Baby in Disguise by Simone

Baby in Disguise by Simone - September 2015 Scholarship Essay

1:59 a.m. 2:00 a.m. 2:01 a.m. My withering eyes stared at the clock, while Jordan stared at me. Jordan is the newest addition to my family - a six month year old baby boy - and this was my first time babysitting him. I don't know what made me agree to watch my little cousin that night; maybe it was the fact that his parents were working late, or maybe it was those adorable, big, sparkly brown eyes that just screamed, "Watch me cousin!" Either way, I had him for a whole night. A night that will forever pop into my head the minute I catch myself having "baby fever."

Jordan actually isn't that much of a hand full until it's time for him to go sleep. Making his bottles, feeding him sweet smelling yet wretched tasting cans of baby food (yes I tasted it - sue me), and playing with him was for the most part very simple. But when the clock stroked 11:00 p.m., I decided it was bedtime. Jordan, however, didn't get the memo.

The moment I laid him supinely in my bed: cue the water works. It was like platakenng a game of Operation; any part of his body that would touch the bed would result in an instant buzz of lachrymosity. I couldn't take it, and the clock was still ticking. But by the grace of God, my mother came in and gave me a few pointers. She could have easily taken over, and everyone would've been counting sheep by 1:00 a.m., but she wanted me to learn how to put a baby to sleep.

With many rocks and shakes and sways and lullabies, Jordan finally closed those stary, chocolate eyes, and I came to several conclusions that night. The most important one, though, was that lessons take place everywhere - not just in school. I may not have physically taken notes in a notebook or took a test on what I learned, but I was a student in that situation: a student to my mother and a student to life. I was fortunate enough to have my mother there with me that night, but when I become an adult with a child of my own I won't have a notebook that'll tell me how to be a mother; I have to retain my mother's instructions now. My school taught me the fundamentals of how to be an excellent student, and it's my job to implement those lessons into my daily life no matter what time school ends; life is constantly ticking.