About me

Hello!

My name is Chelssy Taveras and I am a New York native, born and raised in Harlem, so I know the city like the back of my hand. I have two sisters significantly older than me and have children of their own. I attended Binghamton University in upstate New York, and received my bachelor's in sociology with a minor in Africana studies this past spring; Since graduating, I have been working with families to help raise their little ones, helping build the next generation to be confident, creative and compassionate.

I have been working with children since my high school years with a program called peer leadership placing me in a position where I mentor preteens and their journey in high school, simultaneously, my sisters had just given birth and I found myself enjoying, and feeling whole, helping them take care of our family. This piqued my interest in helping other families and I started working with my first around the time I graduated high school. This family needed me for three years to watch over their nine-year-old son, and assist him with homework, being picked up from school, taken to after-school activities, projects, and meal preparation; Of course, as he got older, his interest in things such as activities, projects, even food, changed, and I adapted to these alterations. Scheduling with this family took place mostly in the evenings after business/schooling hours.

I had started working with my second family just months after my first family had moved out of the state. They had two toddlers, the eldest was a 3-year-old girl, and the youngest was an eight-month-old boy; I stayed with this family for over a year, building a connection with mom while I helped her small children. This job was more of an assistant position where the mom would be present the whole time and would need help while she worked at home or had appointments to go to. My responsibilities with their three-year-old included taking her to her activities or school and from, meal prep and feeding her snacks as well as playing with her and keeping her entertained while mom wasn’t around. As for the eight-month-old, my responsibilities included diaper changes, baths, bottle preparation, sterilizing/sanitizing feeding bottles, cleaning toys setting up the playpen area, changing clothes, and leading nap time (putting him to sleep).
Both of the little ones also play together in different activities and creative projects that I would have made for them. One of my favorite memories with these two was working on their motor skills with finger painting.

I also lightly cleaned, helping with bedrooms and the general living area as well as the kitchen.

My final family had three children, the eldest being eight, the second oldest being seven, and the youngest being three years old. My responsibilities mainly surrounded the two oldest daughters with occasionally, taking care of their youngest son during date nights, or whenever his specific program had come to an end over the summer.
This family was very specific with ensuring that their children spent more time being active and both physically and mentally engaged as opposed to simply watching movies or playing video games, so one of my responsibilities, when taking care of their girls was to make sure that they were having a productive and engaging day. My days would start off very early (as early as 8 am) and would end at the latest by 4 pm. The morning starts with ensuring the girls have breakfast and are ready for the day (clean and dressed), we then would pick an activity that we can do outside (we’ve had picnics, gone to the library or mall, visited the local garden or even rode bikes/ scooters), lunch was then provided by the parents. In the afternoon, I would do some light cleaning in the house, such as washing dishes and tidying up the general living area while the girls cleaned their room before mom came home.

I also generally have a lot of experience with children in my own family, as I previously mentioned, my two older sisters have had children of their own the youngest currently being nine months, and the oldest being nearly 7 years. Whenever my sisters need help from anyone, they always call me first because they know I treat their children as one of my own. I have changed all of their diapers, burped each and every single one of them changed their clothes after they threw up on them, bathe them after an explosive diaper, I have measured the ratios of water to formula powder for bottles throughout their early months and have taken part in teaching them how to speak, express their emotions, count their numbers, know their colors, fruits, animals, etc.

When working in childcare, I think of my inner child and things that I remember from my childhood one of those things were teachers and other adults in my life who had impacted the way I think and view the world till this day. I believe that it takes a village to raise a child and that everyone surrounding said child is responsible for their development and understanding of the world. When I take care of these children, I think of parts of my childhood that are highlighted in my memories and try to replicate that for a newer generation.