To help raise 'perfect' kids, nanny puts pen to paper

By Aimee Heckel, Daily Camera

Published August 24, 2008 at 7:04 p.m.

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They call her Boulder's Mary Poppins.

Except Lolita Bryan doesn't carry an umbrella with her everywhere she goes. Still, this Boulder nanny has a few things Mary Poppins didn't, such as a quirky Spanish accent.

And a new book.

Bryan recently self-published a short book she hopes will help other nannies on the job, as well as help change society's perspective about the profession.

"A nanny is a lot of responsibility, a very proud job," Bryan said. "You need to take it seriously."

One of the moms Bryan worked for encouraged her to write a book because, as the mother put it, Bryan has helped her raise the "perfect child." She called Bryan the perfect nanny.

Hence the book's title: A Perfect Child With a Perfect Nanny: By Giving Time, Love and Patience.

OK, Bryan admits, there's no such thing as a "perfect" person, but she says the nearly 20 children she has helped raise all grew up to amaze her.

"To me, they are all perfect," she said.

She says they were all good students. One girl is a ballerina at the University of Colorado. Another is a soloist with a choir in Wisconsin. She says one boy, Maxwell Van Pelt, became one of the country's top archers and competed with the U.S. Junior World Indoor archery team at the world championship in Turkey in 2007.

Van Pelt, 18, is now a freshman at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.

Before he landed in one of the top schools in the nation, Van Pelt said, he struggled in school.

"I had lots of ups and downs and was never quick to read. I was never one of those kids in the top of their class, just having an easy time with everything," he said. "Loli helped me settle down and really shaped my character."

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