Au Pair: Lisa Jasmin Schneider from Germany
Host Family: Schaeffer family in Wisconsin
Lisa Schneider is a phenomenal caregiver for our children since the day she arrived. To give you a quick background, she walked into a home with at the time had a typical 6 year old boy (Devin), a special needs 3 year old girl (Lydia) and an infant boy (Grant). Our special girl has a very rare chromosome disorder leaving her very mentally and physically challenged. She is one of about 200 children in the world with this rare disorder. She requires full care for her activities of daily living including dressing, feeding, bathing and transferring. Upon arriving to our home Lisa not only took care of our disabled daughter but also tended to an infant who at the time was quite ill and unhappy. Finally, she meets the needs of our very active now 7 year old going to a private school with plenty of homework. Lisa walked in she NEVER missed a beat of what had to be done and what was needed!
Our family’s schedule is demanding with 2 of the kids in school, Dr.’s appointments almost weekly, medications being filled along with the basic needs of the household. Lisa came in and immediately assessed the situation and knew what she needed to do to make our lives easier and her job successful. Lisa is fully vested emotionally and physically with our children and family and no doubt has become like a sister and daughter to our family. When we say we are blessed with her arrival we truly mean it.
Lisa’s daily schedule is varied from day to day. It is demanding and busy. The morning routine usually consists of helping us get the kids up and ready for school which involves disbursement of medication, making lunches, and getting bags packed. She drops off one child and then moves on to the next school to drop off the next before arriving home. She does each morning with ease and swiftness making sure they are on time and needs are met.
Our special girl only goes to school half days so Lisa picks her up mid-day two days a week she then drives her 30 minutes away from home to take her to physical and occupational therapies. Lisa attends the therapies, working with the therapists and bringing what she had learned home to further work with our daughter. She also provides us feedback, what questions we might want to ask and things that may worry her at either school or therapy. She is intuitive and extremely intelligent when it comes to our daughter – especially for never having experience with advanced special needs children. Upon arriving home from therapies Lisa continues the day with lunch for our two younger children and picking up our oldest from school. After school there is usually plenty of homework and studying for the upcoming week. She does all of this with a smile, a positive attitude and lots of energy.
So, what is extraordinary about Lisa and what makes her special from any other au pair in a similar situation? Well, our life here is vastly different from other families given our daughter’s disabilities. As Lydia grows her emotional and physical disabilities are becoming more prominent. It can sometimes make the day very rewarding OR very challenging. Our daughter is also not the healthiest of children and in the last year she has had 5 bouts of strep throat which eventually led to a tonsillectomy. Our infant had multiple ear infections which led to tubes and our 7 year old also having a tonsillectomy. Finally, in December 2011 our daughter had a heart procedure to close up the hole in her heart. Lisa took control at home while we were in the hospital making sure our 7 year old and our infant’s needs were met during this rough time. However, she has done extremely well in adjusting to Lydia as well as being an advocate for her in her therapy sessions, with teachers/aides as well as with me-even without formal training. It is amazing to me each and every time Lisa comes to us with ideas of how to make Lydia’s life easier, or ways in which to help Lydia be a better person or finally the tears she has cried when Lydia’s life hasn’t gone the way we have expected. Those qualities Lisa has brought and shown tells us that she doesn’t see this as a job but truly loves our children and our family. So say we are impressed with Lisa is an understatement. Words can't fully share what we feel having Lisa in our family. We are extremely impressed with this young woman – she is extremely mature, organized, detailed and caring. She is wonderful as she makes sure our daily logs are detailed, she reminds me to order diapers and wipes, medications and other related items for the children. This past year by far hasn’t been easy with the everyday challenges along with illnesses and surgeries, however we commend her for her patience, management of a busy day and the ability to smile through it all.
Our family’s schedule is demanding with 2 of the kids in school, Dr.’s appointments almost weekly, medications being filled along with the basic needs of the household. Lisa came in and immediately assessed the situation and knew what she needed to do to make our lives easier and her job successful. Lisa is fully vested emotionally and physically with our children and family and no doubt has become like a sister and daughter to our family. When we say we are blessed with her arrival we truly mean it.
Lisa’s daily schedule is varied from day to day. It is demanding and busy. The morning routine usually consists of helping us get the kids up and ready for school which involves disbursement of medication, making lunches, and getting bags packed. She drops off one child and then moves on to the next school to drop off the next before arriving home. She does each morning with ease and swiftness making sure they are on time and needs are met.
Our special girl only goes to school half days so Lisa picks her up mid-day two days a week she then drives her 30 minutes away from home to take her to physical and occupational therapies. Lisa attends the therapies, working with the therapists and bringing what she had learned home to further work with our daughter. She also provides us feedback, what questions we might want to ask and things that may worry her at either school or therapy. She is intuitive and extremely intelligent when it comes to our daughter – especially for never having experience with advanced special needs children. Upon arriving home from therapies Lisa continues the day with lunch for our two younger children and picking up our oldest from school. After school there is usually plenty of homework and studying for the upcoming week. She does all of this with a smile, a positive attitude and lots of energy.
So, what is extraordinary about Lisa and what makes her special from any other au pair in a similar situation? Well, our life here is vastly different from other families given our daughter’s disabilities. As Lydia grows her emotional and physical disabilities are becoming more prominent. It can sometimes make the day very rewarding OR very challenging. Our daughter is also not the healthiest of children and in the last year she has had 5 bouts of strep throat which eventually led to a tonsillectomy. Our infant had multiple ear infections which led to tubes and our 7 year old also having a tonsillectomy. Finally, in December 2011 our daughter had a heart procedure to close up the hole in her heart. Lisa took control at home while we were in the hospital making sure our 7 year old and our infant’s needs were met during this rough time. However, she has done extremely well in adjusting to Lydia as well as being an advocate for her in her therapy sessions, with teachers/aides as well as with me-even without formal training. It is amazing to me each and every time Lisa comes to us with ideas of how to make Lydia’s life easier, or ways in which to help Lydia be a better person or finally the tears she has cried when Lydia’s life hasn’t gone the way we have expected. Those qualities Lisa has brought and shown tells us that she doesn’t see this as a job but truly loves our children and our family. So say we are impressed with Lisa is an understatement. Words can't fully share what we feel having Lisa in our family. We are extremely impressed with this young woman – she is extremely mature, organized, detailed and caring. She is wonderful as she makes sure our daily logs are detailed, she reminds me to order diapers and wipes, medications and other related items for the children. This past year by far hasn’t been easy with the everyday challenges along with illnesses and surgeries, however we commend her for her patience, management of a busy day and the ability to smile through it all.