tcnannies

October 7, 2019 by Desiree Stites

TC’s 2019 Heart of Excellence Winners

We are so excited to announce the winners of TC’s Heart of Excellence Award! In celebration of National Nanny Recognition Week (Septemeber 22-28th), we asked our families in each location to nominate a deserving nanny that should win the title, and it was a tough choice.

We had strong contenders this year, and it was truly a tough choice for us to decide. Every single nanny that was nominated was worthy of the title. We want to boast and highlight all the good work each of these winners has done. Trusting Connections already know how great they are, but getting to hear it from the families themselves was a testament to their passion for childcare.

Each of these winners was awarded a gift basket filled with pampering gifts and goodies to make them feel adored, loved, and appreciated.

Tucson Winner – Erin Spencer

“Erin is a certified infant care specialist, and her experience with infants, and especially twins, is obvious. She guards our children through the night, much like a new mother would, frequently checking to ensure the boys are sleeping comfortably and safely. When our twins finally do drift off, she can be found washing bottles, folding baby laundry, and assisting with baby-related tasks in the home. She is always calm and level-headed, no matter what our infants need or how loud they express those needs. Erin is, in fact, so good at taking charge, staying on top of their needs and keeping the boys calm, that she went months before really hearing either child cry.

She is hardworking, pleasant, and respectful, and her attitude is consistent night after night. She is loving, compassionate, and gentle with our twins. The boys adore her and light up with wide eyes and big smiles when she comes into the room. She makes our priorities her priorities, and she supports us in our goals for our twins.

For Erin, being a nanny is her chosen profession and not just a job or a stepping stone to another career. She is continually improving herself, follows the nanny group chats, and will often post questions when she encounters a new situation. She is constantly reading about infant development, attends educational talks at international nanny conferences, and she educates herself on any challenge facing our family. Erin is bright, articulate, and an excellent communicator. Although she is very knowledgeable, her ideas are provided in the most respectful manner, and only after careful observation and assessment.

Erin has become part of the family, and her help has become indispensable to us.”
– The N. Family

Dallas-Fort Worth Winner – Audrey Morrissey

Audrey was a nanny we formerly placed for a family through our Placement Process!

“We absolutely love and adore our nanny, Audrey. She has been our nanny for 1.5 years, and she makes our life better in so many ways. Our daughter lights up when she comes, and is sad to see her go every day. She is constantly thinking of new activities, crafts, and educational tools to help [our daughter] learn and blossom. Audrey goes way above her job requirements to ease the stresses of being a busy working family. She makes us dinner a few nights per week and is creative with new recipes. She remembers things like our birthdays and anniversary and always finds ways to make us feel special. Words cannot express our gratitude for our nanny Audrey and Trusting Connections for linking us to her. We are forever grateful.”
– The A. Family

Phoenix Winner – Lauren Mohan

“Since we have had Lauren on as a consistent nanny, we have seen a big turn around with our son’s behavior, communication, sleep, and his school. I would like to let you know that Lauren has done a fantastic job and really taken the time to learn and understand the situation, which has reflected really well. Even to the point where she is able to get him to go to the bathroom either on his own or with zero issues. Thank you [TC] for arranging Lauren to come and work with us. It’s been fantastic to see the change and progress. I think she has really noticed how much of an improvement it’s also been, just small wins, but they mean a lot to us and for him.” – The S. Family

We want to thank all of our families who took their time out to nominate. Please be on the lookout for other opportunities to boast about your nanny in the future, as we are always celebrating our love for our staff. Thank you for your participation and congratulations to all TC’s Heart of Excellence winners!

September 20, 2019 by Desiree Stites

Heart of Excellence Award 2019

This year’s interNational Nanny Recognition Week is September 22-28, 2019. It’s a week to celebrate and bring awareness to the invaluable work of nannies all across the world. And this year, Trusting Connections is asking families to participate in nominating a nanny who they feel is worthy of our Heart of Excellence award!

What is National Nanny Recognition Week?

According to NNRW.org, National Nanny Recognition Week is a week during which “families, businesses, and the media will be encouraged to focus on the positive aspects of the nanny profession, the important role nannies play in the lives of the families and the wonderful contribution they make in the lives of the children they care for.”

Nominate A Nanny For TC’s Heart of Excellence Award

Nominate a nanny who you feel deserves to win TC’s annual “Nanny Heart of Excellence” title. We often don’t take the time to express our appreciation for the many ways our nanny makes a difference in our lives. The lucky nanny will win a gift basket ($100 value) filled with pampering and fun items that will sure to make the nanny feel loved and adored!

Contest Details:

The nominee can be a nanny who has recently worked with your family or sometime in the past. It can be a current nanny of Trusting Connections or any nanny outside of our agency. It can also be a formerly placed nanny through TC’s Placement services.
The submission deadline is Friday, September 27th.
The winner will be announced Monday, September 30th on our social media channels.

Nominate a deserving nanny by filling out the form linked in the button below! If you have any questions, email kim@trustingconnections.com.

Nominate A Nanny

INA Special Offer

The International Nanny Association will be having a Recognition Celebration Sale during the week of INNRW. In honor of the services nannies do for the children and families, they are offering $15 off their membership fees.

INA is offering their Childcare Professional Memberships for ONLY $40 and Newborn Care Specialists Memberships are only $160. This is a discount of more than 25% off.

Nanny employers can purchase these memberships as a gift to their nannies. Gift memberships can be purchased individually or in packages of 10 through INA’s Estore for $40 each.

Sale ends midnight US Eastern Standard Time on Sunday, September 29, 2019.

What is INA?

The International Nanny Association (INA) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to “serve as the umbrella association for the in-home childcare industry by providing information, education, and guidance to the public and to industry professionals” since 1985. For example, INA issued a research study in 2017 about the Nanny Tax Compliance where the results of the study were presented at the 2018 IRS Research Conference. You can read the findings here.

INA members consist of nannies, nanny employers, nanny agencies, educators and industry service providers all over the world. Over the last 33 years, INA has worked to “professionalize the industry by setting high standards for industry professionals and nanny agencies.”

Nannies are Heroes Too

Lastly, Trusting Connections want to sincerely thank you all of our current and former TC nannies. We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the care our nannies bring to our families. Nannies are truly heroes without capes. They work behind the scenes, and we want you to know that we love, cherish, and appreciate everything you do.

Thank you to all the Mary Poppins in the world. Happy interNational Nanny Recognition Week!

June 28, 2019 by Desiree Stites

Newborn Care in Phoenix, Tucson, and Dallas-Fort Worth

Are you a new parent? Are you always tired from staying up all night with the baby? Getting some newborn care may be the solution for you.

A Fact For New Parents

According to Parents magazine, an Owlet survey reports that “just 5 percent of parents with children aged zero to six months sleep that full eight hours a night. Nearly half of all parents with kids in this age range (43 percent) get just one to three hours of undisturbed sleep regularly. In fact, 17 percent of respondents said they get poor sleep every single night while raising newborn children.”

That’s an alarming statistic when you look at it. A Harvard study stated that a “lack of adequate sleep can affect judgment, mood, ability to learn and retain information, and may increase the risk of serious accidents and injury.” Having not enough sleep at night can make your daytime routine much harder, especially if you don’t have anyone’s help. We strongly suggest new parents get childcare assistance, particularly a newborn nanny during the baby’s first few months.

Newborn Care – We Can Help

A nanny agency like Trusting Connections can help connect families with qualified, experienced, and knowledgable newborn and infant nannies.

Our Newborn Care is one of the many services we provide under our Flex Membership. We also offer overnight infant care for parents who need help catching up with their sleep. Infants under 12-months will fall under our Newborn Care and Overnight Infant care services.

What Does This Care Includes?

Our newborn nannies can help assist in any daily or overnight routine care for the baby including: washing bottles and/or breast pump accessories, doing the baby’s laundry, restocking the nursery, and following the family’s sleep/meal schedule, feeding the baby at night, putting the baby back sleep, and much more.

Check out all the services we offer here.

We Are Picky With Our Newborn/Infant Nannies

All of our nannies are fully-vetted and agency-employed. Every single one of our nannies goes through a meticulous 21-point screening process before getting hired onto our team. This includes an in-office drug test, a background investigation done by a local private detective, and an infant and non-infant core competency exam filled with scenario-based questions.

We also require all of our nannies to be CPR and First-Aid certified and trained. They must know how to properly change a diaper, place a baby in a car seat, and have at least two years of professional childcare experience. We follow up with obtaining three thorough reference checks to validate the nannies’ work ethics, skills, and past employment performance.

Check out the rest of our screening process here.

A Customized Plan, A Solution For Every Struggling Parent

We help families create a customized childcare plan so parents can thrive at being the best they can be for their precious ones. Whether it’s your first baby, your third, twins, or even triplets, Trusting Connections can help. With a team of exceptional nannies and sitters, we aim to be the solution for your childcare needs.

December 14, 2018 by Rosalind Prather

“12 Months of TC” – The Best Babysitting Service!

Why are we the best babysitting service? Let us count the ways!

Our award-winning agency is a favorite among local families. We are a brick-and-mortar agency that meets and throughly vets every candidate . With one of the most rigorous screening processes in the industry, our clients can rest assured that our sitters are truly the best in the area. As a member , you’ll have access to an entire team of agency-employed nannies and sitters and 24/7 emergency back-up care 365 days a year, even at a moment’s notice.

Aside from offering the highest quality care, our women-owned business has certainly accomplished a lot this year. Set to the tune of “The 12 Days of Christmas”, read (or sing!) to learn about the biggest TC news of 2018!

On the 1st Month of TC, our a-a-a-gency….hired Kim and Mallory!

In January, we added to our staff by hiring our Sales and Marketing Assistant, Kim. Then, we added Mallory, our Tucson Flex Director, to our TC family. Both of these incredible ladies have now been with us almost a year. This was a huge deal since Caroline and Rosalind have such a hard time taking their hands off the wheel. Both of these women quickly became such an integral part of our team!

On the 2nd Month of TC, our a-a-a-gency…bought a lot of cookies!

We carried on our annual tradition of supporting female entrepreneurialism and promised to buy cookies from every girl scout who came to our office with a sales pitch in February. Girls were lining up out the door for a chance to meet and be inspired by our founders. Our nannies and staff made bracelets with the girls while they were waiting and passed out snacks. Some girls made up their own jingles, some danced, and one little daisy made her own business cards.

On the 3rd month of TC, our a-a-a-gency…decided on expansion!

Early in March, Rosalind and Caroline were discussing an unrelated matter via phone, when they made a very unexpected decision to fast-forward their expansion plans and launch our third location in the summer. This left only four months for our staff to prepare for the opening of our Phoenix location but we rocked it.

On the 4th month of TC, our a-a-a-gency….got a new look!

Rosalind decided that the old look had to go, and in April, we revealed a new TC logo. Sounds simple enough but it was quite an undertaking, rebranding our entire agency. Later, in the summer we launched a new website as well. Not only can you read about our babysitting service membership or how to hire the best nanny, you can also learn the story of how TC got started and see an embarrassing glamour shot of our founders in middle school!

On the 5th Month of TC, our a-a-a-gency…..threw an epic pa-a-arty!

The International Nanny Association held their annual conference at the J.W. Marriott in Tucson this year and all conference attendees were invited to our office. We were so thrilled to be able to host a fun, post-conference fiesta….Tucson style! Our guests came from all over the world. They enjoyed El Guero Canelo food truck delicacies, local Arizona wines and margaritas served by a sommelier, live country music from Caiden Brewer and even a cactus-shaped piñata. We had maybe a little too much fun dancing the night away.

On the 6th month of TC, our a-a-a-gency….began a special project!

Our Executive Assistant, Ashley, spearheaded a community outreach program in partnership with Diamond Children’s hospital in June. Each month, our office team and a few nannies visit the hospital to host a story time and craft. We are still on the hunt for a children’s hospital in the DFW and Phoenix area to expand this program.

On the 7th month of TC, our a-a-agency…..opened up in Phoenix!

In July, we were officially open for business and ready to serve families and nannies all over The Valley. Our physical office space is in Chandler. Ana Rizzo was hired to serve as the Phoenix Flex Director and Placement Coordinator. She would love a visit from you!

On the 8th month of TC our a-a-a-gency….got a knocked up Founder!

Need we say more? It’s been a long journey and Caroline has been so wonderfully open about her struggles with infertility. She is such an inspiration and we are so happy for her and her husband, Austin! We are especially looking forward to baby snuggles in the office, come April! Luckily, she owns the best babysitting service in town. So she won’t have to worry about finding great help! How priceless is her pregnancy announcement? (P.S. A BIG shout out to Arizona Reproductive Institute, especially to Dr. Mansfield and Leah Offerdahl for all their expertise and support throughout Caroline and Austin’s journey. We HIGHLY recommend them!)

On the 9th of month TC our a-a-a-agency …won a Copper Cactus!

We were SO honored to find out that we were a finalist for the Copper Cactus Award for Small Business Growth in September. Nominees were judged on gross revenue, employee growth and compensation expenditure growth. We found out in October that we WON!

On the 10th month of TC our a-a-a-gency…did a ribbon cutting!

We had a super fun Fall Family Festival-themed ribbon cutting event to celebrate the opening of our Phoenix location. The Chandler Chamber of Commerce was there, along with friends, colleagues and family who came out to show their support. Rosalind and Caroline continued the tradition of having their moms stand by their side as they cut the ribbon. Some happy tears were shed. It could have just been the mimosas.

On the 11th month of TC, our a-a-a-gency…spoke to lots of Girl Scouts!

Caroline and Rosalind were super thrilled that they were asked to speak for the G.I.R.L. Conference put on by the Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona. They held a workshop on “personal branding” and encouraged each girl to recognize and appreciate her own uniqueness and helped the girls write out core values.

On the 12th month of TC, our a-a-a-gency …adopted three great families!

Our annual holiday charity project has grown this year with a third agency. This year we are surprising three very deserving families with some holiday gifts…a single mom with infant twins whose husband passed away in August, a single mom with five boys including two with special needs, and a family with six children dealing with some health and financial stressors. Thank you to those of you who have made financial and in-kind contributions to this special project. We are so grateful! ….. But the biggest and best highlight of this year and every year has been serving and supporting our amazing families and nannies, to whom we owe so much gratitude. You are the reasons why we do what we do and we are so grateful that you have given us the opportunity to be a part of your lives. Happy Holidays and Best Wishes in 2019!

October 26, 2018 by Desiree Stites

Halloween 2018 Safety Tips For Parents

By now, you may have your kid’s costume all planned, have around 5-10 pounds of candy bags, and your house all decked out with spooktacular decorations. Halloween is next week, but before you let your precious ones out, there are some safety suggestions parents should consider.

Here are some safety tips from the American Heart Association parents can follow to ensure your family has a fun and safe Halloween.

Tips For Trick-O-Treaters

Use flame-resistant costumes.
Plan a Trick-or-Treat route – Parents should know where the children are going. A parent or chaperone should accompany young children. It’s also a good idea to take routes where there are lots of fellow Trick-or-Treaters.
Make sure Trick-or-Treaters can see, and be seen. Provide a flashlight for the kids to use. If needed, add reflective tape to their costume or Trick-or-Treat bags.
Be cautious around animals, especially dogs.
Walk, never run.
Only visit homes with a porch light on.
Kids should accept treats at the door. Never go inside the house. Visit homes with the porchlights on.
Always steer away from the street. Find a sidewalk, if not sidewalk is available, walk on the edge of the roading facing traffic.
Always, always, look both ways before crossing a street. Follow traffic light and pedestrian signs and signals.
Check the treats before letting your kids eat. Make sure to throw away candy that is unwrapped, open packages, choking hazards, etc. Discard any items with brand names that you are not familiar with.

Parents should take be extra careful if the kids have food allergies. Click here for tips on how you can celebrate Halloween for Kids with food allergies.

Tips for Treat Givers

If you are planning to hand out treats, follow these safety tips:

Sweep leaves from your sidewalks and steps. Make sure your Halloween decorations are out of the way to prevent any injuries from falling or tripping.
Restrain your pets.
Make sure your porch light is on, and your home is well-lit so young visitors can see.

Most importantly, we want everyone, kids and adults, to have a fun Halloween. To see more parenting tips, check out our blog!

Reference: American Heart Association

October 24, 2018 by Desiree Stites

Trusting Connections – 2018 Award-Winning Nanny Agency

Trusting Connections Nanny Agency was recently awarded the Cox Business Award at the 2018 Metro Chamber Copper Cactus Awards!

The Tucson Metro Chamber Copper Cactus Awards presented by Wells Fargo celebrates the accomplishments and innovation of Southern Arizona’s small businesses. The Cox Business Growth Awards focused on businesses that have shown tremendous progress in terms of gross revenue, employee growth, and compensation expenditure growth.

Thank you to all the support and guidance our friends, families, nannies and office staff, and our clients have given us throughout the past seven years. We couldn’t have made it this far without the love from everyone. Trusting Connections will continue to strive to become a nanny agency parents, churches, and businesses rely on when it comes to safe, reliable, and trustworthy childcare.

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Trusting Connections is an award-winning nanny agency, providing safe and reliable childcare for all occasions 24/7, 365 days a year. If you’re a parent who’s looking for occasional care, full-time, consistent care, backup or sick care, Trusting Connections is the one to call. With TC’s unique business model, offering membership packages and flexible services, families can customize and request care with ease.