On the weekend of October 13, hundreds of Swifties swarmed the movie theaters, trading friendship bracelets and dancing along to their favorite songs. At the East Brunswick theater, many high school students were seated to watch the film; however, at a certain showing there were two unexpected faces in the audience, the faces of twin sugar babies Mason and Asher.
Senior Gabby Martins arrived at the 8:00 showing of the Eras Tour movie on a Saturday night with her arms full of two babies made of flour. As she walked through the doors, she was met with odd glances and confused faces from other movie goers. The babies sat comfortably on her lap as she danced and sang with them throughout the three hour concert experience of the Eras Tour.
Unlike some common beliefs about the sugar baby assignment, the responsibilities of being a parent to one or in Gabby’s case two babies continues outside of school. Similar to a regular baby, these fake ones need to be taken with students at all times, even after the hours of 8:00am to 2:45pm.
The week-long sugar baby assignment gives students a serious feel for the responsibilities of parents and guardians. Just like a real parent with twin babies, she had to bring her babies with her to many different places, not just the movies. Gabby explains that some of the places she brought her babies to were “to Target, to a park, to volunteer work, and [her] job.”
Gabby expressed how “it’s hard to not have a free arm” when discussing her experience with bringing her babies to the movies. “Trying to balance carrying two babies” and her popcorn, drink, and movie ticket “was very difficult” for her. She understood that while carrying her babies around provided its challenges, real parents have many more responsibilities than just that. The assignment does not cover the greatest difficulties like crying, feeding, and that worst of them all, changing diapers. While the sugar baby assignment may leave out some of the most difficult aspects of being a parent to newborns, it serves as a strong introduction to some of the responsibilities of being a parent and prepares students for a possible family in their futures.
