Susanne Kuehlewindt, Christchurch

Susanne joined us in October 2010 when our wee man Thomas was just 3 months old.  With the arrival of Thomas we decided that an Au pair was going to be the best option for our family and we have been proven right time and time again.  Susanne, right from the start has fitted right in to our family and formed strong bonds with our children.  Kate, now 6, Adele now 3 and Thomas absolutely love her.  She can't leave the house in her own time without being swamped with hugs and kisses from our children (and its the same when she arrives home too!).  The weeks are busy with the right balance of outings and home time.  Susanne is always happy to do that little bit extra to help out and has on more than one occasion started the day very early so I could catch an early flight to a 1 day meeting out of town and managed the kids from waking up, through all the days routine without a hitch!  It has not only been great for the kids but improved my life no end too.  Susanne is always coming up with great ideas to share with the children including bringing traditions from Germany into our home and also baking some of her family favourites for us.  Unfortunately NZ has not being able to easily provide for her the bread that she really likes but with the help of our bread maker and some mixes she got sent over from Germany she is now able to eat "Real Bread":)  In the last few weeks post the February Earthquake, Susanne has managed well helping us all settle back into routines and finding alternatives things to do, when the usual activities are cancelled.  She has developed great friendships with other Au Pairs and is always about and about with them with or without the children getting involved.  Recently an English friend called and Susanne answered the phone - he commented afterwards that "She sounded Kiwi and definitely had the kiwi dialect sorted".  We are really enjoying having Susanne in our home and looking after our children, as well as hopefully giving her a great Kiwi experience too!!  I have no doubt that we will all be lifelong friends and she will always be part of our family :)

Susanne Kuehlewindt