Engineer. Scientist. Inventor. Teacher. Chef. Nurse. Coach, etc…. = Mom

The more I study about engineers, scientists, and inventors, the more I realize how encompassing the job description is of mom. Few scientists perform as many experiments as moms do with all the cooking and adjusting of recipes because of lacking an ingredient.

And while it may not be a marketable product, I recently saw a lady staple the hem of her dress. Why? Because she had worn shoes with heels to her son’s wedding. She then changed to shoes with a shorter heel making her dress too long. A few staples later, the dress was perfect. When in a bind, mom’s do what has to be done. This mom decided to worry about damaging the dress another day. She was preparing to dance with her son, and she did.

The following story about Marion O’Brien Donovan (1917-1998) should inspire and encourage all moms. Not that we all will have the same results as did Marion, but that we can recognize our own achievements. We may have to reward ourselves – chocolate makes me smile just thinking about it. But alas! Being diabetic, I’ll reward myself with two scoops of sugar free vanilla ice cream instead of just one.

Marion was like any mom with a young baby. It was 1946 and cloth diapers lacked absorption. This too often led to a crying baby during the night because of a soaked diaper, clothing, and bedding. Marion, like most moms, was exhausted. There had to be a better way and Marion found it. She made what became the precursor to disposable diapers.

Did other moms have the same idea? Maybe, but Marion did not leave the idea in her head; she “engineered” a product. She cut up her shower curtain to make what she later called “boaters.”

Why the shower curtain? Because Marion knew that water resistance was one of the physical properties of the curtain material. Yep! Marion was a scientist. Using this material, Marion sewed a diaper cover. Marion invented a reusable diaper cover. She was not only granted more sleep, but she later sold the patent for $1 million. She used the money to finance other invention projects intended to make life more efficient, organized, and convenient.

The history of diapers is an interesting study. Baby bottoms have been covered with fur lined with moss as well as layers of tissue paper. Diapers seem to be an ever-evolving product.

A very big change was the introduction of a super-absorbing chemical in 1984. I must admit that I was not alone in being skeptical about this new diaper. How could it keep babies dryer than a cloth diaper? How could this diaper hold more liquid and actually pull the liquid away from a baby’s skin? For information as well as a fun and easy investigation, see    MEGA-ABSORBING.

For more engineering ideas, see Janice VanCleave’s Engineering for Every Kid.

Top photo by Tasslehoff Burrfoot