About Amaris

We need immediate help from 1 person or a couple for the whole month of March and April, thank you!!! Price listed only because gumtree requires it. Hi, We would like to invite 2 or 3 people into our home that are genuinely looking for a true cultural exchange with a young british american family. We need help caring for our two young boys and keeping the house clean and tidy. We would like you not just to come help us out but to truly become part of our family and want to BE with us, not on your phones all day or tucked away in your bedroom. We hope to build a relationship with you and stay in touch even after you leave. We are an international couple from England and America (Mark and Amaris) and recently had 2 little boys :) in 2017 (Teodor "Teddy") and 2018 (Alexander "Alè"). We have traveled far and wide and have now chosen to settle down for a bit in a small village, south of Cambridge, UK. Mark works with computers and Amaris has a part time job but mostly works from home and cares for the boys. We have no pets at this time but hope next year to get a small dog. Type of help needed: Gardening Babysitting / child care General Maintenance Help in the house Language practice Teaching Help wanted: We would like 2 or 3 hands on, self starting people (individuals or a couple) to help us in exchange for room and board all week. One helper will help Monday through Friday with the weekends off, the other helpers will help Tuesday through Saturday with Sunday and Monday off. Paying attention to details is important when dealing with kids: The first need is mostly focused on the kids, mainly playing with/entertaining Teddy or sometimes holding Ale with occasionally help cleaning. My boys are well behaved, but for being little kids, this job can surprisingly be a very mentally exhausting job. My boys have a lot of energy and can be fully on. There will be lots of playing, laughing, being creative, and sometimes crying. Because they are both still babies, someone needs to be with them all the time. Teddy loves to play with cars, go outside, get dirty, wrestle and tumble. He will love you to pieces, but you need to be willing to get down to his level and interact with him. If you know different languages please feel free to speak to them in your native language. We are trying to teach them some spanish. Ale is still a very little baby, so mostly he is still sleeping all day and needs someone to carry him a lot and protect him from Teddy's full on love :) As they are both growing so quickly, there needs change every day. Ideally, you would be able to stay with us a long period of time so the boys will become accustom to you. At a minimum we ask for a 1 week trial period and if everyone is happy, we can discuss a how long you would like to stay with us. 1 month max then we can discuss a longer stay after you arrive. The other need is the easy one, cleaning the house and keeping it tidy (i.e. vacuuming, sweeping, cooking, cleaning the bathroom, washing dishes, windows, gardening, laundry, and the sometimes a building project) and occasionally watching the kids. Our house isn't that hard to clean, but with two kids, it gets messy really fast. If you can't stay long that would be okay. Any help is always appreciated when it comes to housework. Cultural exchange and learning opportunities: Pretty much, you will become part of our family :) By the time you leave us, you will know if you will ever want kids. you will learn how to care for a toddler and baby and gain a lot of experience dealing with everything it means to have young children from feeding/washing to watching them learn and explore the world. It is a very rewarding experience. On your days off you can travel and explore Europe or join us with whatever we are up to for the weekend. We go to church on Sunday. We live in a little village just outside Cambridge. There are a lot of hiking opportunities around us and getting to the Cambridge city center is really easy, a 45 min bus ride and 7 pound for all day. In Cambridge you can go shopping, see the university, museums, and try out the English international cuisine. Or if you want to travel around England, we would be happy to take you to the train station, if we can coordinate it. London is about 1.5 hours away on the train or a 3 hour bus ride. Or we are also a short bus ride to stansted airport, where you can explore all of Europe from for really cheap if you don't mind Ryanair. I fly from there monthly for work and the prices are amazing! Languages spoken: English, some: Spanish, French, German, very little Mandarin and Thai, we can say “hi” in Korean and Filipino :) Accommodation: Shared mixed gender bedroom with double bed or bunk, ensuite shower, and all your meals all week long and unlimited internet access. We eat every meal together, except morning when Mark leaves for work, but everyone else always eats together. We have cereal or eggs and toast with coffee and tea for breakfast. If you like to cook, please feel free to make the breakfast. For lunch with have sliced meat, cheese, bread, and salad. Then I make something different for dinner each night. Throughout the day we have tea/coffee and snacks. On the weekends I don't always cook, we go out or eat leftovers. You are welcome to cook something anytime. We are always happy to take you to the super market if you would like to get any particular favorite foods. Please note: we are not vegetarians and we will try but we might not always be able to accommodate various dietary restrictions. Please let us know if you have any in advance and we can discuss whether or not we would be able to accommodate you. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions and we hope to welcome you into our home soon! God Bless :)