Being a new mom can be overwhelming to say the least. It’s normal for new moms to question nearly everything about caring for their newborn. Cloth diapers or disposable? Breastmilk or formula? Stay at home with baby or go back to work? The list goes on.
For this working mom from Lakeland, Florida, leaving her baby with a babysitter for the first time was a nerve wracking experience. J’Ann Sorhaindo was more than happy to babysit her baby cousin Ava, but being just a student in high school, was she mature enough to handle it?
You can decide for yourself when you take a look at the hilarious photo of J’Ann babysitting Ava that went viral across the Internet.
1. Typical Working Mom
Meet the Sorhaindo family, with mom Claudia, dad Rolsten, and baby girl Ava. Originally from St. Croix, one of the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Sorhaindo family now lives in Lakeland, Florida, near many other family members.
Like many typical American households, Claudia needed to return to work after an 8 week maternity leave. Claudia was luckily able to work mostly from home, but needed to travel to the office on occasion for meetings.
Having such a big extended family nearby, Claudia had many trusted babysitters lined up to watch Ava if she needed to attend a work meeting.
2. Finding a Last Minute Babysitter
Having a big extended family has its perks. Claudia has her pick of many family members to help out with Ava whenever she needs it. Whether she needs to run to the store, attend a work meeting, or just have a break, Claudia has a strong support system – something every mom needs!
One day, Claudia had an unexpected work meeting that she needed to attend. She began to make some phone calls to her family to find a last minute babysitter.
Little did she know, later that day a hilarious photo of her daughter would blow up on the Internet.
3. Getting Anxious
Claudia was busy texting and making phone calls to her family members to find a last minute babysitter to care for baby Ava. But she was having a hard time finding someone so last minute.
She was running down the list of trusted babysitters – her mom, sister, brother, and in-laws. They were all either working or had other commitments that day. Then Claudia turned to her best friends, only to be disappointed that they also didn’t have time to babysit.
Claudia was getting anxious that she wouldn’t be able to attend her work meeting. Not attending the meeting put her at risk for losing her job. Then, her sister had a suggestion.
4. What About J’Ann?
Claudia was stressed out on the phone with her sister. Her boss was already doing her a favor by letting her do home office while she cared for her newborn. The only stipulation to working from home was that she needed to attend all mandatory work meetings. Claudia was at risk for losing her job if she couldn’t get to this work meeting.
Her sister had a suggestion. What about J’Ann, her 15-year-old niece? It never even crossed Claudia’s mind to ask her teenaged niece. The thought of such a young girl babysitting her newborn made her nervous, but she was desperate at this point.
5. Protective Momma
Claudia describes herself as a protective mom and doesn’t trust just anyone to look after her baby girl. These protective feelings come from a tragic incident that happened in her hometown of La Criox in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Claudia had another baby that died tragically from a medication mixup in a La Croix hospital in 2011. Her daughter Jenelle was only three months old when she passed. Tragically losing her baby is a big reason why Claudia is so protective of Ava.
However, Claudia knew she needed to fight these over-protective feelings and trust her niece with her baby girl.
6. Trusting J’Ann
J’Ann is an exceptional 15-year-old, making straight A’s at school and part of the track team. She’s also one of seventeen grandkids with a lot of experience babysitting her cousins and younger siblings. On top of all of this, J’Ann is CPR certified. Knowing how responsible J’Ann is, Claudia decided to take the plunge and ask her to babysit.
“J’Ann knows how protective I am with Ava,” Sorhaindo shared with Today. “Some might say I’m a little paranoid. I’m always checking to see if she’s breathing, so J’Ann showed me she is making sure she is keeping her eyes on Ava.”
7. Babysitting Ava
J’Ann came over straight after track practice. Claudia spent some time showing J’Ann where to find milk bottles, diapers, and emergency numbers and said goodbye to baby Ava. J’Ann convinced her everything was fine, and Claudia finally left for her work meeting.
Ava was only three months old and was a relatively easy baby. J’Ann was grateful for the opportunity to spend time with her baby cousin. Knowing how overprotective Claudia is, she was sure to send plenty of updates on how Ava was doing. So far, so good.
Everything was easygoing until J’Ann got hungry and faced a new problem.
8. Making a Sandwich
Since J’Ann came over directly after her track practice to babysit Ava, she didn’t have time to eat anything yet. After spending some time playing with baby Ava, she realized she was really hungry. The only problem? Ava doesn’t like to be put down, she much prefers to be held – something that’s common with many babies.
J’Ann did a quick sweep in the house looking for a baby carrier but couldn’t find it anywhere. She knew how protective her Aunt Claudia is, and didn’t want to put baby Ava down, even for a moment while she made herself a sandwich.
Then, J’Ann came up with a genius idea of how to make her sandwich. She decided to snap a photo and send it to her aunt.
9. Photo Uploading
Claudia was just arriving in the parking lot outside her work when she heard a text message alert on her phone. She read the message that J’Ann sent, but she didn’t have good enough reception for the corresponding photo to load on her phone.
A little overprotective, her mind began racing as to what the photo could be. Did she make a mistake in letting a 15-year-old babysit her three month old baby?
She would have to go into the office to connect to the WiFi at work in order to upload the picture. That two minute walk from the car to office felt like an eternity.
10. Tears of Laughter
Claudia almost spit out her coffee from laughter when the photo finally uploaded. J’Ann wrote Claudia that she “wanted to make a sandwich but didn’t want to let baby Ava out of her sight”. Without a baby carrier, her solution was to stuff the baby in her pants to get the job done!
Baby Ava looks content as can be with the situation. Like a baby kangaroo chilling in her pouch. Claudia began showing her work colleagues who were also crying with laughter over the hilarious photo.
When the meeting was over, Claudia decided to upload the photo to her Facebook account and the response was extraordinary.
11. Posting on Facebook
Claudia got so much joy and laughter from this photo that she wanted to share it on her Facebook account. With such a big family in Florida and in St. Croix, she wanted her whole family to see it and share in her laughter.
It didn’t take long for all her family members to see the photo. Naturally, they all found it hysterical, especially because they knew how responsible of a babysitter J’Ann is.
Her family members decided to share the photo on their Facebook accounts so their friends could see it. Little did they know, this would create a snowball effect that no one could anticipate.
12. Going Viral
Within hours, the photo spread like wildfire across the Internet. Thousands of people were liking and sharing the photo. After one night, the photo got close to 300,000 likes and was shared over 300,000 times. ABC News picked up the story, as well as several local news stations. Around the world, this silly photo was making people laugh over J’Ann’s creative sandwich-making solution.
The vast majority of comments were overwhelmingly positive, applauding the young babysitter. One commenter wrote, “This is awesome. Some people wouldn’t even hesitate to leave the baby for a minute, but this woman was determined to not let the mom down in case something happened. I applaud her a million times!“
13. Starting a Business
Literally overnight, J’Ann, Claudia, and baby Ava became Internet celebrities. Hundreds of thousands of people were praising J’Ann for both her ingenuity and babysitting skills. Some comments were even encouraging J’Ann to design pants with a built-in baby carrier. One commenter wrote, “You could make maternity pants that turn into this after.”
J’Ann considered the idea of starting a business to design the pants, with Claudia’s full support. Claudia even setup a GoFundMe page for her niece to raise funds to start the business.
Unfortunately, the fundraising didn’t take off, but all can agree that the future is bright for J’Ann.
14. Thankful for Family
For Claudia, after losing a baby some years back, the viral picture from her niece represented new joy and laughter in her life. It was a reminder of a supportive, loving family that will get her through both tough times and joyful times.
More than anything, Claudia is grateful for her family. She shared in an interview with Today, “They have helped me so much — if it weren’t for my friends and family I might have gone crazy,” said Sorhaindo. “(When my daughter died) doctors offered me depression medication and I refused it because having a family like mine — I won’t have the chance to ever get depressed.”
A family like that can get through anything.
