Rookie Moms

Today I saw an infant carrier whose plastic parts had been stickered by an obviously much older sibling with punk rock and skateboard stickers. The upholstery had a patch sewn onto it, Beastie Boys proudly displayed just above the infant’s head. Very cool, I thought, a car seat with “flare”. Then, I spotted these on Nested. I LOVE THIS IDEA! Add flare to my diaper bag to commemorate significant episodes in my life as a mother? You betcha. The badges come in ten skills, allowing you to boast about your motherhood survival skills on airplane rides, shopping trips, through diaper blow-outs and temper tantrums. Do you breastfeed? Give yourself a badge!

mama merit badges was started as a response to the dearth of authentic recognition for the very hard work of mothering. Overly sentimentalized depictions of motherhood belie the actual daily duties that alternately feel like drudgery, brave political acts, and absurd performance art. This irreverent award system invites public dialogue about and visual recognition for the unpaid and often ignored labor that is parenting.

The badges are 1½ inches, iron on, and 100% embroidery. They can be worn on your diaper bag, purse, tote, jacket, jeans, scarf or baby carrier. Stick them on your wall, fridge or bulletin board.

How awesome is that?

Spill it. What’s in that thing? Anything slimy? Anything that would make your former (cooler) self completely embarrassed?

I tend to spend a lot of time with my son that my husband doesn’t witness… he has a fulltime job, you see, and probably imagines that what he doesn’t see simply doesn’t happen.

This means I have a few tricks up my sleeve (often in the form of portable snack food) that he doesn’t know about; it also means I’m hoarding some pretty weird stuff in my stylish tote purse that I carry every day (courtesy of Whitney that she probably now wishes she could rip from my hands and retire, but she can’t cuz she made it).

Yesterday (while not with baby), I found:

1. a mini board book
2. Holden’s socks and Robeez
3. a pacifier on a leash
4. some bubbles with a cool wand
5. a miniature slinky
6. some Veggie Booty in a ziplock

Now you have the option to streamline your purse (and thus your life) or just laugh at yourself and reload. Or make some piles, compost what was left inside, and move on

There’s also a flickr cluster for the voyeuristic purse-dumpers among you.

When we look back in 25 years, we will marvel that our babies have become adults who drive cars and earn their own paychecks. (Here’s hoping!)

You probably have a baby book to track your bambino’s progress through the first year: sitting up, crawling, first tooth, and so on.

But how will you remember your rookie year? After all, it’s filled with important experiences that will one day make you a veteran mom, capable of coaching soccer, chaperoning school dances, and sending annoying e-mail reminders about unwritten thank-you notes.

Trust us: One day you’ll look back on the early days of motherhood and it will be hard to remember them. We’ve given you this chart to remind you that Mommy’s first full night of sleep is at least as important as baby’s first banana. These classic mama milestones are worth documenting: Rookie Moms Milestones [pdf]

[excerpted from The Rookie Mom’s Handbook by Quirk Books]

I saw this activity on photojojo this morning and ran right out for bulldog clips to get started.

Unfortunately, my local Office Depot does not carry them in stock (nor does the next one down the street, which I stupidly thought was a different chain… but was the same chain!) so I got these over the top zebra-printed binder clips instead.

As you can see they match the weird zebra theme we have in the office. But that’s a story for another day.

Back to the activity.

Why’s It Cool?

Why would you cover your walls with bulldog clips and hang a bunch of photos? So many reasons. It’s super cheap, it’s ridiculously easy, and it requires practically no skill. Plus it means you can change the photos you have up at any time with practically zero effort.

If you have binder clips around and some fun snapshots that you’re meaning to Do Something With, this project can be done in the span of the tiniest nap.

The instructions on Photojojo for the bulldog clip photo wall give variations like OCD-style and tips for not creasing your photos. Check ‘em out.

If you want to go the high-end route, read Whitney’s instructions for the classier “Family Photo Wall.”