Teresa Kurtz, Auckland

We would like to nominate our Au Pair, Teresa Kurtz, for not just Au Pair of the month but Au Pair of ‘The Year’! She is absolutely fantastic and has become a truly loved member of our family. The boys adore her and when she goes away for the weekend (to have a life outside the children’s world) they miss her and really look forward to her coming home. We have a relatively busy lifestyle with three little children, running our own business and a husband who is away often but having Teresa as part of our family has certainly eased the stress levels and enabled us to regain structure to our days and weeks. Right from day one when Teresa arrived at our home she fitted in with everyone and nothing was too hard for her. We have never heard her complain (well, only once when she told me I had left her with nothing to do) and she copes amazingly with all the day to day routines of the family as well as going out of her way to help with special occasions such as birthday parties, trips out and the odd dinner party (we especially enjoy her cooking at these times). Teresa is brilliant with the children, especially the older who at 5 years of age can be quite a handful but she stays calm and in control. We completely trust her with the boys and although our two year old cannot say her name preferring to call her ‘Dum dum’ she doesn’t seem to mind. Not only has Teresa fitted in really well with our immediate family but our extended family appreciate her commitment to our family and regularly compliment us on her behalf. Even the Mother in law thinks she is fantastic. Teresa is a sensible, honest, intelligent, caring person who uses her initiative in a wide variety of situations that the children throw at her. This is great as basically she just gets on and deals with the situation without having to ask what to do. Thanks to Teresa and her caring personality my husband and I have even been able to have the odd night out going to a couple of concerts and meals without the children (before Teresa, the last time we went to the movies was to see Titanic). We feel like human beings again. Mothers Day was really nice as Teresa helped the boys each make a card with a photo and also made some yummy German cookies which she carefully hid from the boys so there would be some left for me. It is very difficult to explain just how much she has become a very important part of our family and this letter does not do her justice but we truly value her commitment to us and will miss her greatly when she leaves in a couple of months. Maybe being Au Pair of the month will convince her to stay???

Teresa Kurtz