The Weekend with a Real Care Baby Doll

What did we do this weekend? Everything we normally would have done as a family, just because you have a newborn (in our case a Real Care Baby Doll from the Middle School) doesn’t mean she’ll stop us. I mean how will kids learn if they just stay home with a doll sitting beside them all weekend. The only way to teach them what it is really like to have a baby with them when there is just two days is to really show them what life is like. So we conducted our daily activities.

First, daddy came home from Japan this weekend, he’d been over there for two weeks. Since we have been out of the Marines the kids weren’t use to him being gone so far away, the once a month to Missouri has been okay but this was two whole weeks. Yes, I kept them busy with movie and games but that doesn’t replace the missing daddy part.

I was happy to see him home, even if I did stay up all night talking to him that first night. (Saturday) Daddy brought the girls home a bento box each, for those that don’t know the three share a huge passion for anything anime which includes these lunchboxes.

I’m getting ahead of myself though, so now we’ll jump back to Friday night when SoccerBoy got home with his little Real Care Baby Doll. Her name is Abigail, Abby for short. (To view Abigail click her name) He showed up at the front door with her in her car seat and a diaper bag over his shoulder. It took everything in me not to make him stand at the door like that and me take a picture.

Once inside I made him place everything on the car seat so I could show you all. The first night was good but he was shocked how often she needed something, I guess he somehow never knew all I went through with the four of them. This could be an eye-opener for kids, as long as parents make them take care of it. Remember this is their assignment.

Kids only see the daily things, never the night time routines or even the minute by minute because they are so occupied with their own lives or playing with friends/outside. The picture above: Little A was scared of her. Can you really blame him? So SoccerBoy said to have him sit in his lap when he fed her to get him use to her.

That first night was fine, except he did have to take care of her quite a bit and even said, “Man they never give you a break do they?” This is where I knew it would leave a memory but knew to make this a real learning experience we’d have to do more with him. I mean he knows a lot because he has three other siblings but this had to be all him, not mom helping at all. She slept through the night on Friday, which is very UNLIKE a newborn in my opinion.

Saturday their daddy came home, but before he did SoccerBoy would ask to play outside. I explained yes but I would NOT watch his daughter…even if I was grandma because I didn’t expect to be asked this when he gets older all the time. Instead, he had to take her outside with him with my phone to record the time. (They have to record any time the baby cries and write what they had to do to comfort her) The mail lady drove by and laughed at him but knew what was going on since she’s been here a while, she laughed though because he had to stop playing to change Abigail. hehe

Later we decide to go to the mall with daddy but this would mean taking Abigail with because I don’t believe in the four hours time off so he would do it too. Yes, we made him take a doll to the mall and yes we ate at the food court which meant he had to change her and feed her in there. Yes, there were parents, grandparents, janitors and even teens that stopped to look. Some were shocked some stopped because they were so shocked that he had a baby but I think confused when they saw it was a doll.

I explained it a few times but I figured if they’d been here long enough they knew about this class. We saw Santa at the mall and had to get pictures. We’ve been meaning to get them ever since Little A was born but haven’t. We don’t have a single family photo with him in it unless I took it with a camera. Soccerboy figured he’d hang back but no way, we made him get a picture of Santa and Abigail. I think the whole thing will be etched in his mind.

P.S. By the way the doll didn’t sleep through the whole night on Saturday to Sunday. haha. That’ll teach him. 🙂