When Argentinean au pair Clara Guerrero arrived to the Chapman family’s home in VA this January, their triplet baby boys were just four months old. Of course, Clara was infant-qualified, having babysat for her baby niece since her birth and several other children in her neighborhood back home, but, she says, “I had never taken care of three babies at the same time before!” Nevertheless, Clara accepted her host parents’ invitation to be their au pair and jumped right into her childcare responsibilities. “It may sound like a tough challenge but I absolutely love it, even if some days are more demanding than others.”
Her host mom Kendra adds, “I’m an Assistant Principal in an elementary school and when I went back to work my staff needed me to be 100%. While they understand the challenges of new moms, Clara allowed for me to be present at work and not worry (as much) about what was going on at home. Clara hit the ground running my first day back to work. She was and is the best match for our family during this transition because family is important to her. She is one of seven children and didn’t scare off easily when she saw our profile- four month old triplet boys! My husband and I are thankful for the flexibility, affordability and choice involved with finding the best fit for our child care care needs.”
Clara gave us 8 reasons why she loves caring for infant triplets so much:
The fact that I have met them since very early stages, gives me the opportunity of witnessing their first times. First time laugh, first time they have rolled over to their tummies by themselves, first time holding their bottles on their own, it is an amazing feeling to see these little persons grow so fast each day! I have watched them learn how to crawl, how they are slowly growing their teeth and be more talkative. I just love being a part of their development!
Every day I wake up happy because I know I will spend a beautiful day with the babies. I love the way they recognize me and smile when they see me when I am picking them up from their cribs, after they wake up in the morning or after their naps. It fills me with energy to give my best in taking care of them.
It may sound like a difficult task, but they all share the same routine, so worst case scenario one will be sleeping while two are awake, but then they will eventually sync back.
I love the fact that I can take them for long walks outside. They love listening to nature’s sounds, so everyday we take an hour walk through really peaceful trails, and they are not the only ones to enjoy it, it is really relaxing for me too, and I have some exercise done so everybody wins!
One of the most important things I love about this experience, is that if only one baby can prepare you for your own future kids, then if you look after THREE of them you will probably be able to change diapers with your eyes shut 🙂
I love taking care of babies because my week goes by so fast, that means I really enjoy it, and as that quote says “Love what you do and you will never work a day”.
You learn a lot by taking care of babies, not just how to change diapers or prepare a bottle of formula but also how to put them down to bed, calm them down when they are fussy, understand why they cry even if they cannot express it by themselves. You are truly responsible for them, they depend on you, you have somebody else’s life in your hands, and that means growing in so many aspects of your personality, your maturity, responsibility, level of attention, managing stress, learning how to cope with difficulties—the list could be endless.
I love the fact that, even though there were people who tried to discourage me from taking care of three babies, I can now proudly say that I made a good decision in following my instincts. I proved to myself that if I want to achieve something, it only takes the desire and enthusiasm to go for it.
Congratulations to you Clara for giving your all to your host babies every day and for taking on this challenging role as an au pair to triplets! Au pairs: what are your host children like and why do you love caring for them every day? Share your story with us.