Au Pair: Tatjana-Yvonne Pock from Germany
Host Family: Curley Family in Vermont
I would like to nominate our au pair, Tatjana-Yvonne Pock, as au pair of the year as she has been an amazing support for our family in the short time that she has been with us. Tatjana joined our family in late August 2010, and quickly stepped into the back to school routine, hitting the ground running in helping to take care of the needs of our three boys: John who is 7, Darragh is 5 and Aedan is 2. In addition to helping with household chores, and assisting with drop off and pick-up from school, she organizes activities and takes the kids out to local science centers, or for nature walks and works constantly to keep the boys engaged in meaningful activities. My husband travels out of state for work, so during the week Tatjana and I share the family chores, and Tatjana covers many of these while I work for my own consultancy business.
We are a fairly healthy family, however recently have had a number of health challenges which put the entire family under enormous stress. Darragh was sick in mid November, in what seemed like a virus but was later diagnosed as pneumonia. While he was sick, and my husband was travelling out of the country, I also contracted the same virus and pneumonia. Tatjana cancelled weekend plans on the spot to look after the entire family while I was sick. Darragh was admitted to hospital on the day before Thanksgiving, became critically ill very quickly, and was placed on a ventilator. For several days we waited by his bedside not knowing the outcome. It was a very stressful and scary time for the entire family. Tatjana helped keep the family routine operating as close to normal as possible for our other boys at home, while we spent most of our time at the hospital – we were in there in shifts for 24 hours per day, for 24 days. We learned later that during the week after Thanksgiving, while Darragh was critically ill, she had lost 2 personal friends in Germany and Austria in unanticipated tragic events. Knowing the duress we were under, she kept this news to herself and soldiered on, and kept a calm demeanor in face of significant personal tragedy and crisis on both sides of the Atlantic.
Thankfully our son is now well, and is back at home recovering after 24 days in the hospital. This has been an adjustment for the family, and we are not as organized as we were before. Our schedule changes daily and it requires constant communication and collaboration to keep the family running as needed. Tatjana has been tremendously flexible and has always been there to help in every way through this adjustment. She has gone beyond the call of duty in her role as au pair. I cannot imagine how we would have survived through the last few months had she not been a member of our family. We feel very grateful to her and her consistent positive attitude and flexibility makes it much easier for us to help Darragh fully recover, and get our family back to a normal routine.
We feel that Tatjana personifies the ideal au pair-host family relationship, and it is not possible for us to thank her enough for her assistance, support, and dedication to the well-being of our family. Please help us say a proper “Thank You” by giving her this award that she very much deserves.
We are a fairly healthy family, however recently have had a number of health challenges which put the entire family under enormous stress. Darragh was sick in mid November, in what seemed like a virus but was later diagnosed as pneumonia. While he was sick, and my husband was travelling out of the country, I also contracted the same virus and pneumonia. Tatjana cancelled weekend plans on the spot to look after the entire family while I was sick. Darragh was admitted to hospital on the day before Thanksgiving, became critically ill very quickly, and was placed on a ventilator. For several days we waited by his bedside not knowing the outcome. It was a very stressful and scary time for the entire family. Tatjana helped keep the family routine operating as close to normal as possible for our other boys at home, while we spent most of our time at the hospital – we were in there in shifts for 24 hours per day, for 24 days. We learned later that during the week after Thanksgiving, while Darragh was critically ill, she had lost 2 personal friends in Germany and Austria in unanticipated tragic events. Knowing the duress we were under, she kept this news to herself and soldiered on, and kept a calm demeanor in face of significant personal tragedy and crisis on both sides of the Atlantic.
Thankfully our son is now well, and is back at home recovering after 24 days in the hospital. This has been an adjustment for the family, and we are not as organized as we were before. Our schedule changes daily and it requires constant communication and collaboration to keep the family running as needed. Tatjana has been tremendously flexible and has always been there to help in every way through this adjustment. She has gone beyond the call of duty in her role as au pair. I cannot imagine how we would have survived through the last few months had she not been a member of our family. We feel very grateful to her and her consistent positive attitude and flexibility makes it much easier for us to help Darragh fully recover, and get our family back to a normal routine.
We feel that Tatjana personifies the ideal au pair-host family relationship, and it is not possible for us to thank her enough for her assistance, support, and dedication to the well-being of our family. Please help us say a proper “Thank You” by giving her this award that she very much deserves.