Marriage Insurance
Some people called Tavia and I crazy. But we knew she could handle it.
Two weeks after our first child Ruby was born Tavia and I went on a date. That wasn’t abnormal or crazy, we went on dates frequently. What was abnormal, or maybe even a little crazy is that we left our two week old in the care of 10-year-old Lauryn. Her mom was on backup across the street, a phone call away just in case she was needed. Tavia and I didn’t do much or go far, we probably just went to get dinner. We were gone maybe 2 hours, but we knew that Lauryn would do just fine.
And she did. She did great. Knowing Lauryn, she probably sat right next to Ruby’s room the whole time just to make sure she could hear any cry or little squeak. Her mother anxiously awaited a phone call requesting help but it never came.
Date night has always been important to Tavia and me. We will frequently call it our marriage insurance. After the first successful night of babysitting, we knew that Lauryn was going to be the babysitter we could count on to make sure we continued to have date nights.
We continued to use Lauryn as a babysitter for Ruby. Gradually, we extended the time and her responsibilities. Within a few months, she knew the routine and we were able to go out longer than that original 2 hours. She loved Ruby like a sister she never had, and she was a mother in training. Lauryn has three younger brothers.
Twenty months after Ruby was born, Lincoln joined our family. Just like with Ruby before, we left our 20 month old and our brand new baby boy in the hands of Lauryn, very mature for turning 12 years old the week he was born.
She rocked it. There was no two-hour warm update. She took on two kids and did amazing. Again, her mother never got a call and frequently questioned her how things went once she arrived home.
It didn’t phase her at all when two more kids were added to her babysitting load. She actually loved it and loved them.
We saw Lauryn grow and become an amazing young woman, one that loved our kids as her own. She remembered birthdays, took part in potty-training with at least three of them, left treats/prizes, brought an activity bag and often watched our kids last minute. Her schedule was always packed with other families. They knew how good she was. I have never seen a babysitter used and trusted by so many people.
But I’ll tell you a secret. Even though she would schedule three months in advance, she would frequently call us to make sure we had first dibs on her schedule. She would beg us to take weekends or weeks away to ensure she got more time with our kids. Of course, we obliged and have been spoiled by the ability to walk out the door knowing she would do awesome.
When she graduated from high school we were all sad knowing she would be less available. She would be moving to Logan to go to Utah State University which meant we wouldn’t be able to use her as often. During her school year, she would watch our kids when she was on break but we used a handful of other babysitters.
Good babysitters. Great babysitters.
But they weren’t Lauryn.
At the start of this summer, she was figuring out what she was going to do with her life. We were blessed to have her watch our kids most Mondays and Wednesdays and the occasional date night.
She even stayed at our home and watched our kids when Tavia and I went to Hawaii…
Four kids, two in school, for 7 days. I have a hard time without Tavia’s help for more than a few days.
When we came home our kids were happy and alive. She also was able to get the kids to help her clean our house. I still have no idea how she did that.
Our kids have loved their time with Lauryn this past summer but we knew it would come to an end.
Lauryn has the made the decision to take a break from school and her life to spend 18 months in Australia serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Tonight we were all sad to see her drive away but we knew just like with watching Ruby 9 years ago, she will do just fine. We are all proud and excited for her. She will love her time in Australia and know that she will be loved just as much as she is here. Her time will go fast and in 18 short months, I am sure she will be sad to leave what will become a second home to her.
We will be glad to welcome her home…
Now accepting applications but you’ll have big shoes to fill.