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Costs

Extension Fees: Why so high?

by cv harquail December 15, 2011

Why is it so expensive to extend an Au Pair for an additional year? A reader emailed to raise the concern that it costs almost as much the second year as the first, because there are fewer special discounts. (For one agency, that’s about $5,600). Not only that, but the au pair herself or himself [...]

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Host Parent Wish: That Rematch would fix things, not send problems to another family

by cv harquail August 25, 2011

If host families could change the au pair ‘system’, there are many things we would improve. Chief among these would be how au pairing is advertised, how au pairs are recruited and interviewed, how au pairs fulfill education requirements, and most of all, how au pair rematches are handled. Rematch and transition processes are the [...]

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Getting a Refund from an Unsupportive Agency

by cv harquail April 11, 2011

Readers, there is sadly more to the story of Deflated HostMom. She and her DH are having trouble getting the finances between the family and the au pair, and the family and the Agency, settiled to their saristaction. As Deflated HostMom describes: We have already paid our current au pair her full education allowance, and [...]

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Host Parent Tip: Pay Your Au Pair On Time

by cv harquail February 13, 2011

“Doing something” and “not doing something” do not always have opposite effects. When something that is supposed to be done is done correctly and in a timely way, no one even notices. When the very same thing isn’t done, or is done incorrectly, it shakes the very foundations of a relationship. Case in point: paying [...]

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Eating Out at Restaurants: Advice for Host Families and Au Pairs

by cv harquail November 11, 2010

Our rocking, sane and helpful conversation about all things related to food at home has emboldened me (and maybe you) to tackle a specific food situation– eating out at restaurants. I’m thinking about the evenings when no one has the energy to cook and you’re tired of pizza, or when you’re dining ‘on the road’ [...]

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Options for Fulfulling the Au Pair Education Requirement: Online Classes?

by cv harquail October 29, 2010

Dear AuPairMoms: I’m a first-time host-parent to a lovely 21 year old first-time Au Pair from Scandinavia (through Cultural Care), as well as a first-time mom of 19 month old twins, and I really enjoy this site. I’m hoping your readers might have some sage advice for me. I’m starting to obsess over this issue, [...]

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Who Should Pay When an Au Pair Downloads Movies, Illegally, by Mistake?

by cv harquail October 4, 2010

We all have a sense of what kinds of issues regularly present host parents & au pairs with relationships challenges — food, cars, late nights being chief among these. I’m becoming aware of a new category of challenges, centering on ‘Who pays for a mistake?’ We’ve had mistakes related to car damage, lost cell phones, [...]

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Providing Your Au Pair With Safe, Affordable, Convenient Transportation

by cv harquail August 25, 2010

Here on AuPairMom we get a lot of questions about driving skills, driving privileges and managing cars. Behind all of these questions, like “who should pay for gas?” or “Avoiding a sense of entitlement” or “keeping track of car use“,  is one simple principle– Host parents must provide our au pairs with affordable, safe, and [...]

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Getting an Au Pair: What really motivated you?

by cv harquail May 10, 2010

Let’s cut through the b.s. of the lovely agency brochures, the glowing endorsements on agency blogs, and the romanticized picture of a delightful young person shepherding our kids across the park to the playground. Why do we really have au pairs as child caregivers? Why are we opening up our homes, and sometimes even our [...]

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Au Pairs and Cell Phones: Concrete tips to hold down costs?

by cv harquail March 5, 2010

When a host mom emailed to ask for some specific suggestions around keeping the cost of cell phones down, I flinched. The whole cell phone thing, like recycling, is delegated in our house to my DH. Why? Because I just can’t stand to deal with it. Though I should deal with it, and stop avoiding [...]

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