Ultimate Au Pair 2019 Finalist: Moe from Japan

When we first looked into hosting an au pair for our new baby girl Hayden, we thought it was too good to be true, but Moe has made all of our hopes about having an awesome au pair become a reality. She is truly the ultimate au pair!

Welcoming Moe into our family and introducing our family traditions has been more fun than we could have imagined, with family adventures making smores and shucking oysters on our San Juan Island camping adventure, sightseeing and soaking up the sunshine in Hawaii, and road-tripping to Bend for a Wild West trip complete with horseback riding. It's always so nice to have the built-in help on vacation and our 19-month-old girl Hayden loves it too: date nights for mom Mary and dad Tyler mean extra fun time with her best friend Moe. Moe has added to our traditions too: carving a few Japanese characters on her first jack-o-lantern and making a sushi appetizer for Thanksgiving at a log cabin on Seattle's Puget Sound.

Moe has been a critical piece in our journey as new parents and allowing both to successfully transition back to work full time, including supporting us when Tyler took a new job and when Mary was promoted to a new role. When Hayden was having difficulty with sleeping, Moe worked extra hard to make sure Hayden had a consistent routine during the day &at night. Working full time is also much easier knowing that Hayden always has a great day: Moe takes her for playdates with the neighborhood au pairs and kids, visits to the park, baby music classes, library story time, and trips to the zoo. Moe has shared her artistic skills too, teaching Hayden to draw, paint, dance, "play" the piano, and make fun cards and gifts for holidays (our favorite was the Father's Day Hungry Caterpillar painted with Hayden's feet). We all teared up at Hayden's first Birthday, where Moe had meticulously detailed all of Hayden's milestones and made her scrapbook filled with pictures, stories, and artwork. It was so sweet to see how much Hayden had grown from little baby to active toddler since Moe joined our family, and how much the two of them love each other.

Of all the things that make our experience with Moe great, the thing that is extra special is that Moe helps Hayden (who is 1/4 Japanese) connect to her heritage even when we live thousands of miles away from Japan. Every day, I come home to Hayden speaking new words (and now sentences!) in Japanese. Hayden loves to point out every "hikoki" (airplane) that flies over our house, and make all the animal sounds, in Japanese AND English, like her stuffed animal cat who says "nyan nyan" and "meow". Moe has introduced Hayden to Japanese foods and created an adventurous and healthy eater. The other morning, Hayden marched in the kitchen and, unprompted, asked for "Onigiri" (Japanese rice ball) and broccoli with miso dressing for breakfast! Moe has introduced the whole family to new foods, like a traditional Japanese New Year's meal and kimchi nabe (hot pot). We're all learning so much from the au pair Japan connection!

Before we started this journey, we were excited for a cultural experience for Hayden and for us as a family, but we were unprepared for how much it would change our hearts and our family for the better. Moe is kind, patient, nurturing, artistic, creative, and adventurous, and we could not have asked for a better person to join our family! She is the ultimate au pair.

The Pasch Family

Washington