What a Poop-Covered Toddler Can Teach You About Business
The lessons we learn as entrepreneurs and small business owners don’t just apply to our businesses. That tells me that being an entrepreneur is more than just starting a company, growing that company and trying to earn a buck; there’s something more profound going on. Or at least more interesting!
This morning my wife went into my son’s room (he’s 2 and recently switched to a “big boy bed”) to find a rather unpleasant surprise. He had taken off his diaper during the night and there was…how shall I put this…poo…everywhere.
His legs were covered in…you guessed it…poo.
- The duvet? Oh ya.
- Sheets? Check.
- Pillow? Check.
- Bed frame? Uh huh.
My wife was thrilled. I was equally excited about washing poo off my son for 20 minutes and then scrubbing the floor (there was poo in the carpet too.)
So what did this experience reflect back to me as an entrepreneur?
Business is a messy thing? It certainly can be, but I was thinking about other things…
- Cutting corners will eventually bite you in the ass. This wasn’t the first time my son had taken off his diaper. It’s somewhat habitual actually; and my wife and I have been duct taping it in place for the last few weeks. Last night I didn’t; my son was grumpy and it was frustrating enough just putting the diaper on. I was rushing to get him into bed without having an international incident and so I skipped the tape. I’m not likely to make that mistake again.
- Business can be extremely frustrating, but don’t sweat the small stuff. In the grand scheme of things, while it’s pretty darn annoying to wake up to a poo catastrophe, it’s not the end of the world. You clean up and move on. No one is sick. No one died. Sure I feel like I’m covered in poo, but so what? My son is healthy, happy and a genius (don’t ya know!) so I can’t really complain.
- There’s more to life than business. You’d think something like this would make me want to work more not less, so I could avoid being at home when the poo starts flying. But in fact, it’s incidents like this that let you step out for a bit and reflect. Toss a bit of humor in there too because if you can’t laugh at yourself or your situation, you’re going to be one boring and grumpy person.
The lessons we learn as entrepreneurs and small business owners can be taken outside of their business context and applied to everything else we do. Even with the silliness of this example, it’s true.
Better entrepreneurs can make better people, if they bring the lessons learned in business outside of work.
On a side note — if anyone has a better solution than duct tape for keeping a diaper on (and don’t worry, we’re not taping it to his skin, just around the diaper itself!), I’m all ears. I wonder if Barb at Great Family Gadgets might have some ideas…
Image by Kevin & Kathy.
Great post, Ben. With 3 girls, the youngest not yet 2, I know where you’re coming from.
We were fortunate that just putting PJ bottoms or bloomers on with their nightshirts worked as a deterrent. We have friends that use full footie PJ’s because they’re harder to get off during the night.
We even resorted to using Little Swimmers instead of regular diapers for a short time. No tape, and harder for them to get off.
Your analogies are spot on. “No one is sick. No one died.” That’s a great way to look at things, both in business and in life.
Sounds like you may have to start the dreaded potty training Ben
Tony — I may try Little Swimmers next. I’ve tried all sorts of PJs, the kid is a little Houdini.
Erica — You’re probably right. We have started but every time we ask him about it he says, “No.” Short of taping him to the potty…
[…] At the Carnival of Success #6, I thought What A Poop Covered Toddler Can Teach You About Business was hilarious! Way to go Ben, hope your other mornings are “easier”. […]
Some very valid points there, and a very… unorthodox example of getting them across! I especially agree with you on your conclusion not to worry about the small stuff and instead trying to understand that things aren’t as bad as you think in the greater scheme of things.
Gosh, I’d have never thought that so many interesting conclusions could be drawn from a poop-related household incident involving a toddler!
George - glad you liked the post. You’d be surprised what poop will teach you.
Meanwhile my son isn’t transitioning well to his big boy bed. He woke up three times last night. I’m trying to think about how I can correlate that to business, as well as my absolute exhaustion…but so far nothing I have to say on the matter is very positive!
Thanks for stopping by…hope to see you around some more.
The comment “it’s not the end of the world. You clean up and move on.” and the comment about laughing it off does make me wonder who had to clean up the mess- you or your wife?
Heather - I was in there, up to my elbows in poo, cleaning…trust me!
We have a 2 year old litte girl that is also known to take her pull up off and pee or poop in her bed. We have tried everything. Even putting her footed PJ’s on backwards which she hasn’t figured out how to get out of yet. I just feel bad doing that because it’s summer and the only footed PJ’s are for winter. We are considering putting her potty chair in her room. We’ll see how that goes.
Wendi - I sympathize with you on this one. I’m lucky that our son has gotten past his issues in the bed, although on occasion I’ve had to double up his diapers to prevent leaking. Writing this sort of thing in a comment box makes me chuckle…ah the joy, the joy!
I found this article by looking up something else but wanted to add my 2 cents even if it is a little late. I’ve found great success in having my little diaper removal experts wear a snap crotch shirt (short or long sleeve, depending on weather). Then I add a pair of overalls (with no snaps in the crotch). Usually I’ve also had to criss cross the straps as they can be very resourceful. LOL Hope that helps someone! God bless!