About Lauri

Reviewed on 7/31/2020

Ms. Lauri joined our family when our son was 10 months old. If I could change one thing it would be to have hired her sooner. When Ms. Lauri joined us our son, while generally cheerful and easygoing when awake, refused to take naps or sleep at night. Ms. Lauri respected our philosophy of not leaving him to cry it out and patiently worked to gradually get him on a routine for nap time until eventually we could put him down in his crib and leave the room and have him go to sleep without fuss. Ms. Lauri taught him how to use sign language to communicate before he could use words and how to use a spoon and fork and drink from an open cup at a much earlier age than we would have ever thought to. She noticed that he had some sensory issues when it came to touch and she worked on that with him using various arts and crafts projects. At age 2 she suggested we try signing him up for a gymnastics class. I would never have thought to do that for a 2 year old and he loved it. She takes him to parks, playgrounds, the zoo, museum, and many other places. They are always very busy doing a variety of things. Prior to the pandemic it was not unusual for our son to come home and tell me that he went to 2 or 3 playgrounds that day. She took him to the library for story time and every week they came back with a backpack full of books that he helped pick out and he enjoyed reading them with us all week. When Ms. Lauri first started caring for him our son had a lot of stranger anxiety. By taking him to the library and interacting with other kids and adults there, shopping at stores, and generally being exposed to more people he quickly got over it and became much more social. She also took him to his preschool playgroup sessions, open gym, swimming lessons where she got in the pool with him and helped him learn. As an only child we used to worry about him not having enough opportunities to play and interact with other kids his age. Ms. Lauri knew another nanny who watched two kids around the same age as our son and she frequently set up play dates with them as well as with other people she knew who had kids of similar age. She also arranged play dates with kids that they met through activities like open gym. She puts together healthy and balanced lunches for him each day so that's one less thing I have to worry about. She exposes him to a larger variety of foods than he would have been if I was preparing all of his meals and I think that is a big part of why he is not a very picky eater. During the pandemic, she still found ways for them to get outside and be active. Ms. Lauri knows all the trails at the area parks and finds the ones where they can social distance safely, or they will set up a kiddie pool in the back yard, or hide some toys around the yard and play hide and seek with them. She taught him how to dress himself, brush his teeth, use the potty, learn his manners, learn his letters and numbers, how to hold a pencil, practice some basic phonics and reading skills, and many other learning activities. She finds age-appropriate workbooks and makes them fun for him. As a first-time mom I really appreciated the many years of experience Ms. Lauri had both as a nanny and working in a daycare setting with many other kids. I often ask her for her advice on what's typical to expect from a child his age and advice on what strategies I can try when he's being challenging. I joke with my husband that most parents have to learn how to teach their kids life skills like getting dressed and going potty but we never had to learn how to do that because Ms. Lauri did it all. Now that our son is starting full-day school we will really miss Ms. Lauri a lot because she is like a member of our family. We feel so lucky to have found her and I know that whatever family she joins next will be lucky to have her too.