I'm a mother of two and, after my older girl had some bad experiences with nannies, we decided to try a childminder for our second child.

Jade is very calm, loving and understanding of parents' anxieties about leaving their little ones, which is very much needed in my case as I was so anxious after what my poor first girl went through. She was happy to provide me with three references and when I called them, all gave glowing reviews of how much their children loved Jade.

My daughter was nearly one years old when she started with Jade and from early on my daughter absolutely loves going to Jade's house. She is impatient to leave in the morning, getting our shoes as well as her own to try and hurry us out the door! For comparison, when I had my first child, it took her ages to settle with her nanny. So when friends used to tell me that their kids loved going to nursery/their childminder and would be trying to run out the door to get there, I thought they were deluding themselves - as all the books I had read on attachment told me that one on one attention up to age three is essential, that nurseries/too many other children is stressful for young babies and children etc. But the exact opposite seems to have been our experience - our younger girl is thriving and is so happy and secure with Jade and having several other children around, whereas our older girl, who had one on one attention with a nanny for nearly two years, has attachment issues (which are thankfully now subsiding after her starting school).

We are now five months in and I am so, so happy that we went with Jade. I wish I had done the same for my older girl.

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