About me

My name is Barbara Mendes. I have worked with childcare for over eight years. My first experiences with childcare were in my home country of Brazil. I was an intern at a clinic for kids with special needs and a daycare. I decided to work as an intern in those places because I always knew I wanted to work with childcare from a young age, as a teacher, tutor, or nanny. Even after I started college, studying English and literature, I remained engaged in childcare work for families as a part-time nanny or extra help during weekends/date nights for parents.

Looking back I can definitely say that working at a clinic for kids with special needs has been one of the greatest and most rewarding experiences in my life. I felt very happy and grateful I was able to help the children at the clinic achieve many milestones like learning to read, write, and communicate their needs better through sign or oral language.

I also loved my experience working at a daycare center. At the daycare, I was often placed in the nursery, taking care of babies as young as two-month-olds. It was a wonderful experience which taught me a lot of things. I learned how to properly feed children, prepare bottles using formula, sterilize children’s toys and bottles, sleep train babies for nap time, and give them baths. It was also great to play with the babies during tummy time.

Back in 2017, I heard about the Au pair program and applied to become an Au pair through the agency Au pair in America. I came to the United States to work with a lovely family with four children and a dog in Tribeca. The kids were four, nine, twelve, and fourteen years old.

I lived with them and helped the mother manage the children and household during the week as well as occasional weekends. During the summer, I traveled with the family to their house in South Hamptons. We usually stayed in the Hamptons for the entire summer and would only return to the city a day before Labor Day as the kids started school the next day.

After the program came to an end, I started working for a family in the Upper East Side. I took care of two lovely boys, who were very funny, smart, and kind. It was a great privilege to take care of them. My boss at the time worked from home and we had a great relationship. I traveled with them to Puerto Rico too and it was really nice to spend some quality time with the children during their vacation.

My next nanny position was with a family who lives in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, taking care of an adorable and super bright baby girl. I had a wonderful experience with this family and also enjoyed working in Brooklyn a lot.

It was wonderful working with a young baby again. I loved cooking her meals knowing she would often try these things for the first time. It was great to read many different books for her and play together. We were also lucky enough to have a wonderful group of fellow nannies and kids with whom we became friends and were able to have many play dates.

I also loved taking the baby to parks, the Brooklyn Zoo, the Botanical Garden, the Brooklyn Library, and museums of ice cream and Sloomoo Institute. Those were wonderful opportunities we had to bond and enjoy our time together. I took the baby to fun activities as well like music lessons, ballet and tap dance lessons, and gardening lessons. We also joined Montessori classes which focused on sensorial activities and games. Besides cooking, cleaning, and doing the baby’s laundry, I was also responsible for taking the baby to doctor’s appointments.


My hobbies are reading fiction books, cooking, and learning new languages. I speak English, Spanish, and Portuguese. I've also most recently become interested in learning French and Italian, so I am studying these languages on my own.

I am a very easy-going and friendly person. I enjoy doing outside activities, especially going for walks and picnics as well as museums. I love art and literature. These are certainly two big interests I have and which I often use to connect with the kids. I would often spend some time painting and drawing with the kids I took care of and going to bookstores to buy them books. I also enjoyed just sitting down and reading books for them and helping them learn how to read.

As a caregiver, I have learned that parents’ schedules can be unpredictable many times and we, as nannies, need to be understanding and flexible. I am also aware that it is my duty as a caregiver to take care of these children as if they were my own, nurturing their minds and self-confidence. I must be an example of empathy and kindness and a friend to a child and parents as well as a caregiver.