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Sharing great ideas

Au Pair Community Resources: Calling all LCCs, Experts and Artists

by cv harquail January 30, 2011

Several LCCs have emailed to ask if we could include their blogs in the list of LCC blogs on the sidebar. I’d like to be able to list any counselor, consultant, or expert who has something to offer to the AuPairMom community, and I’d like to upgrade this to a fuller and more organized presentation [...]

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10 Most Engaging Posts of 2010 on Au Pair Mom

by cv harquail December 31, 2010

Each of us has a topic or two that really hits our hot buttons… but have you ever wondered which topics we all seem to want to talk about? In an ‘end of the year retrospective’ moment, I went back and looked over the posts for this past year to see which ones were the [...]

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Parents, do you share this site with your Au Pair?

by cv harquail July 9, 2010

How many of you host parents share the URL of this blog with your current au pairs? Or send them copies of posts using ShareThis or email? How many of you hope to the good lord that your au pair will *never* stumble across this conversation? Inquiring minds want to know, so without further ado: [...]

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Au Pair Appreciation: Help some host families strengthen their au pair relationships

by cv harquail May 5, 2009

As International APAW continues, you might be looking for another quick, easy and helpful way to show not only that you appreciate your au pair, but also that you appreciate the challenges and the responsibility of being a great host family. So here’s another suggestion for appreciating au pairs and host families that is easy [...]

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The kind of question I love to hear from Au Pairs! And your answers …?

by cv harquail March 14, 2009

I’m so glad to have the chance to highlight some of the nicest things about having an au pair. Discussing the good things not only benefits host parents who are new to the whole thing and need some encouragement, but also helps out any experienced host parents who need to be re-juiced. Here’s a question [...]

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Sample Handbook from a Reader

by cv harquail March 3, 2009

Hi Moms- Recall that last month I invited you all to share pages from your Family Handbook … I’ve just posted the first of those sample handbooks as a page: Sample Handbook 2, from CC Family. The Sample Handbook is based on the format provided by the Cultural Care Agency, so you may have seen [...]

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Share a page from your handbook …

by cv harquail February 10, 2009

When I started au pair momming 11 years ago, there was no such thing as an Au Pair Handbook. My au pair agency never recommended that I create a family manual, and my LCC actually laughed when I told her that I’d put together a printed list of guidelines for our incoming au pair. My, [...]

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15 Tips from 15 Host Moms

by cv harquail January 5, 2009

Cruising through the comments and wincing at the many that I haven’t answered adequately, I was reminded how many little tidbits you all have been sharing on the blog. It can be overwhelming to provide advice for a knotty problem, or for a first timer, because there really is so much to share. Funny thing [...]

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Au Pair Moms: Be my päkapikud?

by cv harquail December 15, 2008

I have a little Christmas wish, prompted by a few comments from you readers over the last 2 weeks or so. I’m wondering, would you be my holiday päkapikud? What’s a päkapikud? A päkapikud is a little Estonian elf. Our very first Au Pair, Margit, used päkapikud as a nickname for my daughter. How can [...]

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Host Mom Advice Wanted: How to get more privacy and family time?

by cv harquail September 25, 2008

Hi Host Moms (and Dads) – We just got this request from a host mom who’d like some suggestions. Here is her challenge: We are looking to have some space away from our au pair on her time off. I have heard of au pairs that go out with their friends, go out to eat [...]

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