If you have seen some seniors walking the halls carrying around bags of flour with baby clothes, you can assume that it is flour baby week, where seniors have to pretend to parent their very own babies made out of flour and duct tape. Some seniors look forward to creating their own child, and even get as creative as giving their baby arms and legs or decorating it with a wig.
One of the best parts of the project is getting to design the flour baby however each student wants to. Designing a flour baby can be very exciting for students who love to get creative. Each baby is unique in its own way; from babies with arms and legs, to babies wearing pink wigs and tutus, you will never know what you will expect to see when walking in the hallways. “I loved decorating my baby, I wrapped her in one of my scarves, and that was really sentimental to me, because I used to wear that scarf when I was younger,” senior Olivia Kremenak said.
Many students find great joy in caring for their child, even if it’s just a bag of flour. Decorating the flour baby in baby clothes has been an enjoyable hobby for many, and Target has been a very busy place to purchase diapers, swaddles, bottles, and any baby items for their flour babies.“I went to Target to actually buy my baby, as in the bag of flour, and then I bought her a bottle and a hat,” Kremenak said.
While many enjoy decorating the baby, some find caring for the baby not as exciting as it seems. With the flour babies, seniors are required to bring their kid everywhere as if it were an actual living baby. Treating a bag of flour like an actual child can be time-consuming and annoying, especially while juggling many other factors like school and extracurricular activities. “I don’t really understand the purpose of the flower baby; it’s just another thing I have to carry around,” senior Ana Zitzer said.
Students are required to care for their child for a whole week, but near the end of the week, many seniors tend to slack off on their duties as a parent. During school, seniors are surrounded by teachers who are carefully watching their every move, so neglecting the flour baby is not an option; although, when it comes to outside of school activities, there is no supervision, and in turn, that raises the question of whether students are carrying out their responsibilities outside of the classroom. “I feel like people tend to get sick of carrying around their flour babies because it’s another thing they have to worry about, and I know many people who don’t carry out the rules outside of school,” senior Ames Leber said.