Jessica B. Babysitter in Los Gatos, CA 95030. Looking for work as a babysitter or mother's helper.

Hello there!

My name is Jessica, a local from the San Jose area. I am very proud to announce that I am now serving our South Bay community as a full-time or part-time babysitter. This will be my first experience finding families on-line to care for via Sittercity, but don't fret--you have come to the right profile!

So, what have you accomplished? Plans for the future?
I started my very first job as a babysitter at the age of 13. From there, I began my second job at Walgreens beginning my sophomore year of high school and I stayed with the company for 5 consecutive years, working my way up from a service clerk to a pharmacy technician. It was during and before this time period where I received much of my babysitting experience. Currently, I am a part-time student and a part-time employee as the assistant distance coach for the cross-country and track & field teams at De Anza College (I also competed for De Anza for two years, and earned several athletic awards: Coast Conference Champion, Coast Conference Champion Runner-Up, Athlete of the Year, Most Valuable Player, Most Improved, Team Captain, State Qualifier, and I placed in the Top 4 in several events,).  My initial intentions were to go to school to become a pharmacist, but after much thought, I decided to let my gift and love shine through and major in Kinesiology and Nutrition, and to enhance the lives of children. To further enhance my credentials, I am just one test away (of several) to becoming a certified personal trainer.

I would like to pick up again from my past 8 years of experience, and integrate what I have learned from psychology and child development classes. I plan on owning my very own daycare center, in which we emphasise physical activity, creativity, academics (sciences and the arts), emotional intelligence, and development of each child's unique Element.

 Who are you? What do you do/what are your interests?
On my own time with family and friends I take part in several activities. When I can catch a break from studying, my regular weekly/monthy activities include olive oil tasting (I've been to only one wine testing adventure), gardening with friends, walks around Los Gatos, trail running, road cycling, searching for the next best restaurant, watching food network, duplicating healthy and delicious recipes, yoga/pilates/stretching routine, and crafts. I am a well-rounded and very active individual. I spend most of my down time furthering my knowledge on the nutrition-fitness connection, learning about several forms of exercise, organic agriculture, cooking Vietnamese, Schezuan, Thai, Indian/Pakistani, Jamaican, Mexican, Mediterranean and American styles of food. I enjoy foods from any and all cultures, and modify them to create a nice balance of taste and healthfulness. Reading and applying what I have just learned is the fortune of my existence. Also am virtually one-hundred percent drug free (yes, I rarely even consume coffee :) I do not smoke whatsoever, but I do enjoy dessert wine with my decadent, homemade cheesecake every so often. I am not the biggest advocator of watching T.V., as I do so an average of 3-4 hours per month. I believe in political activity, as it is our duty to give back to our children and thier children, just as our forefather's have done for us. I believe that healthy, active, and supportive families come together to build a "booming" community.

What experience do you have with babysitting, or as a nanny?
My very first experiences caring for children involved my own siblings. I am the second oldest of six, three of them I practically raised on my own from infancy to about age 5; however, I continued to care for them throughout their entire lives. I also have 10 nieces and nephews, and have cared them for several days at a time. At age 13 I began babysitting for friends of the family, and from there my service grew from the basis of "word of mouth". I have worked for about 5 families on a regular basis in the East Bay.

As for care, I have done everything a mother would normally do. I have potty trained, fed, bathed, changed diapers, cleaned woulnds, and cared for the sick. Tho, I do have little experience with asthma and allergies. I have administered asthma medication on a weekly basis for about three years. 3 solid years of experience with infants, 4 years with toddlers, and about 7 years from age 5 and up, to give a total of 8 years of paid experience, and 15 years of experience with mediate and distant family members, and 30+ foster children.

Since I am active myself, playing with children has not been a problem. I have done just about every activity possible: bike rides, going to the park, playing sports, teather ball, hop scotch, wall ball, tag, creative arts, crafting, several board games, simple food creations, swimming (tho I do not yet have the best technique), movie watching, reading books, and some creative writing.

Fortunatley, all of these attributes come natural to me due to my early exposure of nuturing children, and my genuine interest in their well being. I am comfortable with all ages, but my affinity would be towards children that love learning and engaging in activities. I am hesitant to say a specific age, just for the fact that none of us are hardwired the same. Thus, we bloom and develop at our own rates, just as individuals should. Exposure is critical during the first years of life.

Philosophy of life?
I must have the most cliche thinking out there, but it comes with wisdom. We all have heard the quote, "treat others as you would want to be treated". To this day, this means a great deal to me. Imagine a world where we all lived by this phrase...what we could accomplish--but I digress. I am a firm believer in open communication, positive reinforcement, honesty, personal responsibility, work ethic, and morality. I also believe in helping those that are less fortunate, those that cannot/do not know how to speak for themselves. Finding a balance of "tough love", unconditional love, care, guidance, and "teaching a man to fish" as opposed to "giving a man fish indefinitley". We can only ask out of the world/life what we put into it. Work hard, but don't forget to enjoy the ride, as life has many simple pleasures. Helping others when you can, and however you can to create a better community for all. Thus, I have done and will continue providing volunteer work. So far, I have participated in various types of commuity service: I have baby sat for a family for free during the summer for 3 months (they were in dire need), cleaned up the street of Bascom Road in San Jose by removing gang-related graffiti markings, cleaned up around De Anza College on Earth Day, rang the bell for Salvation Army to feed the homeless, volunteered coaching De Anza College's track & field/cross country teams, sponsored children in Honduras, dontate blood to Stanford, registered bone marrow donor, and a volunteer at Big Brothers Big Sisters. Live healthy, be happy!

Anything else?
I am virtually 100% drug free (I rarley drink coffee, and I do enjoy an occasional dessert wine with my cheese cake:)). I do not smoke whatsoever. I have a perfect driving record, as I am a very cautious and defensive driver. Oh, and I adore animals! I have an interesting kitty, and she's been with me for 5 years now.

Unfortunatley, I no longer have the phone numbers of the families I have babysat for in the East Bay.  I've been out here in the South Bay for about 5 years, and I look forward to building my resume with our community as a new member of Sittercitty. However,  I do have one reference you may call that I babysat for 3 months during the summer of 2009, 2 boys aged 2 and 5 in Santa Clara, and a personal reference from De Anza's athletics program, and a mother I have helped out with gardening, cooking, cleaning, and teaching her son.  Here is a link to contact my head coach, Nick Mattis, that has known me for about 5 years. Please feel free to contact him:

<WEBSITE> 

Mother, a reference from Los Gatos: 

My-Le (pronounced me lay) Rutledge (xxx-xxx-xxxx

Father from Santa Clara:

Yonis (pronounced yo niss) (xxx-xxx-xxxx

School's out untlil the end of September, so hopefully we can find a mutual-benefitting schedule/relationship to work with. I'm willing to continue baby sitting during the school season, perhaps we can find common ground. Hopefully this sounds like an ideal situation for you! If so, please contact me. 

The sun's out, so don't forget to smile!

-Jessica