Personal Response & Reflection Questions
- For you, did the gender of the baby make a difference? Why or why not?
No the gender of the baby did not make a difference to me because I did not really mind. I take in consideration and think that every baby is the same to me because although its a boy or a girl, at the end of the day that kid is yours and only yours. - The babies are culturally diverse. Was the ethnicity of your baby important to you? Why or why not?
No the ethnicity did not matter to me because I don't at all mind what skin colour I had. I am as an individual against judging a person by its colour so to prove this statement, I have chosen to take a African-American male. Although my parents were stunned by the skin colour, I proved to them that the skin colour absolutely does not matter. - How did you rate your abilities to care for a baby prior to completing this assignment? How would you rate your abilities now?
I rated my abilities is that I will do really bad and not get a good grade. Feel unaccomplished, unprepared, and get a less grade than my sister. But at the end of the day I successfully got the same mark as my sister, a 98% and I was able to comfortably manage the baby. I was also able to read the baby's cry's and do the care that the baby needed affectively and quick. Now I would rate myself to be prepared and comfortably hold a baby without getting scared. - How many hours a day (on average) did you think it would require to care for a baby prior to completing this assignment? Has your estimate changed since having cared for Baby Think It Over?
I think that on average it would take about 10 hours out of the 24 hours to constantly take care of a baby because most the time when a baby is born its main priority is to get sleep and also the necessitates. Yes my estimate has changed over the period of time I had Baby Think It Over because I didn't know that baby's would need these many hours for constant care. - What did you like about care for baby?
I really liked and enjoyed about the baby is when the baby cried for a diaper change because it was really fast and easy to do it. You could tell when the baby was crying for what because it has specific cries for each care that it needed. For example, when the baby started crying a lot right away that was a diaper change right away. The longer you take care of the baby you get used to the different types or cries. I have to also admit that I miss the baby at times. - What did you not like about care for baby?
I felt like I was not prepared enough to bring the baby home so I had to guess my way through on friday. Soon enough I was able to catch up and understand how the baby worked. I did not like the fact that the baby cried at night but I had to also take in consideration that real life baby's don't have a pause button where it does not cry at night. I also didn't like that sometimes I would be sitting there for 20-25 minutes just rocking/feeding/burping the baby and my arms would start hurting. Otherwise, overall the baby was good and a awesome experience. - Prior to completing this assignment, how important did you think it was to have a spouse or partner before having children? How important do you think it is now?
Prior to the assignment, I thought that having a spouse or a partner and a kid wasn't as important because I thought that one or the other would we able to take care of the child alone, but let alone getting child support is necessary considering that babies are expensive. After completing this assignment I have recognized that it is significant for both partners to be involved - You may or may not have had anyone help you care for your baby during the time. Compare and contrast what being a single parent would be like to being a dual parent.
Being a single parent is really hard because I did not acquire any help from my family, I was told to do this whole experience by myself from my mom because she wanted me to realize how hard it is to be a mother. But I feel like it would be easier to having a significant other and helping you take care of the baby with you because you feel as much pressure and you'll have another helping hand to guide you through the way. - What qualities would you like a future parenting partner to have? Explain.
I would want my future significant partner to be a loyal, trustworthy male. Someone that can be there for me whenever I need him and be really trustworthy. These are really important traits to have in a male because to have a successful relationship/marriage both the female (me) and male would have to compromise, stay faithful and having good communication is key. - Since you had care for baby overnight and over a weekend, you came in contact with a number of friends, relatives and even people on the street. Describe their reactions to you having a baby and how you handled their reaction.
On friday night family friends have visited and seen me feeding the baby. The youngest girls (age of 10) was really surprised and questioned me about this baby and why I had it. I explained to her that this baby is a project for a parenting class and I had to completely take care of it through day and night. The young girl was really stunned and wanted to help. My other aunt and uncle also visited and did not really mind the baby because their daughter (my cousin) also brought the baby home when she was in grade 11 and had already experienced it. I went to Neha's house on Saturday to have a "play date" and take care of the babies together and she didn't mind either cause she had the baby the same weekend. - Imagine what it would be like to be a teen mother or father with fulltime responsibility of a baby. Considering at your current lifestyle, how would having a real baby change or alter what you do, how you live, where you live and how you spend your money.
Having a real baby at the age of 16 would be extremely difficult considering I am still in school, I don't have a job (or money), and having a life at this time. With a baby I wouldn't be able to finish my education (high school) and make future plans (post secondary). I also would have to get supported with money to buy all the stuff baby needs and after doing the expense form, the baby would not be cheap at all. If I also got baby as a teen, I would never be looked the same from society, family and friends. My parent's might be understand and accept me and the baby but they would have to sacrifice a lot of shame and guilt from society and family. - Rate your abilities now to pay for the financial expense (food, housing, clothing, medical care) or an infant. Females only: Predict how you would respond to living a lifestyle based on your current income (or a job you could qualify for now while getting an education). Males only: AND had to pay child support at 17% or more of your salary while getting an education.
Rating my abilities right now to pay for financial expenses is 0. I would not be able to pull it off considering I am not a working employee right now and I would not look upon my parents for financial support because this baby would be my responsibility. If I were to have a baby, my respond to my financial support is to maybe quit school, find a job, get some of my family/friends to help me support the baby and get the father to pay as well. - Shaken Baby syndrome is serious and preventable. From what you know and from your experience with baby, explain what might cause an adult to shake a baby.
Factors that cause an adult to shake a baby can be if the baby gets really fussy and the adult is not patient and is not able to react in a proper manner. Also if the adult is stressed out at that very moment, they might not be able to cope with it and take it all out on the baby. - Baby Think It Over is a healthy, normal baby. What additional challenges would you face if your baby was born with special needs i.e. cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, cleft palette, brain damaged from birth, etc.
Extra challenges that we would have to face is maybe extra money to help baby treat these many symptoms. We would also have to face the facts and emotionally be hard for us to accept and deal with this as a whole since this is only and baby and it is not fair for them to develop these special needs when they are just given birth too. - Was the reality of parenting what you expected? Explain your answer.
No it was not because I thought parenting years would go by fast and sooner or later the baby will be a toddler then preschooler then a child and soon enough a teenager, but I was wrong. After those long, sleepless nights with Tyrone I realized that it is hard to take care of a child. Also the Real Care Baby wasn't as accurate because we were given the bottle and diapers. But in reality we would have to warm milk and buy diapers to change the baby.