Some Head Residents Experience Life with Baby on (Room and) Board

Kay Robertson and her husband Cliff Franklin have been head residents at Mount Holyoke since 1992, for four years at Mead Hall and one year at Buckland Hall, but parents only since last year. " Fifteen-month-old Bryce is a tremendous icebreaker," Robertson says. "Students refer to him as 'our Bryce' and some have even commented that Bryce is the best thing about their residence hall." They borrow him as a stress-reliever, toddle him all over the dining hall, and shower attention on him. But Robertson also says she is careful not to let him bother students, nor does she rely on students to tend him. "I wouldn't want to create a situation in which he thinks anything he does is cute, since not all students are interested in him."

For the five head residents with young children, the benefits of living in the residence halls are many. "Bryce has learned that people are nice and will pay attention to him," Robertson says. "Bryce is used to a parade of faces. A previous HR told me that their child never experienced stranger-anxiety."

At Safford Hall, Sanjay and Rizvana Talreja's fifteen-month-old baby Ayesha "loves to be around people and is very sociable," reports her mother. "She has gotten to know certain students really well and knows where they sit in the dining hall. If they're not in their regular seats, Ayesha gets confused! And she loves their keys and backpacks."

Richard and Maryalice Eckart's son Noah, five and a half, "has his favorites" in Torrey Hall. Richard Eckart says Noah "generally likes it in the hall, and has a lot of fun. The students are great with him, and he gets to participate in their activities such as pumpkin carving and painting."

"Students seem to like having a family around," Rizvana Talreja finds, a feeling confirmed by the other families. Most student-family social interactions take place at meals, particularly dinner. Since families with young children usually sit at the same table at every meal, students know where to find them and will often approach the family informally through the child.

For young families, perhaps the greatest convenience of residence hall living is that it cuts down on domestic tasks. As Rizvana Talreja says, "It's nice not to cook or food-shop very often when you have a small child."