June 2013

Au Pair Asks: How Do I Ask Prospective Host Families About Guns in Their Home?

by cv harquail June 17, 2013
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Following on our earlier post about guns in the home, here’s a different take on the issue. An au pair candidate writes to ask– How do I ask possible host families about whether they have weapons in their home? When I replied this au pair’s email, I mentioned to her that she’s the first au […]

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Au Pairs and Guns in Your House: Rules, Principles, and Having the Conversation

by cv harquail June 15, 2013
gun safety, au pair advice

I remember the first time my baby was invited to someone else’s house for a playdate, without me but with my au pair. The other child’s au pair had extended the invitation, but I called the other parents myself just to check in. I asked them all the usual questions– what time, where, allergies, any […]

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Au Pair Confessions: All the stuff we don’t want to believe Au Pairs actually think

by cv harquail June 11, 2013
au pair confessions

Last month a regular reader/commenter brought to my attention the Facebook page called “AuPair Confessions” . It’s almost as bad as looking at Pinterest. It took me a long time to get up the energy to go check it out, because I just didn’t want to see what disgruntled au pairs might ‘confess’ about — […]

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Au Pair Scheduling: How to count time around Drop-Offs and Pick-ups

by cv harquail June 10, 2013
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When does an au pair actually ‘stop’ being on the clock?   Is it when the kids are off with someone else, or when the au pair is back at ‘home base’? Before we even address this substance of the question, I need to point out  => If you have to count minutes down to […]

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