With items like baby monitors becoming more technologically advanced, we often hear scary stories about them being hacked in the media. You know the ones— parent puts baby down to bed only to later pick up the monitor and hear some creepy stranger whispering to their kid. Thankfully, this is not one of those stories.
A few years ago, a family from Seneca, South Carolina, went completely viral when they caught their daughter doing something unexpected on the baby monitor.
Kathryn and Caleb Whitt had just put their 2-year-old daughter Sutton down to bed after a late night of watching the NFC championship game. Because it was a special occasion, the family hadn’t stuck to their regular routine. They usually got ready for bed and recited prayers together, but that night’s ritual was cut short.
When Kathryn and Caleb had left Sutton’s room, they hadn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary— but one hour later, they started hearing weird noises coming from where she was. Wondering if the child was getting into mischief, they consulted the baby monitor to see what was going on.
When Kathryn and Caleb turned on the monitor, their hearts instantly melted. They could hear 2-year-old Sutton performing her nightly prayers.
Immediately recording the moment, Kathryn and Caleb later uploaded the footage, and it went completely viral. In the heartwarming video, the little girl prays for parents, grandparents, friends, and even Santa Clause— melting everyone’s heart. “She was taking her time to really think it through,” Kathryn told Inside Edition.
“Sometimes she doesn’t even want to do it, so it really surprised us.”
According to Jesse Fox and Daniel Gutierrez, experts on child psychology, religion, and prayer, children develop a concept of God from a very young age. It starts as soon as they’re able to verbalize concept, but Fox admits there’s a strong family component involved, as well. “If you, as a parent, talk about God or prayer, then eventually kids are going to start to pick up on that,” he told Fatherly. “As they grow older and their cognitive abilities become more complex, they begin to think about God in more complex ways.”
At first, kids may just imitate the “ritual” actions of praying (i.e. kneeling and holding the palms together) without necessarily understanding the meaning behind them. Eventually, however, as they grow older, the deeper, thematic meanings will start to emerge. According to Gutierrez, initial prayers are usually egocentric, often asking God for favors in exchange for good behavior. But they’ll become increasingly able to focus on the needs of others— a characteristic Sutton has displayed quite well.
Since being uploaded, Sutton’s candid nighttime prayer has been viewed over a million times.
Comments on the video read:
“Awww, omg now this is cute. It’s beautiful a little girl like her that prays to God.”
“Precious precious moments. So lucky her parents got it on camera.”
“What a cute little girl. May the Lord bless her and shine his face upon her Family for teaching her the Way.”
Watch the video below!
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