2024 Au Pair of the Year
đ„ Makhabbat from Kazakhstan
Makhabbat is a wonderful young woman, who came to our family as a rematch few months ago. We were very lucky that she went into rematch because we got the Au Pair of our dreams. We had our first interview, and she won our heart, second interview lasted for over 2 hours, we just couldnât get enough of talking to her. After her arrival, she quickly became a big part of our family and a lifelong friend.
Makhabbat is our third Au Pair, so we do have some experience for what to look for. We have to mention that in 3 months we didnât have one conflict or misunderstanding, and that is quite something. All of it is due to Makhabbat (aka Max, aka Best Friend) âs wonderful nature and soft character. So here are some things this wonderful girl brought to our family: First, and most important, she has quickly gained the trust and love of our 5 and 3 year old boys. They absolutely adore her and call her âMy Best Friendâ.
Max is very patient, kind and caring with our boys. She encourages them to speak Russian, which is a very important thing for the host mom and is also not a very easy thing to do, as they prefer to speak English; however, she manages to speak Russian to them.
Another thing is crafting. Boys are exposed to using a lot of imagination while crafting with Makhabbat. They use glue, play dough, color, draw and even do origami. Play time is also a very important part of the childrenâs day as they are so small. Makhabbat willingly plays hide-and-seek, catch, LEGO, building, playing in the sand box and so on. Children are truly very motivated and entertained. TV does not play an important role in our home, and us- the parents are very happy about that.
Makhabbat also takes care of childrenâs food, snacks, laundry. She organizes their room, their craft room, and the playroom, which is so extremely helpful and actually life changing for the parents. Talking about food, we have to mention that Max cooks for all of us quite often. She has cooked and shared the food from her culture and is an amazing chef. We do come from different cultures, even though we speak the same language, so it is a big treat to try new foods and share new recipes. Life has been good having Makhabbat in our house, we immediately extended for the second year without any doubts and really donât even want to think about the program coming to an end. In this short period of 3 months that she has been with us, we already celebrated Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas together. Max got to meet the host dadâs whole family and they all love her. She also got to meet the host momâs family, only on whatâs app, as they reside in Italy. The host mom also met Makhabbatâs dad (on whatâs app).
One of our favorite memories (and there are so many) is the second day Makhabbat was here. We went to the zoo and she got to interact with the boys all day. They showed her their favorite animals, took the train ride and the Merry go Round. It was so nice to tell her about things we like to do and see her feed the giraffe for the first time (she wasnât scared). We love so many things about our Au Pair, but I think our most favorite characteristics are that she is so calm and equilibrated, never gets angry or annoyed at the boys, is so patient and understanding. Another feature is that she is so honest and sincere, we can trust her with most important thing in our life- our children and know that they are safe and loved when we are not around.
To sum up: The name âMakhabbatâ means âloveâ and âaffection in her culture. That is what she has brought to our family- love, affection and care. Everything she does for us-and not just us, for everyone-is selfless. She gives without waiting anything in return-thatâs what makes her so special. She does everything from her heart, not because she has to; because thatâs who she is- a giving, caring person who likes to give rather than take. We are so extremely happy that she came in our lives. We appreciate her beyond words. She truly is a part of our family forever, not just till the end of the program. We love her!