February 2013

Au Pairs and Common Sense: Guest Post by TakingAComputerLunch

by TakingAComputerLunch February 27, 2013
Mother Owl, fox, baby shower card, baby shower invitation, adoptive mother card, grandmother, whimsical, blank card

Common sense plays a huge role in how we function as adults, especially those of us with children. As parents, we know a late night out will cause us to pay double in the morning, because the kids’ internal alarm clocks don’t reset just because we’ve had no sleep. We know we need to think […]

109 comments Read the full article →

Switching Your Au Pair to a Different Visa is Difficult and Costly

by cv harquail February 24, 2013

Many a host parent has wished to keep a great au pair forever and ever– or at least longer than the legal year plus year extension.   And many an au pair (including a few of my own, and their friends) have gone to great lengths to find a legal or vaguely legal way to […]

47 comments Read the full article →

Who Are The Mysterious Wise Women (and Men) on Au Pair Mom?

by cv harquail February 19, 2013
Au Pair Host Mom hiding her identity

I know some stuff about the folks on AuPairMom that I bet you wish you knew. Just to name a few: I know the real name of TakingAComputerLunch. I know what kind of music CalifMom enjoys. I know how to reach DarthaStewart with a moment’s notice, whenever I need her opinion. Lucky me, I know […]

159 comments Read the full article →

Violence In The Host Family Home: What Should An Au Pair Do?

by cv harquail February 18, 2013

Because Au Pairs live with families, inside their homes and inside their family lives, Au Pairs often see things that outsiders do not. Au Pairs see not just messy kitchens or heaps of laundry. Sometimes they also see emotional and physical abuse among host family members. Violence in the Home I don’t like to call […]

29 comments Read the full article →

How To Help Your Au Pair Create a Happy Social Life

by cv harquail February 14, 2013
au pair, social life

While we all want to avoid getting the “Party Girl” Au Pair or the “Frat Boy” Bro-Pair, we want our au pairs to establish their own happy social lives. And, when we parents are older, busy, and/or not-very-into-whatever, we don’t always have ways to help our au pairs use their off-duty time to build their […]

28 comments Read the full article →

On Valentine’s Day, Give Your Au Pair a Heart Attack

by cv harquail February 12, 2013
power of moms heart attack.jpg

  What are you doing to celebrate Valentine’s Day with your Au Pair? My girls just finished decorating our kitchen for Valentine’s Day-– some shiny hearts, a glittery “I Love You” sign, and a few foil garlands. Tomorrow I’ll put up the heart-shaped wreath with the tiny lights, then the special valentine that Petal made […]

6 comments Read the full article →

Can This Relationship Be Saved?: Au Pair Seems to be Giving Up

by cv harquail February 11, 2013

Waaa waaa waaa waaa…… Sometimes I hear stories about au pairs and their complaints and I want to say: “Dude, grow UP.” “No one forced you to become an au pair. No one forced you to pick this particular family. No one’s making you do anything out of the ordinary. No one’s skimping on your […]

59 comments Read the full article →

Cut Your Losses: When your Au Pair starts lying before she even arrives

by cv harquail February 10, 2013
cut your losses, au pair who lies

Our conversation about “when you discover that your au pair is lying” could go on forever, since there are so many different situations in which a lie can be a problem — or something to gloss over. We lie (parents and au pairs) to save face, to avoid consequences, and sometimes to deliberately deceive someone so that […]

18 comments Read the full article →

When You Suspect That Your Au Pair is Lying. A lot.

by cv harquail February 4, 2013

From Ananomousthistime Our current AP has been here since the summer. On one hand, she takes good care of the children, is responsible and follows our instructions. I used to think she was a GREAT AP. I should also mention that we place a very high value on honesty in our home. We respect the […]

59 comments Read the full article →

Despite bad Au Pair performance: “My heart can’t handle the thought of destroying her life by sending her home”

by cv harquail February 3, 2013

AFHost Mom posted this in the comments of a different post, and I’ve moved it here so that it can have its own conversation. Au Pair Moms, I need a reality check. We’ve just extended with our South American AP. She is very loving, very sweet, and loves the kids a lot. Her care has […]

82 comments Read the full article →

← Previous Entries