This is a long overdue nomination for Judith Hoelscher to win your Au Pair of the Month Award (or in our opinion, the Au Pair of the Year!). Judith started with us in April, a month before our 3rd son was due and joining his older brothers, aged 2 and 15mths at the time. We knew Keaton was needing to be a caesarean baby and hence the idea of getting Judith as an extra pair of hands that could lift our older sons into their cot / bed, highchairs etc.. (all the things I wouldn’t be able to do in the 6wks recovery timeframe).
From Judith’s 1st day, she proved to be so much more than “an extra pair of hands”, immediately becoming instead like an extra member of our family and gaining love, friendship and respect from not only ourselves, but also all our extended family and friends. We’ve been blown away many times, as have friends who have met her, at Judith’s natural ability with children. Her patience is never-ending... not once has she raised her voice or become frustrated with the boys and because of her gentle and calm demeanour, our previously “Terrible 2yr old” has calmed down immeasurably. Even personality traits such as having previously been too full-on and energetic to sit and read a book have changed, with him now arguing with his younger brother over who gets to sit on Judith’s lap for endless stories.
Judith’s employed for 40hrs a week but almost always goes over this – sometimes due to my husband travelling out of town or his long working hours, but largely because she’s such an integral part of our family that she (and us) enjoy her spending the whole day with the boys and rather than knocking off at 6pm, she will stay until the boys are bathed, stories are read and tucked up in bed. Despite not meant to be rostered on during weekends, there’s even been occasions where Simon’s work trips will run into the weekend and therefore Judith has chosen to forego any sightseeing around Akld or out of town to stay home and help me (all in addition to her 40hrs!).
Twice now, we’ve had the bad luck of our newborn needing to be admitted straight to hospital and he and myself spending 5 days, and on the second occasion, 4 days there. What was a very stressful situation was made so much easier knowing Judith was in complete control at home with our older sons and I didn’t need to worry at all about them and instead could focus all my attention on our baby. Each time, my husband reported that he would come home in the evenings after Judith had taken care of dinners, bathtime and everything else, to 2 very contented and happy little boys, not at all worried about their mother or baby brother having gone Missing In Action as they were having too much fun at home with Judith!
Despite our best efforts to have Judith extend her stay, she’s unfortunately sticking to her original plan of leaving NZ to arrive home to family and friends in time for Christmas. We’re already dreading her departure and I’m not only wondering how I will cope, but also how the boys will be without the exciting au pair outings such as Snow Planet, daily walks to the park, hours upon hours of hide & seek, story time, and all the other activities and games Judith fills their days with. I’ll just have to console them that we will definitely be taking a trip to Germany in the future so that they and ourselves can meet up with Judith again!!
Judith Hoelscher