Sayoko K.

Sayoko was our 4 year old sons after school babysitter for the past year and a half. While she seemed to lack some very basic experience one would have expected of someone who had cared for young children to have, she was teachable and had an upbeat personality and positive attitude, at least initially. She was generally reliable although she was once late in picking our son up from school and exercised poor judgement in failing to contact us to let us know she would be late. In hindsight we should have replaced her then, but it was important to us that our son, who had come to love her have consistency. This is what makes the fact that she left us by sending a message informing us that she would not be returning so particularly upsetting. She gave us less than 24 hours notice. We were very good to Sayoko. Although we are not wealthy we paid her more than fairly. We paid her for many days when she did not work such as when our son was sick and whenever we travelled. Her paid time off amounted to more than 6 weeks this past year. We also welcomed her at family dinners, outings and she even came to thanksgiving dinner with us (as a guest) to a close friends home because she didn’t have anyone to spend the holiday with. When our son was experiencing some behavioral difficulties a few months back, we were transparent about our concerns and offered her constant support and training. She saw this as an opportunity to demand more money. As we were unable to afford it, we did not increase her salary. We believe this is why she eventually decided to leave. Sayoko placed our family in a very difficult position, and was immature at best in the way that she left. It was heartbreaking to see our son so upset over her leaving without saying goodbye. We are only writing this review in the hope that it will spare any other family who might be considering working with Sayoko a bad experience.