Merit Badge Tales - Kimberly

I definitely earned the poop badge the other night when I had undressed my 10 month old for his bath and as we were making our way to the bathroom he started to poop. I had nothing on hand to catch it so I just casually stuck my hand under his butt and caught it, no big deal. My husband meanwhile was having kittens 'get a cloth, get a cloth, oh my god I can't believe you put your hand under there, oh yuck'. Meh. It's only poop! Anyway, I can wash my hands easier than washing a cloth.

Just shows how far I've come, from someone who'd never changed a diaper before having a child and thought that having to even look at someone else's poop would be the grossest thing in the word.

Merit Badge Tales - Rebecca

Our daughter was about 3 weeks old when I decided that she was old enough to be taken to her Daddy's work to be shown off. While there, I offered to let one of his co-workers to hold her. The minute she was nestled comfortably in his arms, she let out an explosive poop! I mean, this was heard through the whole office area and out into reception (their building is an old church, and this was in the sanctuary area). My husband told her, as she started crying, "That's ok, sweetie. Everyone does that to Bob." Luckily, the diaper didn't start to leak until after I had her on the floor in the ladies' room.

Merit Badge Tales - Holly

When my son was born his sugar was very low at birth so I was able to see him for all of about 3 hours before we left the hospital. I was a nervous wreck taking my baby home and I couldn't wait til his first pediatrician appointment two days later to see if his sugar had remained stable. At the end of the visit, the doctor asked if I had any questions. I asked if he could test my son's sugar. The doctor's response "well it's a blood test and I really don't like to do them on babies. I remained calm, biting my lip and wondering if this man was really a certified doctor.

The next day we switched pediatricians.

We visited this new office a few times for height and weight checks before the first set of shots that every mother dreads. I thought we had found our pediatrician until I took my son in for his shots. The doctor did the exam and then left to examine another patient while two nurses administered the shots. I was politely asked to move out of the way so the nurses could do their jobs. Of course, like any baby who had just been stuck with a sharp object, my son screamed. And screamed. And screamed. He held his breath until he turned blue in the face. Both nurses suddenly became frenzied. One started screaming "he's turning blue, set off the alarm" while the other stood there frozen and then started to cry, muttering that she shouldn't have gotten out of bed this morning. It was at this point that I stormed in between both nurses, blew on my son's face, picked him up and gave him all the kisses and hugs I could. I grabbed his chart and his clothes and stormed out of the office. The next day I received a phone call from the doctor, who had viewed the whole incident on the closed-circuit television. She explained to me that it was because of incidents like these that the television system was installed. I explained to her that it was because of this incident I would not be returning to that office.
--Holly

conduct a taste test

One of our favorite easy and interesting activities to do is to have a taste test. 


All you have to do is pick several versions of one type of food, make up a chart with the characteristics you will be judging and start tasting. 


This can be done as simple or complicated as you like, depending on your kids ages. 


We have done this with apples, cheese, nuts and seeds, olives, ice cream and even candy bars. 


Kids will try anything if it is in a taste test and are sometimes even able to broaden their palates.

Merit Badge Tales - Amy

POOP!

For nearly six months, every poop from our son was an EXPLOSIVE poop. Out of his diaper, running down his leg and onto the floor in clumps. It was especially bad if he was in the Bjorn - something about pressure points.

The worst experience happened while we were at Target shopping and heard that familiar sound, "plop, splat!" My husband hurried out with Oliver to change him and I strolled around the store with the other kids. We finished, checked out and headed out to the car. When we got to the car it was as if some terrible struggle and abduction had occurred. There was bright yellow poop pooled by the passenger door, smeared on the car, on the dashboard and in the seat (this is the nature of breast milk poop, you know!) My son's clothes were in a pile and he and my husband were gone. A mom walked by the car as I was surveying the situation and warned her children, "watch out! Someone squirted mustard all over the ground!"

Fearing the worst, I threw my 2 kids back in the cart and began searching for the missing baby. While walking back to the store, I noticed there was a poop trail leading from the store and I began to get really nervous. I mean, good God, what had happened! Did Ollie explode and vanish into a poop realm and take my husband with him? I finally located my dazed husband wandering around the store with my naked baby and gently led him back to the car where we vowed to double up on pants or better yet, switch to a sling (preferably a water proof one).

Merit Badge Tales - Nicola

SEX

I almost wouldn't know where to begin in choosing a story for the new sex badge, but we have DEFINITELY earned this one! We've done it all -- everything from nursing the baby in order to have "just a few more moments, please don't cry now, I'm almost there" to soaking right through the sheets from a pressurized milk disaster.

A couple of my favourites would be the time that my son walked in on us to see his father's back end poking out the top of the bed and exclaimed, "I see Daddy's bobbum!". Or the time that he needed to have his doctor's stethoscope fixed and brought it to me right in the middle of intercourse. I took it from him, reattached the missing piece, and handed it back without missing a beat.

As for mood music, it has always been Dora in our house. If we hear the "We did it!" song start and we haven't actually done it ("Oh no! The song!"), we know that its time to put on some major speed. Keeping the romance alive...

Spend some time this week really enjoying the spring weather. For the past few weeks we have been laying in the grass, watching clouds, blowing bubbles, eating our meals, and day dreaming. We know it will not last, as summer in Flordia is very similar to walking through hot pudding - but now it is amazing!