The Blessings Babies Bring

Life is really quite funny sometimes in what comes in your path from any given day to another.  I enjoy a good laugh just like the next person and a recent experience in the Parker household gave us more than a chuckle or two for sure.

Anyone who has had teenagers in recent years knows that some of the classes taken at the high school level present the student with the opportunity to take care of a "baby" for a weekend.  Now, CPS would definitely be on red alert if real babies were sent home with 15 yrs olds at any given moment.  So, it's quite good and well that there is a company out there that creates these.......

Looks pretty real doesn't it?  They act quite real as well.  They cry, they need to eat, be burped, soothed, diapers needed changing, and sometimes they sleep, too.  When feeding, the bottle has to be held at the right angle or the "baby" will cry.  The "baby" has to be held the right way or the computer chip inside it will register "neglect."  When the diaper is changed you have to actually trade out one of two diapers that comes with the baby so the computer chip recognizes a different diaper was put on the "baby."  

The "baby" has several different cries to signal it needs a feeding, a diaper change, or any other various types of care.  The challenge to the student is to determine which cry is which and care for the baby appropriately.

Friday when Randy came home from school with "Gian," life seemed fine and dandy and somewhat exciting.  Then the baby was up seven times Friday night needing care.  He needed constant care all day Saturday and Sunday.  Needless to say, by Sunday afternoon Randy had declared that he wasn't having children until he was 35 yrs old.  He was tired and frustrated with having to be constantly on call to the crying baby.

I think several times I heard Randy say, "I wish it would go to sleep so I can eat my lunch!"  Or, "mom, I've tried everything and it won't stop crying."  Gian even disrupted church with an annoying cry and Randy found himself dashing from the sanctuary and trying to sooth an unhappy baby.

I know we all found great joy in watching Randy tackle this assignment with gusto.  I am excited to know that fatherhood is a long way off in his future.  I'm thinking, maybe, it might be good to have this assignment once a year yet as he goes about finishing high school.  Just to make sure he remembers how much work babies are and that they aren't all fun and games.

For now I'll close with a chuckle and remember Randy's weekend of fatherhood with a grin on my face.

Walking with the King,