Marissa the Babysitter

On Sunday, Zander and I were late to church. It was Zander's first time at church (other than his blessing). Now, I'm one of those people who doesn't believe in bringing the carseat into church with me. I figure, the baby won't stay asleep forever, and then you are stuck carrying both a baby, AND a carseat. So, when I sat down next to Annika, it was with Zander on my lap. He was in a pretty good mood, smiley, happy, and after a few minutes I suddenly realized, I don't have to hold him. I have two little girls right here with perfectly good arms and laps. So, I dropped him on Annika's lap. She lit up at the chance to hold her baby brother. Marissa was sitting on the other side and immediately started cooing at him. And I sat back and listened to testimony meeting until he got fussy.

There are lots of things about having 5 kids that I am finding pretty difficult. The difference in ages can be a big disadvantage when you consider all of the school projects and activities that have to be taken care of for the older kids, while taking care of an infant who can be pretty demanding. But, it's a big plus having kids who are old enough to be trusted holding and watching the baby when I need some time to get things done. Marissa is a great help. She holds him when I need her too, she's figured out how to put him to sleep, and if he cries when she holds him, it doesn't seem to affect her at all. She knows how to feed him a bottle, which is helpful when we have some place we have to be and he is hungry. She knows to give him his binky when he gets fussy. Now all I need to do is teach her how to change his diapers, and she'll be all set--to get paid for watching other people's children while Mike and I stay home wishing we had a babysitter.