Live in housekeeper & child career required Cookham, Berkshire - Private room & use of car,
Description
We are looking for a live in home help. We are a family of seven, two adults and five children (7,10,13,14&16). As two previously divorced families, we have the children principally Thursday to Saturday/Sunday and the rest of the week is just the two parents. Both parents have full time jobs. We have a private room, bathroom and kitchen and are looking for a fun interactive person to help coordinate our home life.
Firstly, thank you for taking the time to read this note. We are assuming as you are reading this letter, there may be some interest in considering our family as your home for the next year or so, as you consider spending a year in the UK.
We think its important first of all to make very clear to whomever is reading this, that our intention is to have a young adult join our household and family as part of that group and whilst ultimately there has to be an employer employee relationship, we feel this position and engagement to be far more in lines with being part of our unit and household, someone who shares household responsibilities, and whilst in our absence would take the role of guardian over the children.
So onto the introductions…….we are a family of seven, yes seven (although only part-time!). The two both of whom have remarried and enjoy a busy life, with lots of travel, work commitments and outside hobbies. At a very high level they have their children all together from Wednesday to Saturday one week, and Thursday to Sunday the next week, which means that every week (outside of holidays) the family house has no children from Sunday night though to Wednesday or Thursday evening. The household literary goes from a full mad house for 3-4 days and then goes to a quiet sanctum for the remainder!
So onto a quick overview of everyone
Dad – to the two eldest boys
Dad works in London three days a week and at home two days a week. He is a hotel property director. Dad works generally early mornings through to late afternoon and it’s not unusual to see Dad at his desk at 6am in the morning. Outside of work Dad loves diving, shooting and skiing. Dad (with his son) also attends the Army cadets one night a week. Dad loves going to the family’s house in Spain and will at every opportunity try to disappear to Spain.
Mum – Mum to three young boys
Mum works in London five days a week often with weekly trips to Bath, Dublin or Manchester. She is the CEO of a media company. Mum generally works from 6am through to 8pm Monday to Wednesday and then from 7am to 6.30 pm Thursday and Friday when the children are home. Outside of work, Mum is a keen sports woman, having completed marathons and half marathons and is currently training for a triathlon.
Eldest Child – Dad’s eldest Son (16)
Eldest Child is just turned 16, he is a very confident young man, capable of charming his way out of most situations. He holds the position within the household of eldest child and is currently going through his end of school exams, shortly to be embarking on sixth form and then likely to be looking to start work in 18 months. Eldest Child is very intelligent and is more of an academic than a sportsman. Eldest Child loves the army cadets, computers, and snap chat, Instagram etc. outside of school he attends many army cadet events and with his dad loves shooting. Eldest Child adores attention and is the most demanding of his dad with time and is a typical teenager. Eldest Child goes to School about 15miles East of the family home. He leaves for school at 7.15 and needs to be driven to a nearby town to meet his bus, he also needs collecting from this town around 4.30 each day.
Second Eldest – Dad’s youngest son (14)
Second Eldest, has just turned 14 and is much quieter than is elder brother, he in fact until recently has relied on his brother to guide the way. More recently has he has grown in confidence; he is turning into a quietly confident young man. Second Eldest unlike Eldest Child is much more of sportsman, who engages very well at rugby, rowing, cricket, etc. Second Eldest also like to shoot, dive and ski. Second Eldest goes to school 15 miles west of the house and catches a village bus at 7.15 each morning, he is home from school around 7pm (he eats dinner at school)
Middle Child – Mum’s Eldest Son (12)
The Middle child is just about to turn 13 and without a doubt, is the cleverest man in the house. He consistently scores 95% in most things he does. His character is a little like Second Eldest’ s, as he is a very considered young man and often is clearly in deep thought but rarely shares those thoughts. He has held the position of head boy at school and is clearly looked up to within his peer group. The Middle Childs relationship outside of his natural brothers is the strongest with Second Eldest. Dad is a keen and good sportsman, playing rugby and football and also enjoys diving, skiing and shooting with Step Dad and Second Eldest. The Middle like the rest of the children is just getting into social media. Dad goes to school in a nearby village (3miles away) called Marlow, he needs a lift to school in the morning with his younger brothers at around 8.15am
Second Youngest – Mum’s Middle Son (9)
Second Youngest is just about to turn 10! Second Youngest is a very clever young boy, who’s often considered to be over thinking everything. He’s acutely aware of most things and is probably three thoughts ahead of you. There is not much that gets past Second Youngest and he understand most of it. He is best one on one and has a wicked sense of humour – he is like Eldest Child and loves attention. Second Youngest gets on very well with his younger brother and they tend to hang out together. Second Youngest is probably most demanding of his mum. He’s a keen sportsman and has been playing hockey for a few years now. Second Youngest loves shooting to and is keen to dive. Second Youngest is dyslexic. He goes to a different school from Dad but also in Marlow and travels there with his brother.
The Youngest – Mum’s youngest son (6)
The Youngest is just turned 7. The Youngest is 7 going on 16, he hangs around with elder boys all the time and the consequence of that is that he’s really grown up some of the time, but then can be the baby of the household still. The Youngest is very comfortable with bossing all the boys around, but also occasionally can revert to being the baby in the house. He’s very close with his mum and gets on with all the boys, he’s hard not to be drawn to. He’s definitely the peacekeeper and often will take the blame for things he didn’t do, just to protect his brothers \ avoid conflict. The Youngest gets cold easily. He goes to the same school as Second Youngest.
Other stuff
The household is smoke free, neither Mum of Dad smoke (or drink) although both are not discouraged from the house (smokers have to go outside). We all speak English and have pigeon knowledge of Spanish and French; no one is fluent in another language. We have a Catholic base in regard to religion, but generally speaking do not attend church. We have two cats and three turtles. The cats are quiet self-sufficient, occasionally needing collecting from a neighbour having got lost or to the vets for vaccinations. The turtles live quietly in a water tank and need cleaning bi weekly, other than that we never see them!
We live in a village called Cookham, which has bus and train stations. The train station has direct trains to London and connects via Maidenhead with the larger rail network’s the station is a 7 minute walk. The local village has a typical parade of shops that caters for most needs. We do have a car that would be made available to the position, this we would discuss at the appropriate time.
Our house is a seven bedroom home, with three living rooms, two offices and a gym. The home Helps room is a new room, away from the main children’s rooms and has its own dressing area and bathroom. The house has been extended with the mind set to create space and individual areas, ensuring that most of the time everyone has their own space. There would also be access to a private kitchen if needed.
The hours we had envisaged where
Sunday Off
Monday Off
Tuesday, 5 hours; general household duties (no kids) times; whenever suits
Wednesday, 5 hours; general household duties/kids (alternate kids week) 3-8pm
Thursday, 5 hours; 6.30am to 9.30am & 6.30pm – 8.30pm (pick Eldest Child up from bus-stop, make sure Boys have everything from their Mum’s house that they need)
Friday, 5 hours; 6.30am to 9.30am & 6.30pm – 8.30pm (Pick up and drop of Eldest Child from bus-stop)
Saturday, 5 hours; 7am to 12 noon (help with sport clubs etc)
We would like to consider that we have the optionality for two baby -sitting sessions per week and they are likely to be one weekday and one weekend night.
We spend most school holidays at our house in Spain and we would envisage that the home Help would come to Spain with us for some of the holidays.
We would require the home Help to drive and have one automatic car that would be made available.
I think that about covers all that we can in a letter. If you’re interested lets meet to chat