HOMEFRONT : The ‘What Am I? Nuts?’ Doll
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that too many high school girls don’t understand the pitfalls of parenthood. But it was just such a guy who came up with a way to get the message across.
Rick Jurmain, who had worked for McDonnell Douglas at the Johnson Space Center in Houston and at General Dynamics in San Diego, was one of thousands of laid-off aerospace engineers in 1993 when he spotted a TV show on a teen-pregnancy prevention program. The teens, he noted, had to carry a sack of flour to learn about the inconveniences of parenthood. “But sacks of flour don’t wake you up in the middle of the night,” says Jurmain, 41, father of two youngsters (one of whom had a scream “that would peel paint off the wall”).
Thus, after several weeks of tinkering, was born the Baby Think It Over doll. Set to wail at unpredictable but realistic intervals, the “baby” can be quieted only when it is properly cuddled and fed.
The doll is a high-tech wonder, with a recording of a real baby bawling and monitoring gear that records how long it’s cried before getting attention. It responds only to the “mother,” who must use a special device to identify herself to the “baby.” The dolls come in both sexes, several shades and two sizes: One weighs 6 1/2 pounds and is 20 inches long. There’s also a smaller, crack-baby version “with a gut-wrenching cry.”
“We want teen-agers to understand the full impact of taking care of a baby for 24 to 48 hours,” says Jurmain’s wife, Mary. “It’s definitely not a toy. Babies change a person’s life, and that’s what this is all about.”
About 1,000 of the $220 Baby Think It Over dolls have been sold to schools, social agencies and community and youth groups.
“I took the doll home with me one weekend,” says Stephanie Geno, 17, a student at Twain High School in San Diego. “It cried all night long. The third time it woke me, I ripped the box out of its back and totally disconnected it. The doll was just not cooperating. It was completely frustrating and such a hassle.
“And when I was doing my hair in he morning before school, it started crying,” she says. “I had to stop everything and feed the kid. I thought, ‘No, this isn’t for me.’ ”
