking forward to. Living in a house on the waterfront in the Pacific Northwest on the Puget Sound was a wonderful experience with swimming, boating, picnics and evening beach fires in impromptu fire pits. Unfortunately, disappointment was on the horizon. In late May, my parents told me that we were going to be traveling to Greeley, Colorado, so that my father could attend summer school and work toward getting his Masters Degree at the University of Northern Colorado. Thoughts of summer fun vanished with the news. I shared with my friends that we would be leaving within a day or two after school was out and that we wouldn’t return until later in August. This would be the same scenario for the next three years.

As school got out in early June, we packed up the car and a small utility trailer with belongings we would need. There wasn’t enough room for larger items like my bike but I could take some toys with me. I chose some tootsie toy trucks because they were small, and I could take most of what I had. My sister had been born the year before in the first part of August. We couldn’t take her crib, but we did take her crib mattress. We set it on the back seat of the car and we had a place for her to sleep and me to set as well as sleep. There were no seat belts to contend with in those days. It was to be a two to three day trip and my parents plan was to travel through one night taking turns driving. We also had one night that we scheduled to stay in a motel. We did manage to do a bit of sight-seeing along the way but limited to things along our route. All went well for the trip except that the second night while I was asleep. I accidently wet my pants. In the morning, we stopped at a gas station and my mother took my sister into the women’s restroom to change her diaper. I followed her into the restroom and asked her if I could have some dry underwear and jeans, and she said “you’ll just have to wait until I take care of your sister”. She was very disappointed in me for wetting my pants. She finished with my sister, got her back in the car and got into a suitcase and got some underwear and pants for me to change into. Then we were back on the road.

We arrived in Greeley in early June a few days before dad’s summer school was to start. My parents had arranged to rent a trailer to stay in as the cost was less than renting an apartment and it wouldn’t have to be furnished for the most part. When my mother saw the trailer, she was visibly upset and said that we couldn’t live there because it was too small. We contacted the people who had arranged to rent the trailer to see if there was a larger one we could have. They said it was too late and that their entire inventory was rented. My parents discussed the situation and decided to just try to make the best of unpleasant circumstances.

Although not tiny, the trailer was rather small for a family of four at around 24 feet long. The entry door was on the right side and when you entered, there was a couch to the right, in the front of the trailer, that folded out into a double bed. There was a table and seats resembling a booth in a restaurant but smaller although it did accommodate the three of us and there was room for my sisters high chair. Next to the table and seats was the kitchen which consisted of a small sink, a small stove with propane burners and a small refrigerator. Behind the kitchen was a double bed that was on top of some cabinets so that the bed surface was about two and a half feet off of the floor. Opposite the bed were some lower cabinets with drawers and some additional cabinets above. This was to be our domicile for about the next two and a half months.

The trailer was situated parallel to and on the end of around 20 trailers in a parking area at the West edge of a baseball and a football field. The parking area was backed by a concrete lined irrigation canal that had a chain link fence along it limiting access. Four trailers from our end spot was a small building that housed men’s and women’s restrooms. It was nice because we didn’t have to walk far. The men’s restroom had toilets, urinals and two showers. The restrooms were located on the side away from the fields, and there was a laundry area on the field side in the front of the building with washing machines and dryers and some fairly large tables for folding clothes. The restrooms were designed to be available to the public during sports events, but during the summer there were none scheduled so the building was used exclusively by the tenants living in the trailers.

Summer started off well as we adjusted to living in a small trailer. Mom was a Home Economics teacher (among other subjects) and was quite adept at making things work. She also had taught typing and would type any papers that my dad wrote for school. I had gotten busy meeting and making friends. Most of the parents renting a trailer for school were younger and most had younger kids around my age so there were a few that I got along with. We had the entire field complex to play in including some concrete bleachers on the other side of the fields.

Summer went well until around early August. My sister had her first birthday during the first week. It wasn’t a big deal as it was just our family and some friends of my parents who actually celebrated.

For some unknown reason, I had started having an occasional bed wetting accidents in late July that seemed to become a bit more frequent as we headed toward August. My sister and I had been sleeping on the fold out couch but my frequent wetting accidents were starting to cause a problem. My mother was upset and in discussing the issue with my father, she said that the couch was beginning to smell somewhat and she was concerned about potential staining. It was decided that my sister and I would move to the bed and my mother and father would sleep on the couch. The move was made but I was still having some issues with bedwetting. I would wake up in the morning and if I had wet the bed during the night, I would get a pair of dry underpants and put my wet clothes in the laundry basket.

I didn’t think anything was likely to change as far as bedtime attire, and there was always dry underwear to change into in the morning. It was a bit embarrassing to wake up wet, but I tolerated it. One morning after breakfast and after dad had left for school, mom rounded up my sister and me and we went to a downtown department store. Mom did some light shopping and then we ended up in the infant and toddler section. I didn’t suspect anything because she often shopped for my sister in these departments. I was standing by some racks of infant and toddler clothes when my mom said “come here”. She then held up some plastic pants to my waist and while stretching them at the waistband said “these should fit”. I was surprised and a bit confused but in the back of my mind I was sure that she would never make me wear plastic pants. I shrugged it off as her deciding if they would fit my sister. After all, diapers and plastic pants were for babies like my sister. Looking back, I should have paid a bit more attention to making an effort to go to the restroom before bed because my wetting incidents did not stop. They were actually becoming more frequent.

One morning in early August, I woke up again with a wet bed. I opened the drawer where my underwear was kept to get a dry pair of underpants and I became immediately concerned. I pushed aside t-shirts and looked carefully, but there were no underpants in the drawer. I went to my mother and said “there are no underpants for me”. She said “there won’t be any until have a chance to do laundry. “When will you do laundry?” I asked, and she said “maybe today”. I asked her what I should do. She casually said, “You could wear a diaper”. I said “no”. There was no way that I wanted to feel ashamed by wearing a diaper at almost seven years of age (my birthday was in early September). I thought kids should not be wearing diapers when they are as old as I was. She said “then I guess you’ll just have to go without underpants” was her reply. I wasn’t sure how that would work but it seemed better than the alternative. It felt funny putting my jeans on without any underpants. Eventually three of my friends stopped by and wanted to play. I reluctantly went with them thinking they probably won’t figure out that I’m not wearing any underpants and why. We played around the fields and at one point, we were near a restroom at the South end of the fields and they decided to go in. I said “I’ll wait out here for you” and they went in. After they were done and came out, I decided that I would go in. I had really not wanted to initially go in with them because when I went to unzip to pee, I was afraid someone would see that I wasn’t wearing any underpants and would want to know why. They stayed outside but as I was just about done, one of them came in. I hurriedly finished and zipped up my pants just as my friend was getting close to the urinal where he could see I didn’t have any underwear on. It was a close call, but nothing was said. We went on playing and they wanted to venture further away from the trailers. I was uncomfortable with that and declined the invitation. They were suspicious and pressed me for a reason to which I just said I didn’t feel like it. They seemed ok with that and they went toward the bleachers and I went back to the trailer for some lunch.

The rest of the day went pretty much the same as most days. I played until dinner time and then everyone went to their trailers to eat. We didn’t usually play much after dinner in the evenings, but this evening we got together after dinner since it was still light out although approaching sunset.

A little after 7:45PM as the sun was close to setting, my friends and I continued to visit until it started getting dark and then we split up and headed to our trailers for the evening. At around 8:30PM my mother was getting my sister ready for bed. She was busy diapering her as I approached her about getting my pajamas. She told me to wait until she was done with my sister. I didn’t think anything of it, and went over to a box of comic books that was under one of the seats at the table, and got a comic book to read. Each year one of my aunts gave each of her nieces and nephews a monthly subscription to Dell comics for Christmas. I also had a large selection to choose from because I had comics that my parents had purchased for me over the summer months. I was a fairly good reader and was focused on a story that I found particularly entertaining. My mother said “come here and let’s get you ready for bed”. I was almost finished with the story and continued to read until she sharply said “COME HERE”. I quickly glanced at the last few parts of the story and put the comic book back in the box. I walked over toward her as she was standing by the cabinets next to the bed. My sister was on the bed next to the wall. I said “did you do laundry today?” thinking that I would finally have some underwear to put on. She said “No”. I realized that I wasn’t going to have any underpants to wear under my pajamas, so I said “should I just wear my pajamas and go without underpants like I did today?” That’s when she said “no, we’re going to have you wear a diaper tonight”. At that point I looked over on the bed and there it was…some snap on plastic pants lying flat with two cloth diapers folded and ready for me. In a slight state of panic I said “I don’t want to wear a diaper mom! I won’t wet the bed, honest!” She said “unbutton your shirt”. I started to unbutton my shirt and had the top one unbuttoned. At the same time, she had knelt down and had my tennis shoes untied and said “step out of your shoes”. I put a hand on her shoulder to steady myself, stepped out of my shoes and then she started taking off my socks. This had interrupted me from unbuttoning my shirt. After she got my socks off, she started to loosen my belt and unbutton and unzip my jeans. She pulled my jeans down and after I had stepped out, said “get that shirt unbuttoned!” I began to finish unbuttoning my shirt and she started unbuttoning it from the bottom. As she took off the shirt, I was left standing there wearing just my undershirt. She said “get up on the bed “. I proceeded to climb up on the bed and lay down with my head on my pillow. As soon as my head was settled on the pillow, she took my ankles with one hand and lifted my rear off the bed while she slid the plastic pants and diapers under me with her other hand. She then put my feet down. This was upsetting because this was the way that she diapered my sister and she was still a baby. Although I didn’t want to necessarily help things along, I thought that being almost seven, I would at least be able to lift my own rear off the bed. After she put my feet down she studied the situation briefly, and said “we better use three diapers”. She started to go for my ankles to lift me up but I quickly lifted my rear off the bed and she pulled the diaper and plastic pants out from under me. She slid them toward the end of the bed and turned to open a drawer that had all the folded and clean diapers. She took one out and folded it to match the original two and said “there…that’s better”. She started to grab my ankles again and I said “I can help” as I lifted my butt off the bed with my legs. She said “no, we’re going to do it this way…it’s easier” and as I relaxed my butt, she once again took my ankles and lifted my rear off the bed. This time I knew what to expect, and I thought to myself that I would not simply be passive. As she lifted my ankles to slide the plastic pants and now three diapers under my butt, I put my arms down on the bed and pushed down as I lifted my rear substantially off of the bed. She slid the plastic pants and diapers under my butt and let my rear down and let go of my ankles. I kept my legs and feet straight up in the air. She said “you can let your legs down now”, at which point I dropped them onto the bed with a thump. What happened next was even more demeaning. Seemingly out of nowhere, she produced a bottle of Johnson and Johnson baby powder and started sprinkling it on me. The powder was cool as it hit my skin. I said “Mom, I don’t need baby powder!” She said “we wouldn’t want you to get diaper rash…and besides, it will make you smell good”. She shook some more on me and then started to rub it around my genitals. I was very uncomfortable with this and after a few seconds said “mom…don’t”. She must have sensed that I was bothered by this because she stopped. Next, she took a diaper pin out of a bar of soap lying on the bed and put it between her lips. Then she took the front of the cloth diapers and brought them up between my legs. She brought the left side and left front of the diapers together and started to put the pin in. She seemed to be somewhat slow and deliberate as she inserted the pin…and then it poked me. “Ow” I said. She said “oh…I’m sorry. I’m not used to pinning three diapers. Your sister gets double diapered but you’re a big boy”. She finished pinning the left side and then brought the right front and right side together. This time she put the back of her left hand against my thigh and held the front and side of the diapers together while she put the pin in. Her hand felt cool against my skin but I didn’t get stuck again. As she pinned the diapers she said “there, is that better?” I replied quietly “yes”. At this point she reached for the front of the snap on plastic pants and started to lift them between my legs. Thinking that it might be more like simply wearing some thick underpants I blurted out, “Could we leave the plastic pants off?” She paused for a moment and said ”the diapers won’t be much good without the plastic pants!” She then continued to bring the front of the pants and the sides up and began slowly snapping them together. Four snaps on one side and then the remaining four on the other side. She then stood back a bit and said “everything looks good here. Roll over and let’s check the back”. There I was, laying there diapered like a baby. As I rolled over I felt the bulk of the three diapers between my legs. When I was on my stomach, she saw a tuft of the diaper poking out from under the plastic pants on the left cheek of my butt. She tucked the diaper back under the elastic of the plastic pants and as she tucked it back in said “There. We wouldn’t want you to leak now, would we!” She then said “get up and let’s get your jammies on”. As I rolled back over to set up and slide off of the bed, it suddenly occurred to me that I should probably go to the bathroom. I paused after sitting up and said…”I need to go to the bathroom!” She said “okay, let’s get your pajamas on and then you can go”. I hadn’t counted on being out in public wearing diapers. I slid over to the edge of the bed with my legs hanging down, paused and said “couldn’t we take the diapers off and then put them back on when I get back?” She said “no, we don’t need to do that”. I said “what if someone sees me?” I absolutely didn’t want anyone seeing me wearing diapers. I was already embarrassed as it was. She said “no one’s going to see you, and besides, no one will care”. I didn’t believe this because in my mind, if one of my friends saw me, I’d never hear the end of it. She said “come on, let’s get your pajamas on. I hopped down off the bed. She helped me put my pajama top on and told me to button it up. At about the same time, she had me step into my pajama bottoms. In order to pull them up, she had to stretch the waistband and gently push and pull me as she slipped the waistband all the way up and over my diapers which were fairly bulky. I finished buttoning the pajama top and stepped into some flip-flops. As I started to walk to the front of the trailer toward the door, I realized that the bulk of three diapers between my legs were causing me to walk funny. I had a little bit of a waddle. As I passed by mom, she reached down and gave me a swift pat on the butt which made me take a couple of quick steps as I went past her. I went down the steps of the trailer after looking to see if anyone was outside. Then I started walking toward the restroom. As I got one trailer away, I stopped and moved back out of the light of the restroom outdoor lighting so I was in the shadows of someone’s trailer. I was looking toward the restroom to see if there was anyone there when someone inside the darkened trailer said “WHO”S THERE!?” Startled, I immediately and quickly headed for the restroom. When I got to the doorway, I poked my head around the opening to see if anyone was inside. Fortunately the restroom was empty. I went in and stood at the first urinal. I unsnapped about three of the snaps of the plastic pants and undid the diaper pin on my right side. I set the pin on top of the urinal and it made a little clink as the diaper pin metal hit the porcelain. I was about to relieve myself when I heard voices in the distance. They got louder as they approached. Then a father with his son came in to use the restroom. Fortunately it wasn’t anyone I knew. The father helped his son who was about two and a half years old pull down his diapers and plastic pants to use the urinal. I just stood there with a bashful kidney. I was totally embarrassed. I was much taller than his son and here I was almost seven and dealing with three diapers and plastic pants. I should have been wearing underpants instead of diapers. After the son had finished, the father helped him with his diaper and plastic pants and they started to leave. The son was out the doorway and on his way back to their trailer but the father paused at the exit, and looking at me said “do you need any help?” I quietly said “no” and he continued on his way. I finished up and managed to get the diapers pinned, the plastic pants snapped back together and my pajama bottoms pulled up over the diapers. Then I left the restroom and waddled back to the trailer. I entered the trailer and headed to bed. Mom never said anything except goodnight. As I layed there, I thought, why do I need a whole diaper and plastic pants. I wasn’t going to dirty them, I just needed something to take care of wetting the bed. After about 20 minutes, I hadn’t gotten to sleep yet because I was still thinking about the fact that I was in bed wearing diapers and plastic pants. My father came back to the trailer from an evening class and spending some time in the library. He and my mother made small talk for a bit and then they got ready for bed. They were still using the couch after my sister and I had been moved to the regular bed because of my wetting incidents. They were in bed for about 5 minutes and my mother said to my father “I put a diaper on him”. My father then asked me “is it too tight?” to which I responded quietly “no”. My mother said “it’s not too tight”. My father said “I want him to be able to have kids”. She assured him again that my diapers weren’t too tight. I wasn’t sure what he and she were referring to but it was an embarrassing quick exchange regardless. They were talking about me, wearing diapers and plastic pants. I would have preferred that my father didn’t know.

I eventually fell asleep, and thinking back, I seem to remember having a dream about standing in front of a urinal.

I woke up the next morning to daylight. My sister was beside me but still sleeping. I was relieved that I had not wet my diapers. I rolled over on my back and thought something doesn’t seem right. Maybe I’d better check. My diapers weren’t cold and my first thought was that they were dry. I slipped my fingers under the plastic pants and to my devastation realized that I had actually wet my diapers. They were very wet front to back but had not leaked. Now being in a state of semi-panic, I tried to figure out what to do next. I then asked my mother if I could take the diapers off. She said “did you have an accident?” to which I replied with a lie and said “no”. She said “you can take them off”. She and my father were still lying in bed, my father not yet fully awake. I managed to slip out of bed and get the diapers off. I discreetly put them in my sisters diaper pail. Mom said “there are some underpants in the drawer”. I was taken aback, because last night she said she hadn’t done laundry. It would appear that she had intended to put me in a diaper all along. However, I believe that if I had told her that I had an accident, I might have wound up in a diaper for the rest of the day since she had suggested that I could wear a diaper the day before.

After breakfast, she said “what did you do with the diapers?” I didn’t say anything but pointed to the diaper pail. She said “you wet them, didn’t you!” Looking down, I just nodded my head. She was obviously disgusted. However, I was happily back to wearing regular underwear and nothing more was said.