When walking through the halls of Northern Valley Demarest High School lately, something unusual stands out. Seniors are cradling medium-sized squares dressed in tiny outfits, accessorized, some sporting students retired baby clothes that have not seen the light of day in over a decade. Only NVD students could make a 2 lb bag of Pillsbury All Purpose Flour bag cute. 

Welcome to the “Flour Baby” project, part of the senior health class curriculum, an assignment that is designed to give students a glimpse of the real life responsibilities when caring for a child. Each student is required to supply a bag of flour, which for that week is their newborn they must look after. While a bag of flour does not cry, require feeding or a diaper change, it is physically fragile. Students are expected to keep it intact and “alive” for a week, while bringing the flour bag with them to school, taking it home, and making sure nothing happens to it. No tears, no spills, no accidents are all necessary to receive a good grade.

This project, when taken seriously, makes it clear how unprepared most 17 and 18-year-olds are for the responsibility of a newborn. Thank goodness these babies are made of flour, because there have already been a few unfortunate “deaths,” with bags around the school popping, ripping and falling.  It is not as easy as it may look: the bags are not only awkward to carry for a full day, but are surprisingly heavy. Imagine having to carry –in addition to a full school backpack– a 2 pound bag. From the senior parking lot into school, through crowded hallways, and into every single class period. It is also extremely easy to forget about, which only adds to the challenge and reflects a sliver of the constant responsibility caregiving requires. 

Many members of the senior class have strong determination to keep their babies safe, many describing taking additional safety measures and precautions, such as bandaging layers upon layers of Suran Wrap, or reinforcing their baby with duct tape. There is even a student who bought a Shein customized cushion with their face on it ordered to the exact dimensions to snug the flour bag. At this point, flour parenting seems to fall into three categories: carefully engineered protection systems and nostalgic throwback baby clothing. 

Beyond a project meant to reflect the ultimate responsibility of caring for a child, there is something unexpectedly wholesome about seniors in their final year of high school digging through boxes filled with clothes from their childhood. When the week is officially over and seniors are no longer “parents”, their babies will not go to waste: Claire Ross, an NVD senior who loves to bake, has already called dibs on some of the flour babies for her next cookie batch.