Where Do I Sign Up?

My new favorite show on TV (as of yesterday) is The Baby Borrowers. I like the premise of it: giving teens a real taste of what it is to be a parent by letting them take care of someone else's baby (under video supervision of the parent and in the physical presence of a licensed nanny. The parents are allowed to step in for a minute or two here-and-there to give advice, and the nanny is only allowed to interfere in an actual emergency). Some of it is far from reality, for instance the girls got to "experience" being pregnant by wearing a preggy belly around. But the belly itself isn't half of the experience. What about the swollen limbs and face, the heartburn, the fatigue, the crazy hormones (a couple girls actually exhibited symptoms of the hormonal mood swings, but I think it was more Pampered Teenager and less Hormonal Wreck), getting kicked from the inside (sometimes really hard) and oh, so many other things that go with being pregnant? What about all that?

I remember some kids at my school had to carry around a sack of sugar for a week, to simulate what it would be like to have a baby while still in high school. They had to take it everywhere they went, because theoretically a high school-er wouldn't be able to afford a babysitter, and their parents would be at work or otherwise unavailable. Most of the kids treated it pretty lightly, because, in reality, it was just a sack of sugar.

This Baby Borrower thing, though. It intrigues me so much. As I watched the opening interviews with the teens, I had to chuckle at how easy they thought having a kid would be. Honestly, I didn't think it would be as hard as it is either, but I knew there would be more to it than just loving your kid (more on this in a bit). There would be all the stuff you have to do to take care of a kid, then add to that keeping up a household; rent, food, health insurance, clothing, diapers. It all ads up. Another unrealistic thing about the show; NBC is providing lodging for these teens as well as setting them up with a job, so they don't really have to deal with all that.

I'm really amazed at the responses on NBC's website. So many people are saying this show is awful and abusive to the babies and the separation from their parents is going to cause long term mental issues. Really? So parents are never allowed to be separated from their kids? Three days away from Mom and Dad for a 6 month old baby is going to ruin the rest of her life? No more vacations for me, I guess. I hope it's not too late... Maybe the damage has already been done, and my kids are taking it out on me by smearing poop on the walls at nap time. Sheesh.

Anyway, I won't go into that part of it anymore because I think it's bullpucky* and I'd rather focus more on why I think this show is great. Someone on one of the blogs mentioned the lack of bonding and love the teens have for the babies (they're only with the baby for three days before they move on to toddlers). I think this is not such a bad thing for this show. These teens, like most people, predict that they'll have a bond with their kids, which they probably will, and in reality that bond is what makes being a parent worth it. On the show, however, the teens see only the hard work side--the side they probably underestimated before--and hopefully it will help them realize they need to have a few things in order (like a good job, and a solid relationship; most of the couples are on pretty rocky ground and think having a baby will "fix" things between them) before they go bringing a life into this world that they aren't ready to take care of.

I would totally let my kids go on the show (well, Drew and Owen anyway; I'm a little more protective of Samantha--that's probably what will cause her mental issues: not that I was gone but that I was around too much). It's all in the name of science, right? If it'll give some teens a chance to re-examine their priorities...

And I'll be honest. I could use a break.

*Thank you Jack Black; now that I know I'm not the only person who uses that word I'm no longer afraid to use it publicly.