I could not have dreamt of a better childminder than Diane. Our daughter Rosetta was in her care for 16 months, and Diane, her husband Kevin and son Lemar have helped to give Rosetta a wonderful start in life by welcoming her into their home and immersing her in a world of love, play, education and discipline. We actually live some distance away, so I had initial reservations about the arrangement, but I grew to really enjoy the 25-minute bike ride to Diane's house and the return journey, and having to do it twice a day even made me a bit fitter! It was always a pleasure to spend 5 minutes chatting with whoever opened the door on arrival and then again when I collected Rosetta — Diane's family are just really nice people, and they have so much experience of looking after little ones that they really are a well-oiled machine. I learnt a lot from Diane about parenting, who was always happy to offer advice based on her vast knowledge of the journey from baby to toddler, and, really, it has been the most enormous privilege for us to have had her in our lives. We will miss the whole family.

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