About Maria

Reviewed on 5/15/2024

I would like to provide my highest recommendation for our beloved nanny of 10 years, Maria. We are making an out of state move and can’t talk her into moving to Oklahoma with us. Maria came to us after our second child was born. We have since had a third child. Our kids are now aged eight, 10, and 12. She has been with us the whole way through, and we currently feel her to be a member of the family. When she first joined our family, we could hardly believe that someone like her existed in this world. She is able to nearly read our minds with things that need to be done from day today. She keeps us up to speed with laundry, keeps the kitchen cleaner than we do, and helps the kids keep their rooms clean. I don't think I have once ever cut the kids fingernails and yet they are always perfectly trimmed. There are really too many things to include in one email in terms of what she continues to do for our family every day. I know there are things she is doing behind the scenes that I am not even aware of. When Maria came to work with us in the beginning we had a big dog. He was a loving, energetic handful. She loved him from the minute she started and was highly capable with him. She took him for walks on days that I worked so that he would get his energy out first thing in the morning. After he died, she grieved with us. We now have a new puppy that she has been helping us train. He loves her just as much as she loves him. She understands and loves dogs. Our kids are avid readers. We feel Maria is to thank for this. She keeps them going to the library. When they come home from the library, the first day back they are all embedded in their books and giddy with excitement about all of their “finds". When they were little, she had the library schedule in her phone and would take them to book readings, craft events, and other events hosted at our local library. They love reading and they love the library. This is not something I would have ever had the time to do. We are extremely grateful for this gift. Maria is attuned to safety. She is a very safe driver. Maria is a strong swimmer. She grew up on an island in Brazil. She is extremely comfortable at the ocean, never taking her eyes off of the kids and never letting them go deeper than she feels comfortable handling. We have a pool at home and have trusted her fully with them using it. There has never been even one accident in or around the pool under her watch. Maria is great with babies, toddlers, and older kids. She has a grown son of her own who lives in Spain. We have met him, and he is a wonderful person, just like her. We have gone through a lot of stressful things over the last few years, particularly with the pandemic. Both of us are physicians. As an emergency room physician, I was exposed to the very first patient in San Diego County who tested positive for Covid. I had to go into immediate quarantine. As soon as I found out about this, I called her to let her know she could take the time off so as not to get exposed herself. She called me back about 10 minutes later. She had already done the math on the exposure. We both knew that the kids had not been exposed to me during the potential “infective” period. She insisted on taking care of the kids - I would quarantine alone. She did not even flinch about taking this on despite her family back in Brazil telling her she was crazy to stick around. She stuck through with us through homeschooling the three kids through all of our ups and downs. She does not fear sick kids and will show up if they get sent home from school sick - no matter what they have been sent home with. During the pandemic, her husband got very sick with brain cancer. He died within 18 months of his diagnosis. During this illness, she insisted on staying with us, telling us that she needed the kids to help her stay positive and give her a hopeful place to be. Her schedule was tricky, as was ours. Then my mom got cancer and things got even trickier. We became a true team.... I never once had to miss work because of Maria’s willingness to remain flexible through the whole time he was ill. She never had to miss any of her husband’s appointments and times of need due to setbacks. She was able to be with him in hospice at the very end and I was able to be with my mom at her end as well. As I write this, it makes me feel like I could cry when I think about what a loyal, dependable, true angel she has been for a family. She truly is part of our family, and we will miss her sorely when we leave. I know we will always have a relationship with her though. She has kept in touch with all of the families she works with and sees them when they come into town. When her husband died, one of her “graduates” and his mom came to the funeral. It was super fun to meet one of the kids she had helped raise. He was so nice. She has watched over our home and the kids when we have been out of town and tells us exactly what we need to know about what has happened in our absence. She has made it fun for them when we leave by taking them on special excursions. We fully trust her with their care and safety. Maria is a healthy eater. She exercises at least three times a week and has remained fit into this stage of her life. She has fed the kids well rounded meals, encourages vegetables, and is just lenient enough with sweets to keep life fun but not go overboard. She makes sure the kids get moving every day. Maria respects our screen time restrictions. There are so many more things I could share about Maria - feel free to call me if you want more information. I want to make sure she ends up with the right family and feel protective of her as she navigates this change (though she really does not need protecting - she is very wise and discerning). She is a true professional, always reliable, always cheerful, and positive. We still can’t believe how lucky we have been to have her in our life. Sincerely, Mary