When a new mom is preparing to pack her hospital bag, she really needs to make sure she has all of the essentials covered. You know, comfortable slippers, a robe, perhaps a snack or two from home. A Nerf gun, obviously one mustn't forget a Nerf gun. Well, according to Samantha Mravik-Miller, in any case. This mom's hospital bag must-have is a testament to her experience as a mother of three, and you truly need to consider it for your next birth plan.
Mravik-Miller is a mom from Wisconsin who has parenting well figured out, if you ask me. It probably helps that she already had an 11-year-old son and a 5-year-old son by the time she welcomed her third child. She tells Romper she had a feeling she might have to pack a little something extra special in her hospital bag because she remembered an experience she had after giving birth to her 5-year-old concerning her husband. "I packed it because when my 5-year-old was born my husband slept through him crying in the hospital," she says.
At the time, she tried simply throwing an empty water bottle at him to get his attention and a little help with the new baby, but for the third time around she thought she would come better prepared. And because she is a kind mother who wants to share her brilliance with others, she shared her "mom hack" on Facebook last month and it's since gone viral.
Enter the Nerf gun. Mravik-Miller tells Romper she borrowed it from her sons because "I figured this way I would have better aim."
Mravik-Miller shared a photo of herself from her hospital bed holding the Nerf gun with the message: "Mom hack level 1,0000. Worried about the nights in the hospital with your [newborn] & dad sleeping? Well... then don’t forget one of these in your hospital bag."
This is called women helping other women, folks. And other moms were quick to thank her for the tip, mostly tagging their partners as a warning with messages like, "game on," and "getting these for round #2."
Now one simple way for dads to avoid being hit with a foam bullet in their partner's hospital room would be to stay awake and help with the baby. Especially since she just went through one of the most transformative experiences of her life, both physically and mentally. Perhaps the nap can wait while new fathers help out moms and bond with babies in some of the helpful ways, like doing skin-to-skin.
In the case of Mravik-Miller, the Nerf gun didn't need to get used in the end, but she tells Romper that her husband did find it in the bag and asked her, "What the heck, did you bring a Nerf gun?” Her response? "I told him better sleep with one eye open."
