A Growing Boy: Another Brick In The Wall

Before Jeffrey starts his educational career at the Brick City this fall, it seemed appropriate for him to do a freshman tour, just like everyone else. Though instead of taking him to Margaret’s House, RIT’s onsite day care, I brought him to class with me.

Fridays are the easiest day of the week for me. I don’t have any classes, just meetings. And since it’s the last week of school before finals, there really isn’t a lot going on at the campus, so it seemed like a good time to visit.

Stroller? Check! Diaper bag with extra bottles of milk? Check! Bjorn? Check! Laptop? Check! Baby… um, check!

Jeffrey was very well behaved. He sat in the front pocket of the Baby Bjorn during my whole presentation on “Customer and Developer Perspective for the Adoption of Hardware Security Tokens”, just rocking back and forth while I talked about device drivers, installer modules and API sample code. (HASPERS! CHA-CHA-CHA!) He took a bottle while our team devoured 2 sheet pizzas. Since RIT doesn’t have baby changing stations in the rest rooms, I used an unoccupied classroom when he needed new pants.

During his visit, Jeffrey got to visit with Prof. Barido, Prof. Beaton, Prof. McQuade, Prof. Stackpole and graduate assistant Tim May. My professors have all been aware of the stressfulness of Jeffrey being born prematurely and have been very supportive. It was nice for them to finally get to meet him after talking so much and sharing pictures with them. Also, many of my professors and research team members contributed to our March Of Dimes WalkAmerica fund raising.

Jeffrey fell asleep in his stroller next to a bench of computers while my lab partner and I did some experiments with the hardware keys. Mom showed up about 5:00 pm and we all went home together. I think some of my classmates may now have a different perspective on me. Hopefully, meeting Jeffrey will have shaped, in a good way, their perspective on potential parenthood. And hopefully Jeffrey has gained something from the experience too. Oh no, he's already wearing an MP3 player. I guess he'll fit right in.