Cars & driving

Our Au Pair Generously Let Her Boyfriend Drive Our Car — Now what?

by cv harquail July 19, 2017
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Generosity in a host parent – au pair relationship is critical. Our inclination to give, to forgive, to cut someone else a break, is what creates important flexibility in a relationship.  That’s why we say strong relationships always have a little ‘give’. One of the biggest questions for Host Parents and Au Pairs alike is how […]

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How to Help Your Au Pair Appreciate the “Au Pair Car”

by cv harquail January 20, 2017
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We all want to be generous, and we all want to be appreciated. And, there’s nothing like having a third car for your au pair to use to make you aware of the tension that can exist when you want to be generous and want to be appreciated. When we bought our first Volvo wagon […]

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Au Pairs, Don’t Even THINK About Driving For Uber

by cv harquail January 18, 2017
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When I saw the first mention of this in the comments several weeks ago, I was surprised. Au Pairs driving the Host Family car as a second job? What Au Pair would even presume s/he could use the Host Parents car to drive on off-duty hours to earn some extra money? With the Host Parents’ car?  […]

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When Your Au Pair Lies About Mileage on the Car

by cv harquail November 14, 2016
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Sorry for the long lapse in posting…I’m still recovering.   To nudge me (and you?) back into the challenges of Host Parenting, here’s an email about a problem that we faced with our Au Pair too.    It was especially disappointing — and surprising — since this happened with perhaps our most mature, measured, and […]

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Monitoring Your Au Pair’s Driving Using Car Apps and Tools

by cv harquail March 11, 2016
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In the new era of the quantified self, we have Fitbits for counting steps, apps for managing nutrition, online calendars to coordinate schedules, and GPS to get us where we need to go. Many of us use these tools not only for our selves, but also to organize our Au Pairs. We also now have […]

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Car Insurance for Your Au Pair: What do you pay? (Survey)

by cv harquail February 5, 2016
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Please join us in finding the best deals by adding your car insurance info to our Google Spreadsheet at this link: Au Pair Mom Car Insurance Survey  . 

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Transforming a Terrible Driver into a Safe Driver: Au Pair Success Stories?

by cv harquail February 3, 2016
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Usually when a Host Family gets a new Au Pair and discovers that the Au Pair can’t actually drive well or safely, we all say “Rematch”.   It’s just too darn hard to orient an Au Pair, teach the Au Pair to drive yourself, find the extra money for significant driving lessons, and/or deal with the […]

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Don’t Be Afraid To Rematch If Your Au Pair Can’t Drive

by cv harquail December 11, 2015
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I truly appreciate Host Parents who are reluctant to rematch when their Au Pair isn’t “perfect”.   I appreciate Host Parents who are willing to “work it out”, who are willing to reset their expectations, and who are willing to celebrate what an Au Pair *has* rather than worry about what an Au Pair is […]

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Au Pair DUI: Rematch or not?

by cv harquail November 30, 2015
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The answer to this one is pretty clear to me, even though I’m not the host parent who’d have to find and train a new au pair right in time for the Holidays: Writes HostMomWithCarTrouble: Would you rematch if your Au Pair got a DUI? It was our car. The kids were not in the […]

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Does Your Au Pair Car Have A Curfew? (poll)

by cv harquail May 14, 2015
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 Back in 2010, we had poll to see what percent of au pair blog readers had a curfew on the car that the au pair uses.    60% of host families  who responded to that poll had a curfew on their au pair car [ Check out that post: Au Pair Guidelines: Does your car have a curfew? (Poll) ] […]

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