Au pair: Laura Schuemmer from Germany
Host Family: Usher family in Maryland
We skyped many times with Laura to make sure there was a connection before selecting her as our 8thAu Pair. We could tell by our calls and Laura’s application of a hard-working girl that we were headed for a great year. What we didn’t know is how she would change things for the better. We have three children Sydney who is 12, Alan age 10, and Gregory who is 7. Our kids are in a lotof sports and activities so our home is an extremely busy household and not every au pair could do the job that Laura does so well.
Sydney and Alan have always been great students. Our youngest son had a hard time in first grade the year before Laura arrived. Almost every day he brought piles of classwork and homework that he didn’t finish that needed to be done at home. The afternoons were filled with tears, tantrums, and stress. We had started Gregory in June before Laura arrived with tutoring with two different tutors as we felt he had to make up for what he missed last year. Laura arrived just after we started the process of getting approval for Neuro-Psych testing at Children’s Hospital. We had a few very stressful months of getting insurance approvals. We were scared and anxious as to what were we going to find out? Does our baby have a learning disability or something else wrong were our questions? The waiting was the most difficult part. We got approved in July right after she arrived and could not get an appointment until October.
Within days after Laura arrived she told us she felt she could help him and we didn’t need to pay for tutoring anymore. We were happy she was willing to try and that we might be able to shed the extra cost. She seemed so confident and excited for the challenge. She worked with him every day reading, writing, and math and even on her days off. When the school year started we were blessed with a fabulous 2nd grade teacher who really cared. Gregory is a different kid with Laura. He didn’t fight her with doing homework but instead he is proud to please her. He has gone from barely passing 1st grade to being in the top of his class in the 1st marking period of 2nd grade all because Laura has found a way to motivate him. She is so patient with him and even works on his spelling words with him when she is on her days off all because she wants him to get a 100. She has created a reward chart for him for his outstanding achievements.
Our home life is pretty stressful. I work 3 jobs and my husband works midnight shift coupled with our 3 kids multiple activities Laura keeps the show on the road by cooking breakfast, packing lunches, does kids laundry, kids rooms, prepares a family dinner 3 times a week and makes sure all the homework is done correctly. Laura is extremely organized and has a color coded calendar and keeps us all informed of what’s on the calendar for the week. She puts our family first and is anxious to help us with anything we need. She goes above and beyond her job every day. She volunteers her free time at Alan and Gregory’s elementary school. The kids are so proud to have her there they are anxious to please her. She is amazing and we do not know what we are going to do without her. She has given us more than any Specialist at Children’s Hospital, our baby is alright. The testing came back he has a focusing issue and seems to test in the 98th percentile in just about everything. Gregory is actually above where he should be according to the Neuro Psych evaluation. We would hate to think of what measures we would have had to take if Laura had not walked into our door. We would have had to cut the kids sports to pay for the weekly tutoring instead we have it all in one package! She always puts our kids first even when she’s not working she argues with me to get up in the morning to get my kids off to swim team and I should sleep in.
We are amazed by her unselfishness, generosity with her time, and with her love to our family. She is truly the best representative of an Au Pair of the Year. We hope you select her as there are many other reasons we have. She is our Au pair of the year, she’s the best au pair I have met since being involved with this Program since 2001 and being LCC’s since 2006. We hope she will consider a second year with our family but understand if she cannot. We thank God our Mary Poppins came into our lives every day her presence in our home has been a true gift.
Sydney and Alan have always been great students. Our youngest son had a hard time in first grade the year before Laura arrived. Almost every day he brought piles of classwork and homework that he didn’t finish that needed to be done at home. The afternoons were filled with tears, tantrums, and stress. We had started Gregory in June before Laura arrived with tutoring with two different tutors as we felt he had to make up for what he missed last year. Laura arrived just after we started the process of getting approval for Neuro-Psych testing at Children’s Hospital. We had a few very stressful months of getting insurance approvals. We were scared and anxious as to what were we going to find out? Does our baby have a learning disability or something else wrong were our questions? The waiting was the most difficult part. We got approved in July right after she arrived and could not get an appointment until October.
Within days after Laura arrived she told us she felt she could help him and we didn’t need to pay for tutoring anymore. We were happy she was willing to try and that we might be able to shed the extra cost. She seemed so confident and excited for the challenge. She worked with him every day reading, writing, and math and even on her days off. When the school year started we were blessed with a fabulous 2nd grade teacher who really cared. Gregory is a different kid with Laura. He didn’t fight her with doing homework but instead he is proud to please her. He has gone from barely passing 1st grade to being in the top of his class in the 1st marking period of 2nd grade all because Laura has found a way to motivate him. She is so patient with him and even works on his spelling words with him when she is on her days off all because she wants him to get a 100. She has created a reward chart for him for his outstanding achievements.
Our home life is pretty stressful. I work 3 jobs and my husband works midnight shift coupled with our 3 kids multiple activities Laura keeps the show on the road by cooking breakfast, packing lunches, does kids laundry, kids rooms, prepares a family dinner 3 times a week and makes sure all the homework is done correctly. Laura is extremely organized and has a color coded calendar and keeps us all informed of what’s on the calendar for the week. She puts our family first and is anxious to help us with anything we need. She goes above and beyond her job every day. She volunteers her free time at Alan and Gregory’s elementary school. The kids are so proud to have her there they are anxious to please her. She is amazing and we do not know what we are going to do without her. She has given us more than any Specialist at Children’s Hospital, our baby is alright. The testing came back he has a focusing issue and seems to test in the 98th percentile in just about everything. Gregory is actually above where he should be according to the Neuro Psych evaluation. We would hate to think of what measures we would have had to take if Laura had not walked into our door. We would have had to cut the kids sports to pay for the weekly tutoring instead we have it all in one package! She always puts our kids first even when she’s not working she argues with me to get up in the morning to get my kids off to swim team and I should sleep in.
We are amazed by her unselfishness, generosity with her time, and with her love to our family. She is truly the best representative of an Au Pair of the Year. We hope you select her as there are many other reasons we have. She is our Au pair of the year, she’s the best au pair I have met since being involved with this Program since 2001 and being LCC’s since 2006. We hope she will consider a second year with our family but understand if she cannot. We thank God our Mary Poppins came into our lives every day her presence in our home has been a true gift.