Laura, garde d’enfant à Brighton

Dear host family,
Richmond 01--‐06--‐2014
My name is Laura, I am thirty three years old and I was born in Salamanca (Spain). My mother’s name is Esperanza and she works as Team manager in a Swedish cosmetics company. My father’s name is Antonio and he is retired, he worked as a mechanic in a Dairy company. I have an older sister named Silvia who is thirty eight years old. We are a very close, sociable and communicative family. My family is large and I adore them. My mother has two sisters and two brothers and my father has one brother, so I have many uncles, aunts and little cousins.
I love children and I always took care of my cousins in t h e summer in my grandparent’s village, preparing their food, helping them with their summer homework, playing and doing crafts together or going to the pool. I have always been surrounded by children.
When I finished high school, I decided to study a degree in Labour Relations in Salamanca. I finished and I went to Madrid, to work in a HR department for three years. For me it was one of the most important decisions in my life. Living away from home has taught me to appreciate many things, to be much more responsible than I was before and to mature as person. I think it was a very good opportunity to learn more about myself. I have always been very active and hard-w orking, so when I came back from Madrid I began working in a factory every summer and during the school year I looked after a child.
I looked after a little boy before I went to Madrid and again when I returned I took care of a girl and now I look after at two kids in Richmond, London. I love working with children because they know how to get the best out of me and I try to teach them to do their best: it is a very rewarding job.
Since I returned from Madrid I had been going to English classes with a native speaker, I think it is very important to learn English for my future and what better way to combine it than with the care of children, which is something I love.
My family and my friends say that I am a very responsible and loving person. I love children, so this year I decided to fulfil my dream of becoming an au pair in London. They supported my decision and they were very happy for me. I love spending time with children and learning everything they can teach me every day. They learn a lot from us, but we learn more from them than we think.
I have five years’ experience of childcare with children from six to ten years of age. In 2005 I took care of Pablo, who was six. The experience was great. I used to wake him up, we had breakfast together, I helped him to get dressed, took him to school, made him food, we would go the pool or to the park to play. He was very responsive and he was always smiling, I loved Pablo, I was very fond of him.
From 2009 to 2013 I took care of Malena, who was six years old, until she was ten. I took her to school, picked up her, made her food and we used to dance and sing together. I love music and dance and Malena went to guitar lessons so we spent every afternoon singing and dancing. Another thing we had in common were the ‘’Sweets’’, I love chocolate and some evenings we made desserts together. It was a lot of fun.
Since March of this year, I have been in Richmond taking care of two children who are nine and eleven. Every day I wake up them, we have breakfast together, I take them to school, I pick up them and I cook them the dinner. While they are in the school I do light housework, just for the kids. This is a good experience for me and my English is improving every day.
Besides childcare experience, I also love reading books, watching movies and the most important thing in my daily life is doing some form of exercise, I go to the gym every day and on Sunday I go swimming. I think that exercise is very important for a healthy, balanced life.
I am very excited about the opportunity to get to know you and to be part o f your family. I hope you liked reading my letter and feel you know a bit more about me and my dreams.
I look forward to hearing from you,
Best wishes Laura