Boston's Best BabySitters
LICENSED REGISTERED BONDED INSURED PREFERRED
Jennifer
Whether you’re looking for short-term, long-term, part-time, full-time, one-time, or even if you’re looking to book a lactation consultant, pet sitter or elder-care provider, I look forward to talking to you about your care needs any time!
Hi Jennifer!
I just wanted to thank you for the wonderful baby-sitting experience we had with your company.
Melissa was wonderful and our boys felt instantly comfortable with her.
For a last minute night out, you were so prompt and accommodating and it was very appreciated!
We will definitely give you guys a call next time we're in Boston!
-Mom of 4 Boys, September 2018
Hi Jen,
We had the pleasure of having Sharon care for our son,
Christian for two evenings while we were visiting Boston.
What a great experience for all of us.
Christian took to Sharon as soon as she walked in the door.
That says a lot about Sharon, considering Christian typically
needs a warm up period before staying with a caregiver.
We knew he was in good hands and enjoyed ourselves in Boston.
Sharon arrived early and kept us updated on Christian via text while we were out.
We will surely reach out again when back in Boston.
Additionally, Jen, we thank you for your professionalism and prompt replies
when securing the dates for Sharon's availability.
It helped in planning our trip well in advance.
Best,
-Alina Reynolds, April 2018
Jen,
Your sitters (Jana, Jill, Lindsay, Mary) were awesome!
On time, professional and the children seemed happy.
Thanks again,
-Judy, Fessenden School September 2016
The providers were terrific!
Good to work with you and the terrific providers!
-Rev. Cheng Imm Tan
Community Manager for Student Life Support
Cambridge College
November 2015
Jennifer,
Tonight went very well.
Thank you for arranging childcare. The ladies were great and the children were well cared for.
Again, we appreciate your service and will keep your agency in mind for the future.
Warmly,
-Regina (Cambridge College), November 2015
Hi Jennifer - Thank you for helping us with the kids at Gabriel and Pavana’s wedding this past weekend.
It was quite a relief to everyone, mostly the parents to know that their precious little ones were in trusted and loving hands.
We can’t wait to use your services in the next wedding we plan.
Have a great weekend!
The Girls @ Mint To Be Events, September 2015
You really run a great company with wonderful people.
I have recommended Boston's Best to several moms in the area and definitely will keep on referring!
Best,
-Janet, June 2015
Dear Jennifer,
We have been home for two weeks now and have finally got settled in
and have a few minutes to write you.
I wrote a review on your site but also wanted to write you as well.
I wanted to thank you for your services and also brag a little bit about Meredith.
She was absolutely perfection!
We just loved her and how she was with Thomas.
She reminded me a little bit of my grandmother when I was growing up.
So loving and kind, but such a calm way about her that makes a person so at ease.
I just watched her and thought, "Oh my goodness, she knows exactly what she is doing....
I can definitely learn a few things from her!"
Anyway, I had a very good feeling about her right away and knew I could trust her.
My husband and I had three date nights out on the town
and got to meet up with old friends for one of them.
Having Meredith watch Thomas was a blessing for him, as well as for us.
We were able to experience our vacation to the fullest
and do everything we wanted to do and see,
which would not have been possible without your services.
We didn't feel like we were held back because we had a baby in tow.
It really was the best of both worlds!
We enjoyed so much with our little Thomas,
but we also got to celebrate our anniversary and go to some really great restaurants.
I am now convinced that this is the best way to travel!
When we come back to Boston we will definitely use your services again.
I can't thank you enough.
-Reimee, November 2014
Jennifer,
Your service is wonderful.
We really enjoyed Christina.
I want to sing your praises.
I gave your service a plug with HBS.
See below.
"The reunion was for the most part wonderful.
Thank you for your exhaustive (and likely exhausting) planning.
I wanted to let you know that we needed a baby sitter for the two nights
for a 6 yr old and 4 yr old in the hotel room.
HBS pointed us to Care.com, but their service was terrible.
It seemed like hiring a baby sitter from Craigslist.
We were fortunate the hotel pointed us at Boston's Best Babysitters
(jennifer.cole@bbbabysitters.com).
In short order BBB gained my trust and provided a highly rated sitter,
Christina A, for both nights."
-Mr Lamont, September 2014
Jennifer:
Our on site travel directors are obligated to fill out a form after each program.
This form details any problems, issues or concerns they had with the program,
including the child care services.
I just wanted to let you know that our on site travel directors
gave your child care services rave reviews.
This is especially important because our program director
has received several complaints about other child care services this year
(we have over 300 of these Edward Jones programs this month).
Thank you so much for your great work, Jennifer!!
Anita Savage
Project Manager
Maritz Travel
June 2014
So after my first full week back to the nanny grind, I realized how lucky I am.
After being away for four years and totally under appreciated by the families that I worked
for and the agency; I feel very fortunate that I get to come back to Boston and feel the love.
You're a great employer. I know that you're in my corner and always try to work for my benefit.
You might not realize that most other agencies don't really care about their nannies.
At the other agency, I always felt the I was insignificant and unappreciated.
The families I worked for made me feel like I was a dumb
and that I should be grateful for the measly pay that I got.
It was amazing to come back to Boston and know that I am a good nanny
and I know my stuff and that people actually want to learn from me.
So I just wanted to say thanks for being my friend and being such an amazing agency owner.
You're the best!
-Sarah, March 2014
As always, thank you for your flexibility!
I recommend your service all the time.
You have been a life saver to us as city people that don't have an easy network for accessing sitters!
Regards,
-Richard, September 2013
Jennifer,
From the first email to when we said good bye to Thaty,
your service and her care were phenomenal.
You responded to my request promptly with wonderful sitter options and set my mind at ease
that I would have someone experienced caring for my son while I attended our friends' wedding.
Thaty was fantastic, she was patient with us (the parents) and she was a doll with Miles (child).
We couldn't have asked for better care for Miles in a strange place.
He woke up happy and rested thanks to Thaty.
I already wrote a review on your site, but if you would like me to rate you on other places,
please let me know.
Kindly,
-Kimberly, September 2012
Dear Jennifer:
My letter is written in great gratitude for your due diligence
in finding phenomenal caregivers and in much thanks to Erin for her kind hand
and heart in babysitting our daughter Ashley.
You should know that it was in our initial phone conversation that I well
noted your professionalism yet uber kindness, which drove me to pick you
over one of your competitors.
With Erin, you have a terrific caregiver, even of an infant.
She was without question honest, professional and super kind.
My husband and I could not have been more pleased and grateful.
Please do share our letter with Erin.
I reiterate that, you -the first line of marketing- sold me on your services.
I did not care for the manner in which the one-other named sitter/nanny service
(provided by Gabriel at our hotel) spoke to me over the phone.
There is a fine line between conveying a caring tone and professionalism;
you conveyed both.
In other words: Your phone demeanor is far above the other!
Thank you, again, for your services during our stay in Boston.
You "MADE" the trip for our family!
As a former PR and marketing exec, I though it imperative I reiterate the above.
Very truly yours,
-Meg & Alex Korakis, August 2011
I had a wonderful experience with Boston's Best Babysitters!
We found out we were moving internationally and had to scramble
to find a temporary nanny.
Jen did an excellent job with EVERYTHING even when we only had
a few days to interview potential nannies before we left the country.
I can not say enough about this company and it's impeccable customer service.
Happy New Year!
-The Curry Family, 2011
Dear Jennifer and BBB!
Happy New Year to all of you!
We thank you for being so amazing to our guests –
keeping them more than happy each and every time.
As a person who has used BBB before, I rave about it all the time –
keep up the amazing work in 2011!
Sincerely,
-Thomas (lead concierge Nine Zero Hotel), January 2011
Your agency is SUPER and I would be glad to be part of
any reference or PR event you engage.
I send my best wishes for peace and joy and satisfactions aplenty in the new year.
Sincerely,
-Margaret, January 2011
Although I do not get a chance to provide childcare as much as I have in previous years, I have been known to on occasion, especially during the busier times of the year. I am definitely a hands-on director and spend a lot of time getting to know both the childcare providers and the families. I believe in my heart that there is a nanny for every family and a family for every nanny. On a related note, I also believe that you get what you pay for in life, and that "cutting corners" when it comes to the cost of childcare is neither a smart nor admiral practice. Here at Boston's Best BabySitters, the importance of arranging quality care far outweighs the act of finding the "lowest bidder" to perform the job.
To sum it all up, I do not have any formal business training, but I think I have spent enough time with different families to know what makes an excellent childcare provider. Making wonderful matches is what I’ve become great at, and matches are what count in this business.
newborns and infants through the first year of life. Additionally, the course is intended to instruct participants how to offer assistance, support, education and empowerment to newborn families, guiding parents through the first weeks after birth. Attendees will be introduced to and instructed in basic subject areas related to health, safety and wellness that are invaluable resources in helping new families succeed. In addition to fundamental growth and development themes, specialized topics include Infant & Child CPR and First Aid, infant massage techniques, recognizing and addressing the secret language of infant pre-cry vocalizations, post partum support, lactation assistance and encouragement, as well as preventative measures associated with shaken baby syndrome, SIDS, depression and bonding failure. Upon completion of the training, each participant receives a Certificate of Achievement in Infant Childcare & Wellness.
Super NEW:
Boston’s Best BabySitters celebrated National Nanny Training Day to recognize the needs of young children and to raise awareness of the positive correlation between nanny training and quality care. This national initiative was part of Week of the Young Child, an annual celebration sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children.(NAEYC is an early childhood education association of almost 90,000 members and a network of more than 300 local, state, and regional affiliates. ) On Saturday, April 28th, 2012, over 1,000 nannies in more than 30 cities gathered in their local communities at training events designed to meet their unique needs. Boston’s Best BabySitters was proud to be the local sponsor and host for the Boston event, which was held at the South Boston Neighborhood House. (Boston's Best BabySitters was a local donator to NNTD Boston 2013 and was a sponsor of National Nanny Training Day Metro West in 2014 as well as in 2015.)
The Boston event offered sessions on Creative and Interactive Play, Family-nanny Challenges, Infant & Child CPR and First Aid, Infant Massage, Infant and Toddler Safety, Newborn Specialties, Nurtured Heart Approach, Pediatric Nutrition, Portfolio Building and Professional Development. This event was open to nannies throughout the community and offered caregivers the opportunity to network, share resources and be appreciated for their professionalism. The trainings tackled some of the profession’s unique challenges and also celebrated its unique rewards.
Jennifer Garnache of Boston’s Best BabySitters says, “There is no other job as important as raising a child, whether it is your own or someone else’s. General awareness and appreciation of the critical impact an in-home, professional childcare provider has on the future of our children is not where it should be. It is time to spread the movement of legitimizing and promoting the professionalism of our industry, starting with professional development support and training. We at Boston’s Best BabySitters are really excited to offer both our in-house nannies as well as other nannies throughout the community the opportunity to participate in a full day of exciting, cutting edge training sessions tailored to the private home environment.”
Coming Full Circle: And through it all, I took care of children. Like most providers at Boston’s Best BabySitters, I’ve logged-in countless hours at hotels, caring for families in and around Boston for one day or just a weekend. I’ve cared for children at their homes, at events, and I have even cared for them at my own home. I’ve traveled with children, I’ve spent overnights with them so their parents could travel, I’ve stepped-in for the founder when she traveled (getting my first taste of the “business” of childcare) and in 2005, I became Boston’s Best BabySitters’ second owner and director. I am also delighted to announce that in late January of 2013, my husband and I welcomed the birth of our first son, Fionnley "Finn" James. In early July 2015, Finn's brother, Eoghan Patrick, joined our family!
Hot Off the Presses: With the growing popularity of our Infant Care Specialist program, I decided to become more involved with the teaching division of Boston’s Best BabySitters. In 2011, I became a certified lactation consultant as well as a parent educator for Dr. Harvey Karp’s, Happiest Baby on the Block (May 2012). As a result, I have written a infant care manual that is currently being used as an outline for our course.
Boston’s Best BabySitters’ Infant Care Specialist certificate program is designed to prepare experienced professionals with the necessary skills to provide exceptional comprehensive care for
The Start of it All: The majority of my childcare experience comes on the professional level. Just prior to the professional level, I, like many of our other fine providers, was the neighborhood babysitter. Starting at age twelve, I cared for a 2-year-old boy and his 6-month-old sister 3 days/week during the summer while their single mom went to work. Looking back on that time, I am amazed that we all survived. At twelve, I certainly was not the most qualified person to be caring for such young children. I did the best that I could and had a lot of help from my mom (we lived across the street). Thanks to my mom’s guidance and wisdom, I learned a great deal about the basics of childcare and was able to give the children a great summer. This first babysitting “job” of mine soon paved the way to others, and I ended up working steadily throughout middle school and high school. With each new family came a new lesson or lessons. My only regret is that I have little in the way of photo documentation for these years, but I suppose it's all for the best. It was the eighties...
Somewhere in the Middle: The nineties were busy for me. By the time 1993 rolled around, I was learning new kinds of lessons as a Sociology major at Northeastern University. I continued to babysit throughout this time, and in 1996 started my first professional nanny position, which was one of the first placements at BBB. I actually ended up caring for several families, each with an infant and a toddler. Somewhere in the mid-nineties, I also managed to check-out the archaeological sites of Lebanon and Syria. (As a child, I always envisioned myself as an archaeologist.)
After a little less than a year living in Lebanon, I returned home in late 1997. As I was trying to figure out what to do with the rest my life, I signed on with two more long-term families through Boston’s Best BabySitters. Like my previous families, one family had an infant and a toddler. The other family had a toddler and a baby on the way. I was at the birth of their second child and stayed with that family until they moved out of state when she was 1-year-old. This was probably the most heart-breaking day that I have yet to experience, but we still visit with each other as often as we can. I still have an extremely close relationship with the first family and we see each other socially every month.
The Boring Years:And then I gave long-term nannying a break. In 2000, I decided to go back to school and attended UMass Boston, graduating in 2004 as the highest ranked science and math major, with degrees in both Earth & Geographic Sciences and Anthropology. While there, I also completed a certificate program in GIS, Geographic Information Systems, which is now a Masters program known as Geographic Information Technologies.
Part of my time at UMass involved completing field schools. My first was a Pre-Historic archaeology field school in Belize, Central America (summer 2002), where I unearthed and studied artifacts from the Maya Classical Period and learned to survey with a Total Mapping Station. The second was a GPS field school on Nantucket (summer 2003), where I collected data via a GPS unit and incorporated it in a GIS program, ultimately creating maps for the Nantucket Conservation Foundation, Land Bank and Audubon Society.
In 2002, I completed a joint internship with both the Sociology and French departments as part of their Peer Mentor program. In 2002 and 2003, I also interned at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner with Forensic Anthropologist, Dr. Ann Marie Mires. I am a member of the Golden Key International Honour Society, Gamma Theta Upsilon, as well as Iota Rho, the Geography Honor Society.
More Recent Involvements:Since 2005, I have been an active fundraiser for the Labouré Center, a Catholic Charities organization for Boston. The Labouré Center joined Catholic Charities, Archdiocese of Boston, in 1992, and became one of the agency’s major community service centers. Today, the Labouré Center’s goal is to strengthen the family unit and to enhance the stability of individuals, families, and the community by providing comprehensive health, educational, and social services to residents in South Boston and surrounding communities. The center serves more than 5,000 infants, children, teens, families, and elders each year.
In 2008, I joined Little Brothers-Friends of the Elderly, a national volunteer based organization committed to relieving isolation and loneliness among the elderly. Through this organization, I not only engage in fundraising, but I am an active elder driver and home visitor. Two Wednesdays a month and on major holidays, I pick-up elders (sometimes up to 3 in one day) throughout Boston and take them to brunch at the Little Brothers headquarters in Jamaica Plain. I also spend time visiting some of my “regulars” at their homes. The level of my fundraising involves participating as and arranging additional volunteers at the annual fundraiser events for the years 2009-2013. On a fun note, I ended-up meeting my husband at one of these events!
Another particularly fun venture was with the Global Alliance for Africa in 2009. Global Alliance partners with local African NGOs, religious institutions, and community based organizations to design and implement innovative economic strengthening programs with the goal of enabling communities and households to provide sustainable care and support for orphans and vulnerable children affected by HIV/AIDS. Through Global Alliance, we traveled extensively throughout both Kenya and Tanzania, bringing supplies to orphanages, community centers and women’s cooperatives. Our journey was one of financial, physical and emotional support, lending aid to:
Jikazi, a woman's cooperative in Kibera, the largest slum in Nairobi
Eunice and Sane Wadu's children's art program in Naivasha, Kenya.
Agricultural/Fish& orphan programs in Lwak, located in western Kenya, near Assembo Bay on Lake Victoria
GAA's vocational training program for orphans and vulnerable children in Tanzania
GAA's English and computer skills training for adults in the community of Arusha, Tanzania
Canossa Sisters Dispensary, a Catholic outpatient clinic for local Massai
Intro:My name is Jennifer and I am the owner of Boston’s Best BabySitters. Although I've been involved with the agency since it's conception in 1996, I assumed the business related duties of the company in 2005, becoming Boston’s Best BabySitters second owner and director. I haven’t always been involved in just the business side of Boston’s Best BabySitters, though. In fact, I haven’t always been involved in the business. I hope by writing this brief synopsis and sharing the life experiences that have brought me to where I am today, you will ultimately have a better sense of who I am. Through two universities, living over seas, archaeology in the jungle, mapping Nantucket, a stint at the Medical Examiners office...I have somehow managed to end up here, running the best childcare agency Boston has ever seen! And although I never imagined myself as a childcare agency owner or director, this part of the journey has been the least expected yet the most rewarding.
Owner Boston’s Best BabySitters
CHBE: Certified Happiest Baby Educator
CLC: Certified Lactation Counselor
National Nanny Training Day 2012 Organizer/Host
National Nanny Training Day 2013 Donor
National Nanny Training Day 2014, 2015 Sponsor
Covid-19 Vaccinated 8/21
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