Baby Egg Project

Molly Wise
Psychology
Mrs. Caudill
3/18/14
Egg Baby Reflection Paper
Throughout this whole experience with my baby egg Kendall, had really taught me how to become far more responsible. My experience with my egg baby was so much fun, but I soon learned that it wouldn't be easy caring for a baby all day long every day. Having to look after a child 24/7 is not an easy task to accomplish, especially when you had other priories before the egg came along. I admit this whole process wasn’t fun at times. For example; all the times when I either went out to eat or to go shopping, I not only had to get food for myself but for one more person! It might sound silly, but you really have to remember that it’s not just you and your husband any more. You have a baby! During the process, I had to find a way to work around my job and take care of Kendall, so I had to take off a good month and a half to provide good care for my child. This experience assured me even more that I am not near ready for children at my age. I also thought that it a lot got harder as the week went on with having to carry it everywhere I went, and to get in and out of my locker, as well as bringing it to class everyday while all the same time not dropping it! The whole two weeks was quite the experience for me. I managed to never drop, or crack my egg baby through it all. Which wasn’t an easy task to do, considering you literally had the egg every class you went to. Not to mention when you couldn’t make time for your baby you had to find a babysitter that you depend on for a good 3 hours. When going to and from school I decided to buckle up Kendall in the front seat so she was very secure and had no change of getting smashed by my book bag or anything else. Through it all I found that the more effort I put into this project, the more I would get out of it in the end. I had to realize that this egg baby was going to be my top priority for two weeks straight. During her physical, emotional, social, and cognitive development stages I learned that babies are motivated, curious and competent learners right from the start. They are natural scientists in a way. Cognitive development is the building of concept knowledge and thinking skills. Children come into the world eager to learn. Through relationships, active exploration and experiences, figure out how things work, imitate others, try out new behaviors, share meaning, and solve problems. Like scientists, young children discover the mysteries of the world. Through play and practice, they build ideas and develop their thinking skills on their own. I found that babies experience emotions right from the start. From their first cry of hunger to their first giggle, their emotional experience grows. Young children learn many ways to express emotions such as happiness, sadness and anger. As they interact with their people, they come to understand their own emotional experience. Eventually they gain some control over their strong emotions. I learned that as children mature and grow parents eagerly await for important signs in the child’s life such as learning how to roll over and crawl. Each of these represents a part of physical development. I found that it is also important to realize that the speed at which these indicators are reached can vary. For example; some children learn to walk earlier than their friends, while others may take a bit longer. I learned that social and emotional development is often harder to determine than signs of physical development. From the start babies begin to explore their new world including themselves and other people. During this development children tend to have rapid mood swings. Their emotions can be very intense; these feelings also tend to be short-lived. For example; your child can go from screaming hysterically about a toy he wants to sitting in front of the television quietly watching his favorite show just moment later! Some studies have found that emotional and social developments are needed for school. Examples include paying attention to adults, and cooperating with other kids. I learned a lot from all these developments. They really taught me how hard it will be when later on I do eventually have kids and what I will have to look forward to.
Parenthood affected my week just by having to make sure I leave a little extra earlier to get to class on time, and having to keep hold on good to my basket when moving through the halls. The biggest job I felt really had me thinking at all times was to make sure I never left her anywhere, and to always know where she was at all times! I had difficult times during the week where I had to find a babysitter a couple days ahead when I knew I wasn’t going to be able to take care of her that night. I really had to adapt very quickly to this new lifestyle for two weeks, because I knew it was going to change how I did everything. The most difficult thing for my throughout this whole process was probably having to put my egg baby before anything for two weeks. At some points during the process Kendall was kind of a pain because she had to tag along to literally everything I went to since throughout the process I really didn’t have much money for babysitters but I managed, and some of the places were not suitable for egg babies. I felt I spent a lot of time with Kendall, I mean honestly she went practically everywhere with me! We spent a bunch of time together to and from school, and after track practices. The most time occurred at school, and going to every class together. I will most likely parent my child with clear expectations and consequences and I will be loving and caring toward them. I will allow for flexibility when they are dealing with behavioral challenges.
In conclusion, I feel from this whole experience my letter grade should be an “A”. If the past week was any sign, my egg-parenting skills are still a work in progress. I managed to keep my egg intact without any cracks. In the end I was actually really surprised how good I kept Kendall together. I did have some nerves about dropping it, when other classmates were only a couple days into the project and already having cracks or dropping it completely. Though I found out that I had become much more responsible through this whole project.