Crying. Nasty diapers. Thrown up. These are some things that come with having a baby.  Having a taste of motherhood at the age of 15 has changed my life forever. To clarify, I’m not a mother and I don’t have a kid at all. I used to babysit my nephew the summer of my sophomore years of high school, and that’s where it all started.
My sister Sam got pregnant when she was 18; right after she got out of high school. She went to   college for the first year while she was pregnant, but after she had the baby she quit. She had no boyfriend and no job, so she ended up being a full time stay at home mother. She lived with my parents, my brother, and me, so she wasn’t alone. We all helped out with whatever she needed.
After about six months of the birth of the baby Sam went to look for a job. She got one at a factory in Cadillac. The bad thing was that she had to work the midnight shift. I was on my summer vacation, so I was the one that had to babysit. I didn’t mind at first. I would start babysitting around 5 PM, so Sam could sleep, then the baby and I would play up until it was time for bed. By the time we both got up Sam was already home.
After a couple weeks of Sam working things started to change. Sam would come home and go straight to bed, so I would have to babysit even longer, and she didn’t spend much time with her kid. She would only spend a couple hours of the day with the baby. It didn’t bother me that much I guess, but after a while of this I just wanted to have a life on my own. I wanted to go hang out with my friends or just have some time to myself. I never got to do what I wanted though.
As the baby was getting bigger he started to cry more and get into everything. I’m normally a patient person, but when a baby is thrown into the mix it is pretty stressful. He started to wake up at all hours of the night, and all I wanted to do is sleep, but of course I couldn’t. I had to get up, give him his milk, and then I could go back to bed. This happened two or three times a night, and I was exhausted.
Also, he would get into everything. Sometimes we would be watching TV and I would lay on the couch. As I started to get comfortable he would get in something he wasn’t supposed to be in. I would get annoyed because all I wanted to do was relax. I never got to do that either.
My summer vacation was almost over, and I still was babysitting day and night. I told Sam she had to figure out something else to do with the baby before I started school. She said, “I’m going to move in with my boyfriend and I’m going to quit my job.” She was doing that so she could spend more time with her child. I was relieved. Her boyfriend was a great guy and he love her baby as if he was his own. He said he would support Sam and the baby.
There are a lot of things that mothers have to get used to.
Sleepless nights.
Exhaustion.
No life of your own and more.
I love my sister and nephew like crazy, and I wouldn’t change a thing. As for my own life, I will take every precaution to make sure it doesn’t happen to me until I’m older and ready for it.