Johanna Decher (Germany)

Johanna joined our family in New Plymouth in July. She is our third au pair and will sadly be our last as Hadley will start school in February. The moment Johanna arrived she became part of our family. She has built strong bonds with each of the children and participates fully in everything they enjoy, including cross country training runs with Stirling (9) and baking treats with Estelle (7). Her love for our youngest, Hadley (4) knows no limits. She patiently reads to him, plays with his cars (or whatever his current passion is) and has built on the work of our previous au pairs to teach him how to count to 30+ in German.

Johanna is always up bright and early, eager to start her day with the kids. She is the epitome of a great au pair and how they can enrich families. Nothing is ever too much of a problem and she is always flexible and helpful. Recently, we have been undertaking renovation work and most evenings are working on some part of the project. Johanna's first question is always "how can I help?". She has willingly moved buckets of dirt, helped to move trailer loads of concrete, painted and tried her hand with a spade - all with a smile on her face!

We have encouraged Johanna to maximise her time in New Zealand through travel and new experiences. She set herself a challenge to join Hayden and I running the New Plymouth half marathon. As with everything she does, she committed herself fully to a training programme and didn't miss a single training run - wind, rain and cold temperatures were no barrier to getting in a hill run. She was successful in being the 7th woman home in the event, and third in her age group. The children cheered her on at the finish line and we were all so proud of her.

We feel privileged to have Johanna as part of our family and believe she is the ideal candidate for au pair of the month.

Tania and Hayden Monk