Au Pair: Mina Breuer from Germany
Host Family: Strelow/Gross family in Oregon
Mina came to our family in August of this year. We have two little girls, Ava and Audrey, who are 6 and 3. Mina's arrival to our home got off to a rough start with a variety of events that created a great deal of unexpected turmoil. Mina's flight was due to arrive at 6pm on Friday night from NY, but was delayed and arrived at 2 am on Saturday morning. The next day, our younger daughter came down with the flu. The day after that, Sunday, our neighborhood had a blackout that lasted 10 hours. Then, 5 days later, a toilet tank in our upstairs bathroom broke in the middle of the night, flooding the bathroom, the kitchen below, and the basement level below that. We were left with extensive water damage that caused us to have to move out of our house for three weeks and start a process of reconstruction that lasted more than 3 months. Immediately, Mina made herself indispensible by pitching in and helping out in every way. She stayed up until midnight helping us pack up our kitchen the night before the construction team came in. Even after we insisted she should get some rest, she stayed up until all the work was done. When we moved to a hotel, she volunteered to give up her own room so the girls would have more space to sleep. Not only did she go above and beyond during the upheaval of being under construction and out of our home, but she is also warm and loving with the girls, reading with them and doing crafts. She has always known just what to do, without being told, and has made our life so much easier and relaxing since coming to live with us. It is just what every family hopes for when inviting an au pair into their home, that she will truly become part of the family, and that is just what Mina has been to us. We will miss her when she is gone!