Linda has been nanny to our two-year old twin girls and also our 5 year old daughter (after school and during holidays) for a year now. She babysits for us sometimes too. Linda has a gentle, responsive approach - on her first day, we were amazed by how quickly our twins settled with her. She’s intuitive to their needs, caring, patient and treats them as individuals. One of our twins wears hearing aids and Linda has taken time to learn about how to put them in, change the batteries and help her to get used to them. The girls love Linda and talk about her a lot when she’s not around. They have a sweet bond and look forward to their days with her. Even when the twins have tantrums, Linda deals with them calmly and effectively.

We have a really good relationship too and a lot of respect for one another. Linda is friendly and helpful – always has top tips if we need to purchase toys or equipment for the girls, and is happy to lend us items from her kit from when she was a childminder. Linda has car seats and a buggy in her car too - very handy when she takes the girls out. She often sends me updates/photos when I’m at work, which I appreciate. Linda has also fitted into our family life so well and uses her initiative around the home to help us out, e.g. sorting out play areas, getting our older daughter ready for after-school activities, unloading dishwasher, etc.

Linda has an excellent, “can do” attitude. She’s completely unflappable (even when she takes our twins swimming!) Linda is a natural, knowledgeable and proactive educator too. She works part-time at a preschool, which I’d imagine is a useful reference point when she cares for our (nearly 3 year old) twins. She’s thoughtful and proactive, organising a range of fun and educational activities for the girls, e.g. forest school, swimming, painting, library visits and reading, messy play, various sorting tasks, seasonal activities too, e.g. they recently made a tree collage using autumnal leaves and made pumpkin art. Linda tries to tune into their world and takes the initiative to organise activities as appropriate. She also understands the financial pressures of having multiples, managing to find activities which are low cost or free. The girls have progressed in so many areas since Linda has been with us, e.g. communication, colours, counting, etc. I like the way she builds the learning into their daily activities and is encouraging, so it has never felt intense or pushy. After school and in the school holidays, Linda also looks after our 5 year old and manages to keep them all happy – we’ve always been impressed by how well she takes it in her stride.

Linda’s extensive experience as a childminder, nanny and early years practitioner has shone through during her time with us. When I head off for work, I feel content knowing our girls are in her capable hands. Linda’s only leaving us because we can’t pay for her time using the funded hours our twins will receive when they turn 3. We feel privileged that she came to us and will be sad to see her go.

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