Of Enthymemes and Babies

While last week's class was hectic, the presence of a baby in the classroom was as educational for me as anything that my professor could have talked about.

I had never seen a baby in a classroom before. It was a shock to my thought process as the two worlds proved completely incompatible. I've spent time as a nanny, but usually, when I'm in class, or on campus, I forget about the existence of babies. I even forget the fact that every student used to be a baby, or that in the future my friends will have babies of their own. In college, everyone is a functioning adult and no one has time to reflect on the cycle of life that begot us.

I saw how difficult it is for a Professor to keep talking while her baby is on her hip, how challenging it must be to pursue a career and raise a child at the same time. I realized that, no matter how much we pretend that we are immortally 21 year olds in college, the time will come when I may not care what kind of syllogistic argument I'm making as a plead with my child to eat her vegetables.

I think it was useful to have a baby in the classroom; it made me think about what it means to be a potentially-baby-making educated woman.