This is what Swedish au pair Erica Rosander has to say about her host child Julia:
Julia copies me by trying to be
independent. Everything that I do by myself, she wants to be able to do
herself. For example: she wants to get dressed by herself, put her dirty dishes
in the dish washer by herself and put stuff in the recycling bin, put nail
polish on all by herself. I find it
really cute and I can't help smiling and giggling when she's trying to do
something and it is not really going her way (if this happens she usually tells
me to stop laughing and that it is NOT funny). Her determination is so adorable
cause when she's trying to do something she cannot do she says: “I can do it, I
am a big girl, just like Erica.”
Julia and I also have similar
personalities. We are both jumpy and happy. She has even started to walk like
me, with her hand in one pocket or one hand on the hip. She is so open, social
and not afraid to speak up, just like me. I think she was born that way and it
did not have anything to do with me, but I still encourage it. We were clearly
just a good match for each other.
I
do my best to be the best role model for her as I can. I do the basic stuff
like putting dishes away, cleaning up after myself and always try to do things
on my own before I ask for help. The world we live in can sometimes be
superficial and I always try to remind her that she can be whatever she wants
to be. If she wants to be a firefighter, that is okay. If she wants to be a
dancer, that is okay and if she wants to be a housewife, that is okay, too. I
believe that planting this seed into her head will make her bloom when she is
more mature and realize that her Erica was right, she can be whatever she wants
to be.
