About Melissa

I am writing this letter to highly recommend Melissa B. as a nanny. Melissa worked with our family from January 2018 to November 2019. She was in charge of supervision for our three children. At the time of her hire, our youngest was only 4 months old. The other two were 2 and 5. She worked with us three full days per week and was responsible for helping the kids get ready for school in the morning, getting our oldest onto the bus, and then watching the baby for the rest of the day. She also picked our middle child up from preschool at noon, put him down for a nap, and watched him until we returned from work. Melissa would also make sure our daughter got off the bus and returned home after school. A typical work day for Melissa was around 8 to 8.5 hours. Melissa would prepare snacks and meals for the kids as needed throughout the day and had no trouble preparing healthy food for everyone. Melissa has extensive early childhood education experience and a broad range of experience as a nanny, having worked with children of all ages. Melissa has had an immeasurably positive impact on our lives. What made her stand out as a candidate during the interview process was her very relaxed and calm demeanor. That initial impression held true throughout her entire time with us, as she always maintained her composure even if the baby was having a fussy day or the other children were acting out. Melissa was an absolute natural with our baby. She had no problem preparing bottles, rocking him, reading books to him, putting him down for naps, and engaging in age-appropriate activities with him throughout the day. As he has gotten older, J. has developed such a wonderful affinity for Melissa and even developed his own nickname for her, "Mani". He smiles at her and blows her kisses and I know he completely loves and trusts her. That type of relationship developed because of her hard work and caring nature. One thing that is important to note is that Melissa was the first non-family member that we invited into our home to supervise our children. As a mother, one of my biggest fears (on top of being able to trust someone new) was that since I worked full-time, my children would develop a mother/child relationship with someone else and I would somehow be supplanted. I expressed this concern to Melissa at the start of her employment and I cannot say enough good things about how she handled this. She always talked about me throughout the day to them, texted me photos of the kids (with my consent), and, most importantly, she never tried to play the role of mom. She artfully and perfectly played the role of caretaker and, for that reason, I have a wonderful mother/child relationship with all of my kids despite the fact that I am a full-time working lawyer. Melissa also provided me detailed updates through the day (e.g. what time J. ate or napped, and how C. did at preschool that day). Melissa also regularly went above and beyond her nanny responsibilities. She would make sure the kitchen and sink area were always cleaned up, bottles were washed and put away, food was cleaned up, toys were picked up off the floor, bedding was clean for nap time, and she would fold or put away laundry upon request. She has a reliable vehicle and she is a very responsible driver. Some of the skills that make Melissa truly special are her love of music, her faith, and her fluency in Spanish. These positive outlets in her personal life flowed through to our children's lives and had a wonderful impact. Melissa would often sing the baby to sleep (she lived in Nashville for a while pursuing her music, so she can really sing!) and she would introduce the kids to gospel, folk, and classical music which we all really enjoyed. Anytime one of the kids' toys was turned to the "Spanish" mode, I would know it was because Melissa was teaching them some new words! It became very obvious to us early on that Melissa lives a life of love and faith, and that clearly carries into her work as a nanny. Finally, Melissa is incredibly reliable which was so important for our family. In fact, I cannot even recall one instance where she was more than a couple of minutes late! We had such a positive and easy working relationship. I am grateful that we will never need to hire another nanny again because Melissa has set the bar so high, we would never find anyone else like her. Melissa is left her employment with us because our family's needs simply changed.