Daughter’s Plastic Baby Daddy
Our household had the experience that any parents of teenage daughters dread. My daughter came home on Friday afternoon with a baby boy. She did not bring the child home from the hospital and there were no signs leading up to the impending delivery, at least that I could see. She is taking a parenting class at school and one of the assignments is to bring home a plastic replica of a baby, complete with crying, cooing and diaper changing, to take care of for the weekend. Let me tell you, I am not ready to be a grand parent.
The weekend started off well and Patchi, my plastic robotic house guest, behaved for the first few hours. So we braved it and went out to Taco Bell for dinner. That is when the fun started. People were looking and pointing and making at the table remarks about that teenage girl with the baby. Of course she went out of her way to make sure they knew it was a doll. Then people were looking and pointing and making at the table remarks. Funny how people react. From there we went to Meijer for some grocery shopping. Since Patchi was in the carrier and visible, we had several people come up and ask questions. It was interesting to get other people’s reaction on a parenting class for teens. Most people found it to be a great idea that children would learn responsibility for taking care of a new born. We even had a small girl ask if she could play with the dolly. The fun started in the check out line when Patchi went off for the first time. He wanted fed and let out quite the wale to let everybody know.
It went down hill from there. He wanted his diaper changed and burped and fed again and it went on and on all night. My daughter had to log every event. Saturday night was the worst because the doll got fussy and would not settle down. I got 5 hours sleep Saturday night. This was not even my project and I was affected. By Sunday afternoon, we all were exhausted. I took my daughter to a local shopping center to buy a purse. She took Patchi with her. She drove, so I did not wear shoes (she has her temps but that is another entry) and waited outside the store with the carriage. One couple stopped and asked if I was taking a grand parenting class. I guess you could call it that but I told them it was a school project for my daughter.
In retrospect, it was an enlightening weekend. My daughter learned that babies require a lot of care and attention and are a definite restriction on you personal freedom. We learned that Patchi could be called Paco, Chachi, and other names and aggravate my daughter. I also realized that my daughter is growing up and in a few years will be doing this for real. Hopefully we have taught her the right lessons in life and she will follow God’s path for her. This was a great addition to the lessons we have taught her so far. Although I am still sleep deprived on Tuesday, it was a great learning opportunity for the entire household.
Icool
Cobb
The weekend started off well and Patchi, my plastic robotic house guest, behaved for the first few hours. So we braved it and went out to Taco Bell for dinner. That is when the fun started. People were looking and pointing and making at the table remarks about that teenage girl with the baby. Of course she went out of her way to make sure they knew it was a doll. Then people were looking and pointing and making at the table remarks. Funny how people react. From there we went to Meijer for some grocery shopping. Since Patchi was in the carrier and visible, we had several people come up and ask questions. It was interesting to get other people’s reaction on a parenting class for teens. Most people found it to be a great idea that children would learn responsibility for taking care of a new born. We even had a small girl ask if she could play with the dolly. The fun started in the check out line when Patchi went off for the first time. He wanted fed and let out quite the wale to let everybody know.
It went down hill from there. He wanted his diaper changed and burped and fed again and it went on and on all night. My daughter had to log every event. Saturday night was the worst because the doll got fussy and would not settle down. I got 5 hours sleep Saturday night. This was not even my project and I was affected. By Sunday afternoon, we all were exhausted. I took my daughter to a local shopping center to buy a purse. She took Patchi with her. She drove, so I did not wear shoes (she has her temps but that is another entry) and waited outside the store with the carriage. One couple stopped and asked if I was taking a grand parenting class. I guess you could call it that but I told them it was a school project for my daughter.
In retrospect, it was an enlightening weekend. My daughter learned that babies require a lot of care and attention and are a definite restriction on you personal freedom. We learned that Patchi could be called Paco, Chachi, and other names and aggravate my daughter. I also realized that my daughter is growing up and in a few years will be doing this for real. Hopefully we have taught her the right lessons in life and she will follow God’s path for her. This was a great addition to the lessons we have taught her so far. Although I am still sleep deprived on Tuesday, it was a great learning opportunity for the entire household.
Icool
Cobb
posted by Cobb at
10:47 AM
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