Season 1 Episode 13 “The Lord is My Shepard- Part I”- Little House on the Prairie

It is early spring at the Ingalls’ homestead. Charles is going to build a cupboard for a neighbor. He has never built one before, but is determined to try his hand at it. Caroline surprises Charles with the news that she is pregnant. They are both very excited about a new baby. Charles hopes that it is a boy and can’t stop referring to the baby as a boy when he talks about it. Caroline keeps reminding him that it could be a girl too and not to get his hopes up. Laura becomes jealous of all the talk about possibly having a little bother and hopes that it will be a girl instead. Charles is so excited that he makes a crib for the new baby with the extra wood from his cupboard project. Laura tries to impress her Dad with her ability to play with boys at school and win them in games. She wants her Dad to think of her as a boy so he will like her more.

Soon it is time for Caroline to deliver the baby. Grace comes from town to help with the birth. The children are a bit frightened by the pain their mother has to go through to have a child. They all decide they don’t want to have children or get married! Charles tries to explain that it is a “joyous pain” but the girls are not convinced! Caroline’s delivery goes well and she has a baby boy. Everyone is very happy about the new boy, except Laura, who feels like her Father loves the boy more than her. She becomes more and more jealous of her new brother with all the attention that the family and friends are giving him.

The new baby is baptized and given the name, Charles Fredrick Ingalls. The church congregation has a picnic after the baptism and are congratulating Caroline and Charles, except for Mrs. Oleson who makes a rude remark about Caroline having too many children. Laura is getting more and more jealous of her brother and continues to try and show her Dad that she is as strong and active as a boy.

The doctor comes to check the baby’s health. Little Charles isn’t growing like he should so the doctor tells Caroline to feed him with cow’s milk to see if that will help. He has a good appetite but still does not grow like he should. The family prays for the baby but Laura will not pray for him because she feels that God won’t hear her since he didn’t send her a baby sister. Mary is upset at her sister’s attitude towards their baby brother.

Baby Charles becomes sicker and the doctor tells Caroline and Charles that he can’t do anything for the baby. He suggests they go to Mankato where the doctors have better equipment that could help. They take the baby to the doctors in Mankato and he gets examined. They discover that he has some sort of infection in his blood and there is nothing they can do for him. Little Charles dies while they are in Mankato. Caroline and Charles are overwhelmed with the loss of their son and comfort each other by reciting the “Lord’s Prayer.”

The girls are very sad at the news that their baby brother died. Laura runs off to be by herself because she feels that it could be her fault that he died. A few weeks later at church, the Reverend is giving a sermon about getting close to God so He can make all things possible for us. Laura talks to the Reverend after church and asks him if God could make a miracle happen. He assures her that if she is very close to God, that he could make miracles occur. Laura seems relieved by this news and begins acting like her self again. This pleases Charles, who was worried about how hard Laura was taking the loss of her brother. They all have a wonderful afternoon playing with each other and Laura tells her father that she loves him.

(This episode will be continued in Part II of “The Lord is My Shepard”.)