March 2012

What to do when your Au Pair’s job performance starts to slide

by cv harquail March 31, 2012
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In the seasons of the Au Pair year, there often comes a time after The Honeymoon and All Systems Go, but before On the Way Out, when some au pairs hit The Minimum Viable Performance. (Sometimes, though not always, this is paired with The Slough of Not Giving a Shit  Not Caring Anymore.) During The […]

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Au Pairs: Beware of Scams

by cv harquail March 26, 2012
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Dear Prospective Au Pairs — always always always check out an offer you receive that does not come through an approved, well-known au pair agency. There are too many scammers out there who seem to be offering great positions, but who in fact just want to lure you into sending them money. Last week we […]

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Would you choose an “older” Au Pair? (Poll)

by cv harquail March 25, 2012
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Is there an age past which an Au Pair candidate is just “too old” for you to consider? We got a note from OlderAP asking: Would Host Families consider accepting an older au pair? I am 26 years old. I graduated from university with MSc, extremely good grades, and have childcare experience with children aged […]

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How can we tell our Au Pair we don’t want to extend?

by cv harquail March 13, 2012
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Probably the biggest downside to the extension option is the possibility for a mismatch between the family’s interest in extending and the au pair’s interest in extending. When both sides don’t clearly share the same expectation, someone is bound to get disappointed. And, when people are disappointed, they often withdraw from a relationship and leave the […]

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Can we bring a PreMatch Au Pair to the US without an agency?

by cv harquail March 7, 2012
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Dear AuPairMom- We are on a 4 month sabbatical in Cape Town, SA and we have a great local nanny here. We’d like to bring her back with us to our home in Brooklyn, NY in April. Can this be done? Can we avoid the agencies/sponsors? Dear CapeTownHostMom- Yes, you can bring a caregiver from […]

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Would you Pre-Match with your Au Pair’s Sister?

by cv harquail March 6, 2012
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Dear Au Pair Mom – We have just extended with a great au pair. It was hard for us to find someone from my own home country so that my 2 children could be exposed to the the language and culture. We were lucky enough to have found someone who is responsible and caring. She […]

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Vacationing at DisneyWorld with your Au Pair in Tow: What’s worked for you?

by cv harquail March 5, 2012
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I have a confession to make. My kids are 11 and 13, and I have never taken them to DisneyWhere. I probably never will. I know, it doesn’t count that I *have* taken them to see WIcked on Broadway– I’m still a bad mom. Worse, I don’t know much about the excitements and demands of […]

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First Time Host Mom Asks: Extension Au Pair or Brand New One? (Poll)

by cv harquail March 4, 2012
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Can you remember back to when you were a first time host parent, still trying to figure out how you could make this au pair thing work for you? We have a family friend, MD, who’s wading into this for the first time, and she asked me to ask you: If you were a First […]

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Choosing An Au Pair For Teenage Host Children

by cv harquail March 1, 2012
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Host parents have been wondering about continuing with Au Pair caregivers as their children become teenagers.   While we discussed this question a while ago,  the children of many of the regular and newer members of the community have gotten older, and so the topic is newly hot. [See the earlier posts: Beyond the Chauffeur: Benefits of […]

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