When I signed up for an elective at MHS called Child Development, I knew that at some point in the year I would have to take home a fake baby and take care of it for a period of time. I was prepared for it, and was confident that it would be an easy assignment. However, on March 8th, 2024, I realized I was completely unprepared to take care of the RealCare Baby, and how very, very wrong I was.
Day 1 – Friday
I picked up my male RealCare Baby, that I had affectionately named Darth Vader (I didn’t know then how much that name would fit the baby), at 2:45 pm. The baby was a lot heavier than I had realized, about six or seven pounds and even more so with its baby carrier I had to take home with it. Along with the baby carrier, I also had a baby bag filled with two diapers to switch between, two fake baby bottles, clothes that I had previously picked out for baby Vader, and a packet to log every time it cries and to write journal entries for my teacher. After packing up everything I needed to be a mother for the weekend, it was time to head home and begin my parenting journey.
The first time the baby cried was 4:05 pm. Its shrill, piercing screeches made me jump out of my seat in surprise. I took my wristband, that I had to scan on the baby before I could do anything with it, and scanned (or so I thought) the baby before attempting to make it stop crying. I changed its diaper, fed it using the bottle, and tried rocking it as well. Nothing worked. Later, Darth Vader cried again, around 6:00 pm. I went through the cycle of things again; diaper, feed, rock, but it still did not stop crying. After another hour or so of trying to make it stop crying and failing, my mother thankfully did a quick Google search to see what the problem was. Google told me to press the wristband onto the baby’s crotch, and if it worked I would hear a chime sound. I did what it told me and hallelujah! I heard the chime. Unfortunately, all of the other places on the baby that I was supposed to be able to scan my wristband didn’t work. I knew I already had lost some points on the assignment due to that, but I continued on.
Day 2 – Saturday
I woke up Saturday morning not in a good mood and running on only five hours of sleep. Darth Vader had not gone to sleep until 12:30 am, but then woke up about three hours later needing two diaper changes and 20 minutes to eat. I finally understood why people called 3 am “The Witching Hour” because I certainly felt cursed. The baby woke up around six in the morning, as did I, though it seemed to be a lot more awake than I was at that point. Every Saturday morning, I have dance class from 9:00-12:00, and had been planning beforehand to bring my baby to dance, thinking it wouldn’t be that difficult to manage. But that morning, I was too exhausted to get out of bed, and decided not to go to dance so as to not have to deal with the baby as much.
Throughout the day, Darth Vader was not as active as he had been the night before, which I was very thankful for. Ms. Herry, my Child Development teacher had let me put in two quiet hours for the baby at any time I wanted to this weekend. I decided to put those quiet hours in at the same time I was supposed to go to a show in Chicago with one of my friends. I left the baby with my mother, set with the baby and bag and a babysitter wristband in case the baby woke up while I was gone. Those three – four hours while I was away from the baby were filled with pure bliss, and a part of me didn’t even want to go home because then I’d have to take care of Darth Vader. Little did I know that happiness would be short-lived once the night came.
Day 3 – Sunday (The Final Day)
1:35 am, rock the baby. 3:11, change the diaper. 3:16, feed the baby. 3:29, rock the baby. 4:46, change the diaper. 4:54, feed the baby. 5:07, rock the baby. Daylight savings time kicked my…you know what. Having lost an hour of sleep, I woke up Sunday morning completely exhausted, running on no sleep, and with a strong urge to put Darth Vader in the garbage can. I did nothing on Sunday, but sit in my bedroom and wait for the baby to cry. I couldn’t do anything, go anywhere, and feel anything but pure exhaustion. At one point, I’m embarrassed to say, I even started crying. Physically, mentally, and emotionally, I was done. I couldn’t handle the baby anymore, I just wanted Monday to come so this could all be over.
“I cried a little this morning because I’m just so tired and exhausted and I can’t deal with this baby anymore. I hate it,” I wrote in one of my three journal entries from Sunday. That night, I asked my mother if she could help me throughout the night with the baby, because I wanted to get at least some amount of hours of sleep before school the next day. Around midnight, my mom came into my room and took the baby from me, telling me to just sleep the rest of the night and she’d take care of Darth Vader for me. I appreciatively accepted her offer and fell straight asleep for the rest of the night, dreaming of the morning when I could finally be done with the assignment.
Present Day
For those of you who know me, I’ve never had an interest in having children. It’s never been something I could see for myself, though I do enjoy working with children. Having a baby or babies is just not for me. After taking on the challenge of the RealCare baby, I can confidently say that I will never, ever be having children of my own in the future. I seriously applaud mothers and fathers all around the world who choose to experience this. Though I only had a fake baby for a weekend, it took a tremendous toll on me in all areas of my life. I couldn’t even imagine how much harder it would be to do this for multiple years. In the end, I would give this experience a 1/10, I did not enjoy the assignment one bit and hopefully will never have to do something like this again. If any of you are thinking about taking the Child Development elective at some point in your high school career, I advise you to know that this assignment is not for the weak, though I do believe that it’s an important lesson for everyone to learn and experience. What I learned from this? My future is to be the fun and cool single aunt, and I’m perfectly okay with that.
