Level of education: I have a Bachelors degree in Elementary Education from Graceland University in Lamoni, IA. I have also completed 18 graduate hours toward my Masters in Education.

Additional skills or certifications: I am a certified mediator from The Mediation Center of Davenport IA, and am also CPI trained and have experience with children with behavior disorders.

Experience: I have worked with children since I was 12 years old, starting with babysitting and as a counselor in training for summer camps. In high school, I continued babysitting regularly for families as time would permit and also worked as a lifeguard at for our city pool and for summer camps. I have nannied for two families previously in both live in and live out situations. When I lived in, I nannied for a 3 year old boy and 7 year old girl and during my other position I nannied for a newborn. I have a degree in Elementary Education with middle school, language arts, music, and special education endorsements and have taught both music, special education, and 5th grade in public school settings. I also started teaching private music lessons as a freshman in high school, mainly piano, oboe, and saxophone (all of them!). By the end of high school, I was teaching all other instruments, as well.

Experience with the following age groups: I have experience with all age groups, from newborn through teenagers.

Interests and hobbies:I love photography and reading, especially doing both while in nature! When it comes to St Louis Cardinal baseball, BYU football or University of Illinois basketball, there’s not a more passionate fan out there!

Describe your childcare style:I love seeing children discover new things and believe that discovery happens best when there are clear boundaries. We all work best with boundaries, actually. Years ago I remember taking a racket ball and throwing up against a door at the end of a closed off hallway at my fathers office (with his permission, of course!). My brothers and I loved to see how many times the ball would bounce between the walls before it would stop. If we had taken that same ball into a field and thrown it, it would have just landed and most likely would have stopped there. With the walls of the closed off hallway in place as boundaries, though, that ball was able to take on life and go in all kinds of directions. To me, caring for children is much like that, setting boundaries and let them explore. When they fall, pick them up and help them start over again, learning whatever lessons needs to be learned at that moment and help them continue moving forward.

What activities do you like to do with children:There are not any activities I do NOT like doing with children. I even enjoy helping them study and learn! I love to see them be successful and hope that whatever activities they are involved in, I can be supportive and helpful in making that success possible. I love seeing their imaginations grow and love making up games and exploring new and exciting things whenever possible!

Why are you interested in working as a Nanny or Babysitter? I understand that there are times in life when schedules and responsibilities simply do not allow parents to be the only responsible adult in the lives of their children. I see my role as a nanny as a bridge, helping bridge the gap between what is realistically feasible and what is needed at that point in the life of the family. It is an honor to be allowed to work with families in this regard and not one I take lightly!

What qualities are important in a Nanny or Babysitter?A nanny needs to be able to communicate clearly not just with the children, but with parents as well. They need to be compassionate and yet firm in their role as the nanny. Most importantly, though, a nanny needs to be creative and sensitive to the needs of the family they are employed by. Patience, integrity, high moral standards, and laughter are all parts that add to what important qualities a nanny needs to have.

Additional comments:I am a Walt Disney World fanatic and, even more, a Walt Disney quote fanatic. My favorite quote of his arsenal of wisdom (one you may recognize from Meet the Robinsons) includes the popular phrase keep moving forward. The beauty of the quote below in its entirety is, to me, even more inspiring, Around here, however, we do not look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we are curious, and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths. Helping your child or children and explore those new paths and keep moving forward is what I hope to help you accomplish on this journey of life. No matter what happens or what choices we make, if we keep moving forward, we can find success, adults and children alike.