About me

The first time I babysat I was 11 years old (and a bit terrified), and my next door neighbors entrusted me to the care of their two toddlers (1.5 years and 3 years old). As the car taillights blared through the living room window signaling the parent's departure, the children naturally began to howl. Who are you? Why did my parents leave? What is going on and why are you smiling at me like a strange alien? So I did what my natural inclination tells me to do with children and adults in crisis alike: I made them laugh, and they forgot why it was they were crying.

There's no greater satisfaction than to make a kid giggle. Adults do not giggle, but kids do, and that sound has kept me on my toes since I began working in childcare over 10 years ago. Childcare supported me throughout high school, when I worked with families both large and small, with ages ranging from 9 months to 12 years old, upwards of 3 children at a time. When you live in suburbia, a babysitter's name is worth gold, and I was able to provide myself with the economic means to eventually move to Seattle, where I obtained a degree in Spanish Literature. Upon graduating and after studying abroad in South America and Mexico, I remained in Seattle where I entered a professional career in administration, working for a marketing firm as a bookkeeper and office manager, while also acting as a live-in nanny for two boys. Being the youngest girl of 3 older brothers, it felt fitting to gain two younger brothers that I will always keep close to my heart.

For me, the most important part of childcare is pretty basic: keep them safe, keep them fed, keep them engaged, and challenge them. I provide a healthy balance of authoritative and weird aunt coming to town. I will jump on the trampoline for hours, but I also know when bed time means bed time (while also secretly allowing a couple extra minutes for you to read with a flashlight under the covers as if I don't notice). I was an avid reader as a child, so I have a hard time shortening reading time at bedtime, and there's nothing more satisfying than entering into an imaginary world with a child whose unbound curiosity expands my own. Making up languages, creating games on the spot, wearing weird outfits and making up fake names just to go to the grocery store, I once let the two boys from my live-in nanny days draw (my own) make-up all over my face and take pictures of me (my skin eventually recovered). I like to get silly and I'm not afraid to climb into a dirt hole with some rugrats while still always being the one in charge.

Funny, adaptable, flexible, intuitive and empathetic, I'm the babysitter who pretends she is Julie Andrews as Mary Poppins, because watching kids is never just about the kids, it's about helping the entire family grow closer. I like to be that support system, I'm good at it, and I will always love giggling with kids.