Devamı

Devamı

Hello Gizem,
 
My husband Steve and I have reviewed your profile and are interested in getting to know you a little better. Before speaking directly with you, we would like to introduce our family, give you some general information about us and our expectations, and ask you some questions about your background, interests and expectations.

Steve and I have been married for 11 years.  We have two daughters, Lucy, who just turned five years old on June 18th, and Sally, who turned three on April 18th.  Steve’s father, George, but we call him "Papa", also lives with us.  We live in Ashburn, Virginia, which is about 30 miles (48 kilometers) to the North West of Washington, DC, in the United States. Ashburn VA on Mapquest  Welcome to Ashburn  Loudoun County   There are a few pools (open during the summer only) and playgrounds, a library and a couple of animal parks nearby that the girls like to go to.  We live in a single-family home on a relatively quiet cul-de-sac (dead-end street), with very friendly neighbors.  Our neighborhood has a nice mix of older and younger families, both with and without children.  Most of the kids on our street are older than our daughters; however there are a couple of children close to their ages.  There are many, many Au Pairs in our area from all different countries.  Our home has six bedrooms, five upstairs (ours, Lucy’s, Sally’s, a den, and a room for our Au Pair) and one in the basement (my father-in-laws).  We have a good sized fenced-in backyard with a swing-set and plenty of room to play.  The room that we have for our Au Pair has a full-sized bed, dresser and desk.  We provide a home phone line, alarm clock/CD player, television, VCR, and DVD player in that bedroom.  We will also be providing for her use of  a computer with internet access, a digital camera and a cell phone.  Additionally, we have three vehicles, so one is typically available for our Au Pair’s use, both to drive the children as needed as well as for limited personal use when she is not taking care of the children.

We are a very social family, and enjoy spending time together as well as with friends and family.  Wallace enjoys most sports, exercising, photography and watching television or movies. I enjoy walking, cooking, shopping and craft work.  And both Wallace and I enjoy animals, nature, socializing, playing golf and spending time with our daughters.  Our favorite Holiday is Halloween, which we celebrate every year with a costume party at our home.  We enjoy going to parks, museums, aquariums, science centers, swimming and other family activities.  We like to travel, and currently are considering a trip to Disney World in December of 2009, and usually go to the beach each year in May.  My family lives in New York State, about a five hour drive from our home, and we travel to visit them approximately three times a year.  Steve’s sister, Debbie, lives in Maryland, a little over an hour away, and comes to visit every couple of weeks.

Both Steve and I hold Bachelors Degrees and work full-time jobs.  I hope to finish my Masters degree this fall.  Steve works as a consultant, doing computer programming and other computer related work, and I am a Human Resources Director.  Steve works about 15 minutes from home and I work about 30 minutes from home.

Both Lucy and Sally are very loving, caring children. We are very fortunate in that they adore each other.   Lucy is a very bright energetic little girl that loves to be busy.  She is very physically active, loving to play both indoors and out.  She also loves playing games, watching movies and television shows, doing arts and crafts, singing, reading, dancing and cooking.  She is in a Primary class at a nearby Montessori school about 2 miles from our home.  Starting this September she will be going to Kindergarten at the public school in the morning, and then back to her current Montessori school until 3:00 for their Kindergarten program.

Sally is a very happy, loving three-year-old.  She too is very active, loves to play indoors and out, loves dolls and stuffed animals, enjoys doing puzzles, loves to color and draw, likes watching television and interacting with people.  Sally also goes to Montessori school, and will be starting her third year there this September.  She will be attending school four days a week from 8:30 AM to 1:00 PM.  

We try to keep both of the girls busy with fun activities, and spend most of our free time doing age-appropriate things with them.  We like to get out with them, to a park, on a walk, in the yard or some type of activity outside of the house each day.

We are looking for an Au Pair that truly loves children, that shares some of their interests, and interacts with them fully.  We need someone that is energetic and upbeat, that likes to have fun with children and interact regularly with the rest of our family.  The girls  are both at very impressionable ages, and we want an Au Pair that displays strong values, sets good examples and is a good role model, friend and caregiver to them.  Because the girls (and my husband and I) have busy days, we need someone that is organized, timely and reliable.

George (Steve's dad) is 87 years old.  He is very self-sufficient, and spends his day at home enjoying the children, watching television and spending time with our five cats.  He is very friendly and loves to chat with people.

There is a wonderful English as a second language program at our local Community College, just about 15 minutes from our home.  The classes are about 3 months in length, typically two evenings per week, and the cost is $240 - $340 per class.  To meet the State Department requirements, Au Pairs would need to take two of these courses for each year that they are here.

We would expect our Au Pair to focus her care time on the children and their needs, and although we want for her to help them pick up after themselves, we have no intentions of her doing heavy housework.  We do however need the Au Pair to clean up after the children and make sure the house is kept clean.  This includes doing their laundry (two or three loads per week), cleaning up any messes made by the children while in the Au Pairs care and making their beds daily (with what assistance the girls are able to provide).  We will also expect that she would clean up after herself, keep her room tidy, and clean out any trash, etc. from the vehicles that she uses.  We do our best to keep the house neat and tidy, and expect the same of our Au Pair.  We also have a cleaning service that comes once a week to clean the bathrooms, wash the floors, change the bed sheets, vacuum and dust the house.

We are looking for an au pair that is a responsible adult and that truly would like to be a part of our family, that is willing to develop an open, honest relationship with all of us, that truly loves children, that is comfortable living in a home with five cats, and that wants a wonderful experience living in the United States.  If you think that you would fit well into our family, and are interested in sharing a year or two of your life, and your cultural experiences with us, please answer the following questions to the best of your ability (I know there are a lot), and email them to Wallace and I (please use reply all) as soon as possible.  Please keep in mind, there are no right or wrong answers to these questions.  We just want to get to know you better, find out about your background, personality, likes and dislikes.  If you will be answering these questions, and need to take a little time, please send us an email to let us know that.  If you are not interested for any reason, please let us know that as well.

Please feel free to include any questions that you have for us and any additional information about yourself with your response. We are looking forward to hearing back from you"

Amy and Steve Henry