About Eliya

Reviewed on 2/19/2024

Eliya was our nanny for two years, and I enthusiastically recommend her as a caregiver for young children. She started as our full-time nanny when my children were 3 and 5 years old and continued until my youngest entered kindergarten and we no longer needed full-time childcare. The kids still ask to see her (just the other day, they were saying, “When is Eliya coming over again?”), and we’re fortunate that we can still have her over to babysit. Below, I’ll describe Eliya’s responsibilities and the reasons why we kept her on for as long as possible! Eliya had two main responsibilities at our house: (1) “caregiver” days where she was watching either one or both of the children together for the full day; and (2) “house manager” days, where she completed tasks around the house while my youngest was in a half day preschool program. Eliya was a fantastic caregiver for our children. She was very attentive and involved, whether that was drawing pictures together, reading books, playing dolls, jump roping, taking them to the museum, or pushing them on the swings at the playground. She kept them safe, but also joined in their play. Eliya was also excellent at helping our children manage their emotions. For example, when my youngest gets upset, she purposefully pauses and takes slow breaths in and out, because this is something Eliya taught her to do to regulate her emotions. Both my children really enjoyed Eliya’s company and playing with her. When reflecting back on people who have taken care of them, they say that Eliya is one of their favorites. To keep everything running smoothly, Eliya and I had informal chats at the end of each day to troubleshoot any issues that came up. We also planned more formal check-in meetings each month, where we took more time to think through strategies, plans, and activities that would be helpful for the kids’ development. Eliya was always prepared for these meetings, bringing a list of her own ideas and writing down notes from our conversation. I could count on her to follow through with any plans we came up with and be creative in coming up with her own ideas. We were also fortunate that Eliya helped as a house manager while our youngest was at preschool for a couple days per week. She helped in so many ways: doing the kids’ laundry, going to the grocery store, preparing crockpot meals or chopping up vegetables for me to prepare later that night, picking up children’s books from the library, organizing the toys, going through the kids’ clothes and setting aside what no longer fits—you name it, Eliya was ready to help. It was amazing to have that extra hand, so that when I was done with work, I could spend more time with the kids and less time doing laundry—not to mention the other things I would never get around to, like organizing toys. To sum up, I highly recommend Eliya as a nanny without reservations. I’m so glad that she was part of our household for two years and I’m thinking ahead to when I can call her again to babysit :)