Dear host families,I would love to submit an application to be your next Au pair. My name is Thembelihle a South African Au pair. A lot of people around me usually call me Lihle(short for Thembelihle) or Alexa/Lexiey you can use whatever nickname you are comfortable with but I think my African one sounds much nicer. I am currently 20 years old and will be turning 21 next year January 23rd.

My childcare experience
-I have never been an Au pair before(staying full time in someone's house to look after their children) but I have experience with babysitting.
First of all I come from a single parent household so I helped my mom take care of my brother since I was in school. My brother was not even 1year old yet,from bathing him,feeding him,making food, changing his diapers, organising playtime to taking him to the babysitter before heading to school & fetching him when I come back home. To his first day of kindergarten where I'd prepared his breakfast, lunchbox and sent him to kindergarten. To his first day of pre-school and helping him with homework and so on. I'd usually spend a lot of time with him around 17:00 until bed time,that includes reading,playing games or watching movies because after school he'd play with his friends you know kids his age since we had a lot of neighbours who had children his age that he could play with and during that time I'd be responsible for supervising them making sure they played in a safe area,played safe games and had no conflicts I'd also provide and make snacks(from 1 to 10years).
-We were later joined by my stepsister so now I had a girl child to help babysit/look after too. It was fun,going shopping to buy cute clothes for her and I learned to do her hair and I'd now help both of them with homework and make sure they strengthen their relationship as siblings. Siblings can fight,get jealous of each other but I always made sure it was the positive kind of jealousy and they influenced each other positively(from 7years to 10 years).
-I also have experience with my baby cousin Thato. That one has a sassy personality she's basically a little queen liked dressing up was veryyyy opinionated for someone her age????. I helped with getting her ready for daycare,her meals,making sure she got to daycare and home safely I'd also help with her homework like teaching her how to write Alphabets and her name and surname,shapes, knowing colours. At times I'd even prepared snacks for her and download children's movies so she could watch(from 3 to 5 years).
For outings we went out a lot as a family, restaurants, getting ice cream, shopping,going to playgrounds and so on.
I have also been a babysitter for 3 non-family members and will get you connected to them if you need them as childcare or character reference.

What I'd love to do with the kids
-I'd love to organise boardgames that will be fun but also help them in gasping some knowledge like letters & numbers. We can play those both indoors and outdoors with a reward I bet it will get them motivated. Such games can also be beneficial in helping improve their language skills in terms of spelling and sentence construction.
I would love to paint with them(I can't paint but I would love to try??????).
Going for walks,playing tag outdoors because I believe children their age should be playing a lot outside instead of indoors.
Asking them to join me in the kitchen when I bake or make fun snacks to help,it becomes an activity that is fun to do. Once a week on a weekend or Friday afternoon I'd organise a movie day where we can watch cartoons. Have outdoor and indoor picnics,go to the zoo and go to parks if there are ducks and birds nearby that one can feed that would be extra lovely.
Also reading, reading lots and lots of English books helps with language skills that's pronunciation and helping them know how to use and where to use some words. I'll also be willing to teach them two of my African languages and cultures.

Who I am as a person
-I am an introvert but I'm also an extrovert. Most of the time I spend indoors I'll spend them reading novels,manga & manhwa. I'll be watching movies,series or anime. I'd also be playing indoor games with the children or just be chilling and talking about whatever with my host family.
I am a person who loves food so I am good at cooking and baking(very perfect at following new recipes too). I love trying new restaurants, I'd love to learn how to ski and I also love camping and being out in nature that is to say I am naturally drawn to nature and historical things. I'd say I feel more comfortable being at home it makes me happy even if I'm doing nothing. I am a person who'd enjoy spending my time in libraries, museums and going to the gym.I am a very very calm person,I am open minded and I'd say overly understanding as long as what one does does not affect or hurt another human being. I am also very sympathetic.