Hi, my name is Claudia and I’m a 24-year-old au pair living in the USA. I’ve been employed by this amazing family since January 2019. I’m currently looking after two young kids; a 3-year-old little boy and a 1-year-old baby girl. The dad is Vice-president of a company and the mom is an OB/GYN, so both see a lot of people throughout the day.

 

One Friday in April, the grandmother came over to visit and made some banana bread and the mom made homemade sanitizer while the kids and I played in the living room. That evening the grandmother could not taste any of the food and the following day she had diarrhea, so my host thought perhaps her mother had eaten something bad. Sunday came and my host had a fever all day as did her baby girl, so we took the child to hospital to be tested for flu but the results came back negative, so the kids went to bed like normal that night with their mother. The following day, Monday, she went to work and came home later that day and went straight to bed as she didn’t feel at all well. Whatever hour she awoke, she went to get tested for the coronavirus and later that Monday night she asked me whether her baby daughter could sleep with me and the boy would sleep with his father because she was not yet sure whether she had the virus as we were still waiting for the results. Two days later she called me from work to say she had tested positive. At first I thought she was joking because every time she went out to the store or work she would wear a facemask, gloves and change out of her clothes immediately and shower, but then I realized that she does have the virus and I knew this was going to be a long few weeks.

 

The symptoms that the mom showed were fever, diarrhea, sore throat, and she had double pneumonia. The health department called her husband and me to tell us we should self-quarantine for 14 days and that we should be taking our temperatures twice a day. My host mom immediately started sleeping alone in her bedroom and used a bathroom to herself. Whilst she was infected and wore an N95 mask whenever she came out of her room which was every two days or so for only 10 minutes at a time to see her children. This was heartbreaking because both kids missed her terribly. The little boy is super smart and knew he could not go close to his mother despite wanting to as he understood he may catch the virus, at 3 years old! In the meantime, the grandmother also tested positive for Covid-19.

 

The kids and I spent our days drawing and making cards for their mom and pushing them under her door to brighten her day and make her feel better. I was making breakfast and lunch whilst their dad made dinner. I would deliver the food on a tray and place it by the door, knock and then go downstairs.

 

Before my host tested positive for Covid-19, she did a big shop and stocked up on food, but the fruit and snacks for the kids ran out so the dad did some online shopping of fruits and vegetables twice a week, which were then delivered to our home. He was watching everything on TV regarding the virus, but I preferred not to pay too much attention because it simply stressed me out too much.

 

I cleaned the kitchen counter surfaces with disinfectant wipes regularly, sweeping and mopping the house floors daily, spraying the doors with 70% alcohol disinfectant, wiping down the space the mom would sit in after seeing the kids, and then spraying the room with Lysol spray. This routine continued for about 14 days. Once my host had recovered, I also cleaned and sanitized her bedroom and bathroom daily.

 

I kept the kids and myself busy by baking, planting flowers, making an obstacle course outside, playing in the basement area, listening to music, jumping on the jumpy house and we even made our own crafts. I taught the baby about 20 basic signs she could use to communicate with us and helped the little boy recognize his ABC’s, so now he is equipped to name them and start spelling them! We did everything I could think of to keep ourselves busy.

 

While the mom was ill, she didn’t look very well at all, in fact it looked like she had aged by about 10 years. She told me she was scared and thought she wasn’t going to make it and felt she needed to change her will to include me to ensure I would be paid for as long as I was looking after the kids. After recovering she wrote me the sweetest letter and thanked me for looking after her children and that she would forever be grateful to me.

 

These were very trying and worrying days. Looking back and reflecting on what we went through, I would recommend keeping busy in your homes, do activities and crafts, there is so much that can be done! Clean your home daily, this is fulfilling and keeps one in a healthier environment too. Don’t’ sit around, make something positive out of this negative situation over which we have no control.

 

I have no doubt, I have chosen the best family to work for – they even baked a beautiful and yummy cake for me to celebrate my birthday recently!

 

I would go through this entire Covid-19 experience all over again if it meant helping the mom, dad and their gorgeous kids.

 

Regards, Claudia

Various
Author: Various

COVID-19 articles sourced from various authors.