Ultimate Au Pair Finalist, Jessica from France

Meet the Kirby Family from Arizona, a finalist who nominated theirAu Pair Jessica as the Ultimate Au Pair of 2014 and then check out the amazing video she and her host child put together.

We are the Kirby family and Jessica is our first Au Pair. My name is Mark, and I have 3 kids at home to taking care: Mack (15yrs), Maisy (12yrs) and Poppy (10yrs). She is a sister for my kids and a daughter/friend for me and my relatives. We are lucky to have her and so thankful she stays in our family for 2 complete years! She is not gone yet and we are already making plans for having the chance to see each other after the Au Pair Program. I am a single dad and it's been a hard time for all of our family those past years so we are more than grateful to have her as a member of our family. My job as a nurse in the intensive care unit keeps me away from home for a large part of the day. When I am looking after sick patient at the hospital I can rely on Jessica to take care of anything that may arise at home.

But, for me, the most important is the relation between my kids and Jessica. The people who can explain best are my daughters, and they wanted to write about her:

Maisy (12yrs):

Jessica is a person who encouraged me to be a better person. She has taken care of me when I have been sad, she makes me laugh, and helps me with so many things. The main reason I admire Jessica is because she takes care of me when my dad is working and knows how to handle my crazy sister, Poppy. Jessica also knows how to cook delicious French (which always tastes amazing!). Jessica also helps me with my homework. Jessica also taught me not to judge someone by their looks, but by their actions. She also taught me to appreciate giving rather than receiving.

Poppy (10yrs):

My Au pair Jessica is the best Au pair you can think of. And if you are thinking about getting an Au pair, I would suggest Jessica Barbotin (or not because she is our Au pair). Beside she always try to arrange activities we want to do, instead of boring activities we don't want to do. And she always makes delicious French food that even my brother would eat (and he is a picky eater). She will even waste her time just trying to teach me and Maisy (my sister) French the correct way. She always tells her honest opinion with clothes and other sorts of things. She is really good at play hide and seeks. And she always gets tricked from my dad; he always says he made dinner from scratch but really its store bought! And you can always trust her to keep a secret. Also she has this one good luck charm on winning competitions (so if you want to win something just bring Jessica). And she always reads us books before we go to bed so we are even sleepier than before she read the story. And she also teaches me how to cook, that's why I am so good at making food. And she always makes me laugh when she makes my banana into a pig (by using a knife). She makes the best karaoke parties. And she even tries to sew our patches on our Girl Scout vest for us. Jessica is more like a sister than an Au pair for me. And that's all my reasons why she is the best Au pair ever.