Most people can’t make brownies out of their babies, but don’t tell that to the students in Bingham’s Adult Roles class. As an assignment, the students took care of a sack of flour for one week, pretending the flour was a baby. They took the flour with them to each of their classes and had their teachers sign a sheet saying they had it the entire time. This activity was meant to help teach students responsibility.
“The students also had to take the flour babies home with them,” said Adult Roles teacher Aubrey Turnbow. “It gave them an idea of what a burden a baby can be, especially because they have it with them 24/7.”
Not only did the students have to take their flour babies home, but they had to set an alarm for 2 a.m. every morning and walk the flour sacks around for fifteen minutes.
“After a while my arms started to hurt from carrying it around,” said senior Autumn Heaps. “I couldn’t wait to put it down.”
As expected, this assignment has made for some pretty interesting stories. According to Ms. Turnbow, one year a girl took pictures with her flour baby everywhere she went. She had the baby try on necklaces at the mall and even put it in the swing at the park. Another kid dropped his flour baby off the bleachers during a football game, which led to a massive flour explosion. One student even abandoned his baby and had to write a five-page paper on neglect.
Dressing up the babies was said to be most of the students’ favorite part. Since they had to take the babies around the school, students may have seen flour sacks sporting cute baby faces, diapers, hats, and onesies.
“It was kind of a contest to see who could make their baby the most fashionable,” said senior Tiffany Wood. “Mine was looking pretty cute with her bright pink bow.”
To make things more exciting, senior Annie Wouden decided to carry her flour baby around with her in a baby carrier. Some people were not impressed.
“I got some dirty looks at the store,” Annie said. “People would try to look inside the baby carrier.”
Senior Alisha Harding also didn’t have the greatest experience.
“My friends thought it was funny to throw my flour baby around,” said Alisha. “Personally, I prefer the mechanical babies; they are more realistic,”
Once the laborious week was over, Annie, like most students, rewarded herself with a delicious batch of cookies made out of her baby.
