Nina Egner, Auckland

I'd like to nominate our Au Pair Nina Egner for this accolade. Nina has been our first Au Pair and we feel that we have been a very lucky family to have had her with us for the last eight months. She is sadly leaving us at the end of November but she will be leaving us with many fond memories.

From the moment Nina arrived into our busy family of two little girls she has excelled herself. She has truly become a member of the family and our girls absolutely adore her. Nina was only nineteen when she arrived but she came with such a level head on her shoulders and a high level of maturity, responsibility, confidence but also fun and a gifted way of relating and caring for children. She has nurtured the girls and is like a wonderful big sister to them. They have so much fun together with play dough, face painting, reading stories, playing hairdressers or princesses or going to the park to name just a few. She always has so much energy for them and even on her days off takes the time to have a little fun with them if she can.

Nothing is much of a problem for Nina. She is flexible and helpful and works hard to keep the girls happy and content. We have no family here in NZ, both being originally from England but the support we have gained from having Nina in our lives has been immense. She has made such a difference. 

Our eldest is adorable but is doing what any three year old does in testing boundaries and being quite a drama queen at times. Nina deals with this so well and relates to our daughter in a postive way but will set clear boundaries in a calm fashion. Our youngest has changed so much in this past year and she has gained so much having Nina as a companion and it has been wonderful to see their relationship flourish and now she can say a few words Nina gets called "NaNa", which is so cute!

I don't quite know how we will all manage when she leaves but we will all feel rather sad. I try not to think about it!We will definitely keep in touch and she will always have a special place in our hearts. The girls love to skype so I'm sure we will all enjoy catching up again. When we took a holiday back to the UK this year Nina stayed behind to travel and look after our home and when we skyped her the girls were so excited to see her. We are pleased Nina has also had such a great time making new friends and exploring New Zealand - I think she has really made the best of her Au Pair experience which is great to see. I think she has even got to like rugby after living here and there will be one more All Black fan in Germany. We wish her well in her next adventures back home - I'm sure she will be successful in whatever she does.

Nina Egner