In teacher Christian Carper’s Parenting class, each student takes care of a RealCare Baby for one full weekend. I took my turn in mid December.

At first, I was panicking because I could not remember what time the baby turned on. My anxiety escalated because the baby was so quiet. Thirty minutes into the weekend, the baby started to cry, and I kind of freaked out. I ended up changing its diaper and then it went back to doing nothing. 

As the night went on, I fed it and burped it a few more times. Finally, I started to calm down.

Since I was going to be home all weekend, I figured I’d find something to do. So I went to Walmart to get some paint. 

It was almost 10 p.m., so it was pretty dead. But everyone there stared at me. One lady laughed at me because I was carrying a fake baby in a car seat. But thankfully she understood that it was for a class. But another lady stared the baby down as she walked by. I was honestly kind of freaked out by it. 

I shrugged it off, and then later on at Walmart the baby started crying because I needed to change its diaper again. I panicked and wondered if I should run out to my car to change the diaper. However, I ended up changing the baby’s diaper in the automotive aisle in Walmart. Thankfully, no one saw me.

I was pretty tired when I arrived home around 10:30 p.m., and the baby wouldn’t shut off for quiet hours until midnight. I decided to sit around and stay up until it shut off for my three quiet hours. 

The baby woke me up at 3 a.m., 5 a.m, and 6 a.m. I wanted to just quit and give up because it was so much work. I woke up once more around 8 a.m. and decided to just give up on trying to sleep anymore. 

That Saturday was pretty long. I went to my friend’s house to hang out for an hour or two. On the way there, the baby started crying in the back seat. I pulled over and was embarrassed because I had to feed and burp the baby in a parking lot. After returning home, the baby was quiet so I took an hour nap, which made me feel a little better. 

It was a rough weekend overall. My baby finally turned off at 6 p.m., so I definitely went to bed early. I learned a lot about what it’s like to be responsible for a child. I also learned that I will not be having any children for a long time and that I need to be more than ready when I do have children. But overall, it is a good experience. Thanks, Mr. Carper!