It’s a Boy!

My Child Development teacher handed me the ten-pound bundle. It had come at last: my turn to take the Think-About-It baby home for a night to check out parenthood, sort of. This baby had a computer inside its body that was programmed to make crying sounds at any given moment, and I was the only person who could stop the crying because I had the key. This key was tied to my wrist and could be inserted in the dolls’ back to stop the thing from crying.

It was a Friday night when my turn came to take the ten pound plastic doll home. From a distance, it actually looked like a live baby, and even had a pleasant baby powder smell. After I took the baby home in its car seat, I changed him into some really cute clothes because my friends and I were gonna go out that night and I decided to name him Tyler, too. So far, so good. The doll hadn't cried, which was lucky.

My friends came over and we all piled into the car, and it was kind of squished because we had the baby’s seat, too. I had to treat the doll like a real baby because the computer inside also measured any types of abuse to the doll such as shaking or neglect. The hour-long drive to our destination went pretty smooth until we got to the restaurant. Of course it was a Friday night so there were a lot of people waiting in line to get a table and it was kind of cold so I decided to wrap Tyler in a blanket and carry him in that way. I also had a diaper bag with diapers, a bottle, and an extra set of clothes hanging on my arm.

When I walked into that crowded entryway, I got some very weird looks and could see quite a few raised eyebrows in my direction and my friends also noticed some glares and stares. One couple says, “why would she bring a baby here?” People were giving me rude looks and forming judgments about me. Others just smiled at me. I think they felt sorry for me.

We finally got a table and the waiter asked me if I needed a highchair or something. I told him it was just a doll, but a highchair would be good. He thought  it was funny and brought a highchair and even a red balloon for “the little one.”

Again during our meal my friends and I received strange looks and stuff from the other people. One couple kept walking by our table just to get a look at my baby. As the couple walked by, my friends and I started discussing how people were being towards us because they thought I was the mother. We decided that we would probably do the same if we saw a teenage girl coming in with a baby and a group of friends. Teenage pregnancy is not accepted where I live and is definitely not the norm so many girls would for sure hide their pregnancy if they decided to keep the baby.

We went to the mall after we were finished eating and I had to take Tyler with me. My friends were looking at clothes but I couldn’t because I was carrying this baby (which was getting heavy) so I just roamed around wishing I could try on clothes too and then the baby started to cry this horrible imitation of a real baby’s cry. It was so loud and really really terrible so I quickly put the key into the doll’s back so it would quit crying. I had to explain to the dumb sales clerk why I was carrying around a plastic doll, and I was so glad to finally go home.

I guess I learned a lot with the Think-About-It baby since the doll definitely told me that I was not ready to be a parent, but it also made me understand how other people react. People do not realize that some things are not the way they seem. The doll seemed like it was my baby, but that was not the case because I was only carrying it around for a class project.

I sometimes catch myself judging people I do not know, just because of the first impression they give, and in reality, I do not have a clue about their real story. I especially think people judge teenage girls with babies too quickly. Sure, they may have made a mistake, but the girl usually knows that and is the one who has to pay the price. I only experienced the glares and rude comments one night, but I thought of all the girls who have to deal with these looks wherever they go, so we shouldn’t judge these girls as well as everyone else and realize that some things are not the way they seem.