'Baby Borrowers': But if it were their child...

Watching the second episode of Baby Borrowers, it seems as though there may actually be one or two teens that could handle the responsibility, at least on a short term basis, of having a kid. However, those teens are far less interesting than the bad teens, and the bad teens are what we got to see a lot of tonight.

The episode really got going when Cory found himself exhausted after Karson awoke in the middle of the night and Cory couldn't get the little guy back to sleep. He made a valiant effort though and, when my nominee for worst parent of the year, Alicea, cursed at him in front of Karson the next morning, he remained calm (he wouldn't curse in front of Karson until later in the episode).

Alicea couldn't wait to get out of the house, and Cory seemed a little worried about being alone, but not hugely distressed about it. In Daton and Morgan's house on the other hand, Morgan tried to convince Daton not to leave. For her part, Kelsey took that request one step further with Sean, magically becoming ill and convincing Sean that he couldn't leave her alone with the baby due to said "illness." Sean stayed home from work to help the ultra-needy Kelsey, but I'm not buying that Kelsey was sick and I'm not sure mom did either.

But, let's not get too far away from the most clearly incompetent teen, Alicea. The great thing about her is that she had the exact same attitude at work that day that she had at home. She hated the idea that the guy training her at the lumber yard would dare suggest better ways to staple the pieces of wood together, announced that she would quit if she hurt herself, and just complained about everything she possibly could. I don't think that Alicea's problem is her ability (or lack thereof) to raise children, her problem is her attitude in general. It's not that Alicea shouldn't be around children, it's that she shouldn't be around anyone.

Yes, Alicea's partner Cory certainly had some issues with Karson, most notably his disgust at having to change a poop-filled diaper while at the park, but Cory still did it. Kelly, who seemed to be doing quite well with her baby had to help him, but he did it.

After Alicea got home, Cory tried to convince her to help out (that was when he began to utter words that ought not be used in front of a child), and Alicea refused. She actually went so far as to suggest that they call mom and have mom pick up Karson. I can just see that call now -- "Ummm..., Karson's mom? Yeah, this was a mistake, we don't want your kid anymore. He can't do anything for himself and we're tired of helping him. You teach your infant to feed himself and change his own diapers and then get back to us. We're going to the movies." They didn't actually make the call, but Alicea was definitely considering it.

Daton and Morgan at least had the good sense to take their baby with them to the skate park rather than contemplating a call to mom so that they could have time without the child. They did however show again why they shouldn't have children, what with Daton being completely uninterested in Morgan and the child and Morgan recognizing how close their relationship is to the precipice, but they took the baby with them. I'm going to award them a half-point for that.

It almost goes without saying that the couple that had the biggest problem in the middle of the night on the second night was Alicea and Cory. Karson awoke in the middle of the night and Cory and Alicea fought over who would go get him. Though he said he wouldn't be the one to do it, Cory eventually realized that Alicea would actually let Karson cry all night rather than help the baby out. Cory got Karson, but also, rather than trying to put Karson back to sleep, brought the child into the master bedroom and played with him on the bed to annoy Alicea. Using your child to hurt the other parent is one of those "not recommended" things, it's something that causes people to see shrinks later in life.

The next morning, oddly, Alicea decided that going out for 8 hours to a lumber yard was harder than staying home with Karson and sent Cory to work in her place that day. And, Kelsey, magically healthy again, went to work the next day rather than stay home with Etta.

As a little surprise bonus at the end of the day, each teen couple had one of their own mothers come to visit, and console, them. It wasn't all hugs and kisses though. Alicea's mom queried Alicea as to whether or not she still wanted to have kids, and Alicea answered that yes, she did, but she wanted the kid to be her own. Alicea's mom tried to explain to the couple that life isn't necessarily easy, that they might have to take a bad job, that they might have a colicky baby. Apparently both Cory and Alicea disagreed with that idea. In the couples' mind, if the baby was their flesh and blood, if they were living in their own home, everything would by hunky-dory. I'm not quite sure why they thought that, but they did.

I will say that at least Alicea and Cory listened to Alicea's mom, because Morgan didn't want to hear anything that her mom had to say. Morgan actually booted her own mom from the house rather than continue with the visit.

The next morning came quickly, and all the babies' moms and dads came back to pick up their little loved ones and assess the damage that the teens may have caused. The parents also had a moment to try and talk with the teens about what they observed. The teens all seemed to listen, but will it change their actions? We'll see.

My questions of the week:

• I know that I was harsh in my assessment of Alicea this week, but was I wrong? Is there something there that I was missing?
• What do you think happened with Jordan and Sasha this week? They were barely in the episode at all. Do you think they did a perfect, but quiet, job?

Okay, I know it's late, but I need a hug, so I'm going to go wake my toddler from her sleep and make her hug me. From what I witnessed tonight, that seems like a great parenting technique. You can go read The TV and Film Guy's Reviews.

E-mail

• Digg
• Facebook
• Fark
• Yahoo Buzz
• Stumbleupon