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It has been our great privilege to have Mary Ann Kurukula Araehige care for our son from the time he was about 5 months old (he is now almost 2) and our newborn daughter. But because our needs have changed (after living in East Bethesda for 10 years, we moved "further out" and have had to hire someone who drives), we have to say goodbye (tearfully) and are now trying to help Mary Ann find a suitable new position. She is a terrific nanny and a very sweet and special person so we really want to see her connect with a warm and loving family for whom she'll be a good fit!  A family in East Bethesda would be perfect because she already knows the neighborhood very well and loves walking to the library and downtown parks with our son . . . .

The Position Mary Ann Is Looking For: Mary Ann is looking for a full-time, live out position 40 to 50 hours a week. She would like to find something in Montgomery County or in NW DC.

A Little Background Info: Mary Ann is originally from Sri Lanka. She speaks English and is legal to work in the US. Mary Ann has many years of childcare experience working as a nanny in this area. She lives with her husband in Silver Spring and has two adult sons. Mary Ann does not drive. She uses public transportation to get to and from work or a family member drives her.

Our Experience With Mary Ann: She has cared for our son from the age of five months with all the love and attentiveness that a parent could hope for! One thing that particularly stands out about Mary Ann is that she focuses 100% of her attention on taking care of our son. She doesn’t chat on the phone, doesn’t watch tv or read a book – she is completely devoted to caring for our son and is either feeding him, bathing him, playing with him or taking him out to the park or a similar activity.

Mary Ann has helped our son transition from bottles to solid food, and from crawling to walking and talking. Over this period of time, she kept simple notes for us in a daily journal, chronicling what and when he ate and when he took naps. She also made helpful suggestions to us when she saw signs that our son was ready for things like a baby walker or a sippy cup – or that he needed a heavier duty BundleMe for winter walks! Mary Ann is also great at putting together an active and stimulating day for a baby/toddler. On a daily basis, she took him out to the park, the library, to play with the trains at the Bethesda Barnes & Noble and other similar activities. She also took him to several different classes at the Bethesda Kidville. (Employees at Kidville told us that Mary Ann did a great job participating in the different classes with our son.) She met other nannies and arranged for our son to play with other children his age, but always after checking first with us. His stroller was always stocked with tissues and hand sanitizer and whatever else she needed to take good care of him. There was not a single day that we worried about him being outside without his hat or mittens or anything like that because Mary Ann was ever vigilant! More importantly, we feel confident that she would never take her eyes off him while outside the house. Simply put, we had complete confidence about our son’s safety when in Mary Ann’s care.

In addition to knowing our son was always safe with Mary Ann –and just as important to us – we knew that he was being surrounded with genuine warmth and love. Because my husband works from a home office, he would overhear much of the interaction between Mary Ann and our son and would periodically pop upstairs to say hello. The house was filled with laughter on a daily basis; and when our son acted up (as all children do), Mary Ann handled it with patience and grace. Our son adores Mary Ann, always greeting her with a big smile and saying goodbye at the end of the day with a big hug. He is an exceedingly happy and well-adjusted child and we credit Mary Ann with contributing a good deal to that.

We would add that Mary Ann has been an excellent employee, extremely punctual, very rarely ill, and just a sweet and lovely person to have in our home!

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: We are happy to provide a resume listing Mary Ann's recent employment history. It includes similarly glowing written references from a number of her former employers, all of whom are available to discuss the references. Please contact us for a copy of Mary Ann's resume or to arrange an interview:

Donna and Matt Byrne

202-297-8121

bethesdabyrne@yahoo.com