February 2005
To
Whom It May Concern:
As a
professional nanny and babynurse for 18
years, it never occurred to me that when
my son was born, I would have need for
my own babynurse. But when his extremely
difficult birth and ensuing birth injury
which caused permanent paralysis
combined with his acid reflux caused me
to be much more tired and worn out than
I had anticipated while pregnant, I was
thrilled when my friend Clelie offered
to come be my baby nurse for two weeks.
Clelie came to stay with us when my son
Hunter was about 6 weeks old. Her
experience, quiet calm and confidence
were just what I needed. As a baby
nurse, I never question my decisions. As
a mom, I questioned every one of them,
and it was so nice to have a
professional whose experience and
knowledge I trusted there to bounce
things off of when I felt unsure. Clelie
freely shared her opinion when asked,
but was always polite about it, never
pushy, and was always willing to discuss
other options. She was helpful, and yet
willing to learn along side me as we
went through trial and error finding the
best way to manage my son’s reflux. She
was also extremely careful in her
handling of him and listened closely to
the instructions for caring for his
disabled arm.
I have known Clelie for several years,
and yet was still impressed with her
careful handling of my son and her
willingness to share her experience with
me. I was a little nervous about having
a peer in my home under these
circumstances, but Clelie handled it
with grace, courtesy, and respect.
Hunter quickly took to Clelie as she
cared for him, and she was there to
share some of his first smiles and
laughs with all of us.
With Clelie’s help those two weeks, I
was finally able to turn the corner in
my own recovery from Hunter’s birth, as
well as come to an emotional point of
being more able to handle his
disability. She was always thoughtful
and never intrusive on my relationship
with my son, yet always managed to be
right there when I needed her. It truly
was exactly what I needed at just the
right time.
I will be forever thankful for the two
weeks that Clelie shared with our
family. It made all the difference in
the world, and I have already told her
the next time I am pregnant, I am
reserving my spot on her calendar.
Tonya
S.
June
20, 2006
As a
first time mother with absolutely no
experience,
the "temporary nanny" was the best
welcome home gift that I
could ask for! Clelie stayed for the
first 10 days after my
baby boy was born to teach me all of the
basics from how to
change (my first) diapers to how and why
to swaddle my
newborn. I learned many other essentials
like how to pack the
perfect diaper bag and how to make a
proper bottle. Clelie
also helped to relieve many of my first
time mom jitters and
gave me some much needed rest during
those first 10 nights.
My baby is now 4 and 1/2 months, and I
often think back to
all of the helpful tips that Clelie gave
me and my husband.
Thank you temporary nanny for passing
down all of your
wisdom to my family.
Nicole D. (and baby Blake)
12
September 2003
I am
happy to recommend Clelie Bourne as a
nanny to anyone! She stayed with us for
six weeks, helping me and my husband
learn how to take care of our first
child. The first few weeks were a
difficult transition period for me, and
Clelie was wonderful—the perfect
combination of cheerleader, teacher,
sounding board and moral support. She
taught us all the basics about caring
for our baby, and in addition provided a
whole grab bag of strategies for dealing
with a fussy baby, including the
important lesson that “babies cry, and
it’s not your fault”!
Like
many new mothers, I was extremely
nervous about my own abilities, but
Clelie was always there to reassure me,
and endlessly patient in answering my
questions (no matter how many times I
asked the same thing!). When I needed to
get away and take a mental break, I knew
I could count on her and be certain that
my baby was receiving excellent care in
my absence. Many times Clelie went above
and beyond the call in helping me; she
was consistently willing to be flexible
and adapt to our changing schedules.
In
addition to proving excellent baby care
and mental coaching, Clelie was always
ready to answer questions and offer
opinions about future childcare and
development issues. I was thrilled to
have such a wealth of experience and
knowledge available to me, and I believe
anyone with a new baby would benefit
from her presence.
Elizabeth L.
August 25, 2006
My
family and I got to know Clelie Bourne
during the course of our annual summer
vacation in the US this August. We live
in Athens, Greece and spent almost three
weeks in Greenwich, CT. Clelie took care
of our two girls aged 13 months and 4
years and helped out with our 18 month
old nephew. She is a delightful person,
always cheerful and extremely helpful.
She easily adapted to our extended
family, about fifteen of us from all
over the world, all here for our annual
family gathering. Clelie was full of fun
and interesting activities for the kids,
entertaining them for hours both quietly
inside as well as more rambunctiously
outside. She planned day trips for the
kids to places of interest in our area,
including the aquarium, a petting farm,
museums, the park and playground and the
beach. I feel that my kids ended up
having a vacation that was both fun and
educational. As an added bonus, Clelie’s
help made it possible for us to truly
have a restful vacation without worrying
that we were neglecting the kids. We
will be keeping in touch with Clelie and
will certainly be asking her to stay
with us again on our next trip to the
US.
I would be more than happy to let you
know more about my experience and answer
any questions you may have.
Lara B.
Clelie
Bourne provided overnight care of our
second child during a 6-week period in
late 2006. We never had a nanny with our
oldest daughter, and had some
reservations about someone else watching
our baby overnight. We interviewed
several nannies, and our reservations
subsided when we met Clelie.
We
could not have been more pleased with
Clelie’s approach to infant care. Her
knowledge of newborn care is vast, and
her demeanor with our daughter was
affectionate as well as efficient. She
was able to work with us in encouraging
our baby to sleep longer and longer
throughout the night. She shared a lot
of good tips with us, and I especially
appreciated her attention to detail when
it came to recording our daughters
feeding and sleeping habits.
Clelie
was always on time, always dependable,
and was able to assimilate into our
household immediately. She was able to
make us comfortable right away, and my
husband and I both slept very soundly
through the nights that she was on duty!
Thank you Clelie for a job well done!
Rebecca R.
March
3, 2003
I
am writing in regard to Ms. Clelie
Bourne, "The Temporary Nanny". She
helped us care for our son, Elliott, in
December of 2002 and also in January
2003. She took excellent care of him.
She was always in a good mood and very
willing to do whatever we asked of her.
We felt comfortable leaving Elliott with
her. She is extremely professional and
prompt and always smiling. I would
recommend her highly to anyone who is
looking for excellent care for his or
her child.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Q.
October 5, 2002
Clelie Bourne, the Temporary Nanny, came
to help me with night duty when my
triplets were two weeks old. Clelie
lived in our home for five days and
easily took over all the nighttime
feedings which allowed me to get some
much needed rest. Clelie was so
efficient and competent that my "Mommy
radar", which normally is on high alert
to the sound of any baby squeak,
actually took a few nights off and I was
able to rest peacefully without having
one ear open for babies.
In matters regarding baby care,
Clelie was understanding and accepting
of my parenting style. She was
encouraging and positive which helped to
enhance my feelings of competence in
dealing with the needs of three babies.
Clelie offered helpful suggestions and
she was never critical or judgmental
about my parenting decisions. Clelie
assumed her night duty role eagerly and
with only the briefest orientation.
Clelie documented each baby's nighttime
feeding activity so that in the morning,
I had only to read her know what to
expect for the morning feedings.
In addition to her competence with
the babies, Clelie was a very easy house
guest. She adapted quickly with
self-sufficiency, to our "help yourself"
attitude in the kitchen for meals and
snacks. Though only hired to work the 8
hour night shift, Clelie was always
willing to pitch in during the day if
necessary. Clelie is easy to talk to,
work with, and live with.
By the time Clelie left, I felt
spoiled, but I also felt rested,
organized, and ready to take on night
duty myself. I recommend that any parent
of multiples consider the services
offered by Clelie Bourne. You deserve to
be spoiled, so let Clelie help you.
Sincerely,
Terri P. (mother of 5)
May
31, 2002
My name is Mims Driscoll and I am a
mother of four children under the age of
seven. Clelie Bourne came into our lives
in the beginning of May in the year
2002, she came to assist us during a
very difficult time and with her
guidance and care our family flourished.
We had just moved from one state to
another, lost our nanny who had been
with us fourteen months, and hired a
nanny which ended up being the worst
experience that we have had after seven
years of employing nannies. Enter Clelie.
Her
expertise was just what we needed; not
only did she help get the children back
into more of a routine (with an ease and
patience and serenity) but she also used
her skills as a consultant to help me in
my search for a new nanny. She has an
ability to come into a scene that is
somewhat in chaos and bring order to it.
I have no doubt of her abilities to
assess each of her different assignments
and see what needs to be done and do it
with class and style.
Our children really benefited from
her care; she is firm but loving, she
can have tons of fun with them while
keeping their behavior in line with what
is expected of them. Our two/almost
three year old has changed to the point
where others have even noticed ---
Clelie gave me some advice and helped me
implement it, through the consistency of
having these new boundaries our little
son is much happier and so are we.
Whether
you are looking to hire her for a
weekend, a month, overnights, weekends
away, trips with the children - I can
fully recommend Clelie Bourne. She will
do the job and do it well.
Mims
D.
May
28, 2002
If you read no further then this
initial paragraph, then please note -
Clelie was an exceptional addition to
our family during a stressful childcare
transition. She is wonderful, loving and
fantastic at what she does – taking care
of children!
Clelie
and I met on the Internet during my
pursuit of a full time nanny. As a
family, with our second son soon to
arrive we decided to hire a nanny. Our
experience failed when our first nanny
moved in on a Saturday and we had to
release her from our employ on Friday.
We now found ourselves with a newborn
and a 3 year old who was only in
pre-school three days a week. My husband
and I both have more than full time
positions.
Enter
Clelie – for six weeks so that I could
go back to work, and as we waited for an
AuPair to arrive from South Africa.
From the evening she arrived, I
knew I could trust Clelie with my new
baby as well as my older son. I only
spent half a morning orienting her to my
home and the children’s
schedules/routines. From there, she took
over the morning and daytime childcare
responsibilities.
Clelie is warm and approachable. My
children oriented to her quickly. She is
also competent, responsible, creative
and fun. She easily moved my newborn
onto bottles and engaged our three year
old in fun and imaginative play
activities. There was no problem keeping
the television off – Clelie played
music, sang songs and entertained with
play.
We also found Clelie easy to live
with – she assisted us at meal time,
kept our home neat and orderly and
supported our evening and weekend time
with the appropriate level of privacy
and contribution. We permitted Clelie to
drive our minivan as our background
check identified an excellent driving
history with no violations.
My
husband and I highly recommend Clelie
for the role of your temporary Nanny.
She is exceptional in her ability to
care for infants and children. We plan
to work with Clelie again to care for
our boys when we take vacations.
Please
feel free to contact me via phone or via
email if I can be of further assistance
to you in your reference check.
Stephanie B.
