Researchers have found that once you become familiar with one lemon, it becomes easier to differentiate between your lemon and other lemons.

This is what I was told when given the assignment to care for a lemon. I was to give it a name, gender, personality and be so familiar with it that you can pick it out of a box of 30 other lemons while blindfolded. On Jan. 27, at approximately 11:27 a.m. in my Colleges and Career class, I chose a lemon out of a box. I named him Kory Jaden Ajileye.

I was advised to carry Kory everywhere I was to go, even to track practice at Birmingham Community Charter High School. The project was 400 points and if I were to leave my “child” in  my locker, I would lose points. I had to keep a daily log of everything Kory did that day and write a journal about my experiences with him.

The first day of taking care of Kory went well and the only thing I was skeptical of was asking someone to take care of my piece of yellow fruit while I was at practice. But since I really wanted to get a good grade I had to.

I put him to “bed” every night inside of my fridge and took him out every morning to bring to school with me. Walking through the hallways at school I got a lot of positive reactions; people congratulating me on my new found motherhood or asking what my “baby’s” name was.

Luckily, my daily activities weren’t interrupted by Kory and things went along just as they did before.

I had a lot of fun taking care of Kory; I posted pictures of him on Snapchat, introduced him to my friends and never dropped him, which is a big thing for me since I drop everything. I imagine taking care of a lemon would’ve been harder if it could cry or needed to be changed or fed. It made me sympathize with parents because Kory doesn’t move, talk, or ask anything of me.

Throughout the week I composed a personality for Kory and made him clothes; a tutu that doubled as a sombrero made out of one of my scrunchies and a bandana made out of ribbons and yellow duct tape.

I practiced picking him out of a batch of lemons, but on a smaller scale which was five other lemons, not including Kory Jaden, and closing my eyes shut. I picked the right lemon each time.

On Jan. 30, I presented Kory to the class. In my short speech, I told them all about Kory. I said he was a part of the Democrat party, that he was an humanitarian and that he is in touch with his feminine side. I held Kory up, showing off his blue and green bandana, and presented the personality and life I had concocted for him in front of the whole class.

On Monday, I had to pick Kory out of a box of his brethren, his fellow lemons, in just 30 seconds.

This project has given me insight on parenting and how demanding it is. This is coming from someone who cared for a lemon, an inanimate object, and still feels empathy for parents young and old. One thing I know is, this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to real life “taking care of a living, breathing thing” parenting.