Au Pair: Josephine Gideon from Germany

Host Family: Green Family in Arizona

Our family is a bit crazy with four children ages 10 and under, and a dad who works really long hours. I am not sure Josephine (nickname: Fine) knew quite what she was getting herself into upon joining us. The role of an au pair in our house is a bit fuzzy since I am a stay-at-home mom. I tried to explain to her that she would assume the position of "Vice President of Operations in the Moezzi Household." Even so, it took a few weeks to work out the kinks as Fine has a personality that thrives upon structure and a firm schedule, and I am a person who is all over the map. So, I tried really hard to provide a detailed schedule and she worked on understanding that a bunch of kids requires a lot of flexibility.  

Once Fine began to understand how our family operated, she had to learn to accept her surroundings. We live in Flagstaff, AZ, a small city of about 65,000 people. There is only one other au pair in our town. While there are a few other girls in nearby Sedona, it is still a good hour away, and that is when the weather is good. So, she found herself living with four loud kids, in a fairly small city, and only one other au pair with whom to socialize and share frustrations.

Despite the challenges, Fine has more than risen to the occasion. We have worked out a groove and now both know how to divide and conquer the rowdy gang of kids. She helps me get out the door with the two older kids every morning, and minds the two little guys while I run errands. And, then she helps with the sheer craziness that occurs every single day from the time the kids are collected from school until each of their heads hit their pillows each night. This time includes homework, driving to and from extracurricular activities (sometimes three different kids in three different activities in three different places!) and preparing dinner, kitchen clean-up, baths and maintaining sanity during the time right before bed when the kids always have an insane burst of energy.

But where I recently saw her shine was when I was flattened by a bad stomach virus just days before Christmas break, and then my older son came down with it hours after me. That morning, I had our 4-year-old knock on Fine's door to give her the news. Without any instruction from me, Fine simply took over. She got the little boys ready, took my daughter to school, let the school office know the 10-year-old would be out sick, and then hit the grocery store to buy saltines and ginger ale. She ran the show the entire day while I recovered, and continued to work extra hard as the virus passed through each child and I was busy playing nurse. And as I continued to fall more and more behind on all the extra duties that come with Christmastime, Fine stepped in and began organizing things, such as addressing Christmas cards for me, wrapping gifts after kids went to bed each night, and even baking cookies! I think it would have been a pretty sorry Christmas without all of her help.

Fine is a very self-sufficient, confident, organized, and intelligent young lady, who has aspirations of becoming an engineer. She has the ability to play with kids, while maintaining discipline, and they really like her. Plus, she is great at helping with math homework. Not only does she help the kids, but she helps keep me on track! She gently reminds me each week to plan her schedule. Thus, she knows when she has time to SKYPE, which is an important activity for her since she does not have a strong social network here with the lack of other au pairs. She also helps me to plan the meals for each night, makes the grocery list and sometimes even does the shopping, depending upon the week. She is a tremendous help in the kitchen and with the laundry, which often threatens to overtake the entire laundry room. Plus, she is a good listener and always willing to hear me complain about all the little irritations in my life. She really is an amazing vice-president, and one that forces the president to stay organized and maintain control.

Fine is our third au pair, and while we have had good luck and all three have been wonderful, I think Fine just might be the strongest yet. That is why I wish to nominate her for the Au Pair of the Year Award! And even if she does not win, I hope she knows that she is the Au Pair of the Year to us, and we would have a really hard time managing without her!