Host Family Testimonials
Host Family: The Glazers
Location: Maryland
Au Pair: Lilian Grisel Vazquez Torres, Mexico
From the very first email to our first phone interview, we knew Lili was someone special.
She could not contain her enthusiasm and she exuded a sense of maturity and responsibility that would fit perfectly with our family . We knew we were interviewing a winner! From the moment we picked her up from the airport she has demonstrated these qualities time after time.
When Lili joined our family we had 3 children ranging in age from 16 months to 5 years and a fourth on the way. Upon her arrival we joked that she brought half of Mexico with her in gifts. She brought gifts for the kids, for us, and even for our impending arrival. Her suitcase probably weighed as much as she did!
She immediately took to the kids and they adore her. She has now been here almost a year and every morning -- even on her days off -- she rushes off to find each kid and give them individual attention and a hug and a kiss. She made s smooth transition to family life with us without so much as a sneeze.
We have to pull our kids away from her when she's off-duty. Still, she is always attentive and makes sure to say good-bye when she leaves the house and gives more hugs and kisses when she returns.
It's hard to put into words what makes Lili so special, but here are a few stories that we hope will give a taste of what a thoughtful, caring, mature, conscientious and giving person she is, and how grateful and lucky we are to have matched with her as our ultimate au pair.
The morning of our eldest son's 5th birthday, he awoke to a smiling Lili holding a hand-crafted card made from construction paper. It was patterned after "Blue's Clues," and she called it "Lili's Clues." Inside, the card sent him on an adventure, searching for clues all over the house and eventually leading him to her room. In her room, she labeled the doors to her closet and bathroom and told him to choose a door. Behind one door was a cheerful decorated "sad" balloon that said "Nothing!" and Lili said "uh oh, looks like you must try the next door." Behind that door was a lovingly and intricately hand-decorated splash of technicolor signs, banners, and balloons saying "Happy Birthday!" and "Surprise!" along with a pile of gifts (that probably cost half her paycheck)! The birthday boy, as well as his parents and siblings, were very excited.
When we had the season's first snowfall, Lili was as excited as the children to go out and play in it. She had never experienced snow before. Together they ran around, made snowballs, and built a snowman complete with hat, scarf, gloved stick-arms, and a carrot for a nose. She stayed out with them for hours and came inside ruddy, grinning, and with her shoes soaked to the toes.
Lili knows how much we love authentic Mexican food, especially Carne Asada. Recently, we discovered that we had a grill attachment to our stovetop. Lili was as excited as we were. She did some research and shopping, and spent her day off preparing us a delicious and time-consuming meal of Carne Asada just like she eats back home, complete with side dishes, and agua hochata, a traditional rice drink! What a treat!
As a final example, Lili hand-constructed an authentic Mexican piñata for our younger son's upcoming 2nd birthday. It was a time-consuming and messy process that turned into a lot of fun for our kids. Normally Lili spends her free time with the friends she's made, but that week she used nearly every waking hour of her free time pouring her heart into making that special gift. Then on the morning of his birthday, she got up at 4:30am and decorated our dining area with balloons, streamers, signs, gifts, and another half paycheck! It was not only a great cultural experience, but it is sure to be a cherished memory as we look back on this time.
Lili's tireless enthusiasm is infectious, and she's captured not only our hearts, but the hearts of everyone she meets. Our parents (never easy to impress), friends, siblings, and extended family adore her. Every day brings new ways to love Lili, and although it will be a very sad day when she must return home, we know we will look back with fondness on the time she spent with us. We will have a friend forever in Mexico as she will have a forever grateful family in Maryland.
