April 2013

How Can We Help Our Grieving Au Pair?

by cv harquail April 18, 2013

About three weeks ago my au pair’s boyfriend (local in the USA) died suddenly in an accident. By way of background, she has been with us since last June and is planning to stay another year.  We have twin boys that are 13 months old.  Both my husband and I work in demanding jobs.  We […]

21 comments Read the full article →

How To Rematch: Share your best practices

by cv harquail April 16, 2013

Rematching with your au pair is both a horrible drag and a great opportunity. Rematching au pairs is a drag. Rematches are always hard to execute and fraught with anxiety and second guessing– and that’s just on the au pair’s side. Host parents have to tell the au pair that the match isn’t working, deal […]

218 comments Read the full article →

When An Au Pair’s Thriftiness Shortchanges Her Adventure

by cv harquail April 4, 2013

Frugality is an admirable trait. It takes a lot of restraint and self discipline for an au pair to save money from her/his weekly stipend. Whether s/he’s saving for a vacation, a laptop computer, or to send money back home, au pairs who are carefully watching their expenses deserve our support. But when an au […]

114 comments Read the full article →

When Host Parents Start Working ‘At Home’: Helping your au pair make the switch

by cv harquail April 2, 2013

Given all the work that we put into matching our family situation with just the right au pair, it can feel pretty painful when– all of a sudden– your family situation changes.  Adopting a baby, getting a divorce, moving across the country, moving to a new house  starting home renovations, getting a dog, … you get […]

9 comments Read the full article →