Cristina has worked for us as an Au Pair since her arrival in England in March 2011. She came to us with only a few words of English when our twin boys were 4 weeks old and our daughter 3 and a half. She has proven herself to be kind, cheerful, punctual, reliable, trustworthy, thoughtful, intuitive, knowledgeable, eager to learn, happy to take cristism and never in need to be asked twice.

Her duties for us have mostly been as mother’s help, between the hours of 7.30-9am and 4-7pm; but occasionally she is very happy and very skilled at taking care of all three. Her daily duties are:

Getting children dressed
Giving, overseeing and clearing breakfast
Helping getting all 3 children ready for school/childminding/day out, with outdoor clothes on, change of clothing, water/snacks/nappies etc
Tidying kitchen, washing bottles, emptying the dishwasher, sorting out the recycling, putting out the bins.
Taking the children to the park, usually only the younger two.
Assisting with children’s supper, and clear up.
Playing games
Doing all aspects of bath and bedtime routine with the twins. Including administering medication, cutting nails, folding and putting away clean washing, teaching the boys to brush teeth, to put away their clothes in the wash basket, tidying up their toys.

In the summer of 2011, I was in emergency solitary confinement in hospital for 2 weeks and Cristina was incredible, she took over all of my roles as mother/primary carer (12 hours per day, 5 days per week), she had the occasional help of my husband or mother-in-law, but basically she was in charge of all three children, especially the care of my 3 month old twins; and she did so brilliantly. She was faultless, and I am eternally grateful to her for this.

During this time, and more recently, she has managed the transfer of the Primary care role to the childminder or a family member in a very clear and thorough way.

She really has become one of the family and this is thanks to her ability to relate to all of us, parents, grandparents and children. Being naturally positive and intuitive means that she is a joy to have around. And this was evident from the start, even when her English was very limited.

My 3 year old daughter had a lot to deal with when Cristina started, she had a new house, new brothers, 3rd new nursery in a year and an Au Pair, (& mother getting ill), yet Cristina was a great help in managing this turbulent time for her.

She has shown to be calm in a crisis; there have been several occasions over the past 2 years with just general nasty childhood illnesses, but she has always acted fast and professionally with regards to the children’s health. She is clear and follows instructions without fail.

When she works for us she is fully involved, and I have absolutely no concerns with her dedication and ability: I feel completely at ease with leaving her in sole charge, whether in or out of the house. She is always willing to care for the children 100%; whether it’s caring for them when they are sick, doing household duties or thinking about engaging them physically, creatively and emotionally.

Cristina is great with taking photos and short videos for us to share with our wider family, something that is much enjoyed, but that I rarely seem to get around to doing myself: so I am grateful to her that she does this for us.

She has also been great in teaching the children Spanish songs etc occasionally using her phone or computer to assist her. She is also great with teaching games, reading, eating, tidying up etc all in a fun and perfectly age appropriate way. She is always keen to play and amuse the children, but she also is brilliant at keeping order in a calm and kind way.

It has been of great benefit to me to have Cristina with all her theoretical and practical knowledge with children and babies; whether it is difficulties as the boys enter the “terrible twos” or with my daughter as she started school. She has come up with interesting information, as well as creative ways to solve the problems.

Her ability to work unsupervised, her management and communication skills, dedication to work, time keeping and reliability are all excellent. And her new skill - to cook! Which she has self taught from scratch, has been a joy to watch and is a great asset to her skill set.

She has been very easy to live with, she is a great ally and friend, but she has managed to keep the professional line. She is wonderfully cheerful and proactive; which in the early dark days of new borns was wonderful. She is very respectful about family time and quiet in her comings and goings, and her own social life.

I have no qualms about recommending her, she has been an absolute joy, we have been extremely fortunate to have had her in our lives and I don’t know what we will do without her!

We wish her all the best in the future! Please do contact me if you require any further information regarding Cristina.