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For Au Pairs

Would you ask your Au Pair to help out at someone else’s party?

by cv harquail January 22, 2012

Do you think it’s appropriate to ask an au pair to got to your kids’ school and help out at a birthday event there, for someone else’s kids? Here’s the email that prompts the question: Dear AuPairMom – I am mostly satisfied with the family I am working for. We’ve had a few problems but [...]

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Holiday Gift Ideas: What could an Au Pair give to an ‘Host’ Uncle? Housekeeper?

by cv harquail December 4, 2011

I’m so impressed that there are still 19, 22, or 29 shopping days left (depending on the holiday you celebrate), but many of you are already getting organized! Right about when I posted the call for general gift ideas, we received this email from Au Pair MMC. Her gift-giving situation adds four challenges– She needs [...]

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Lonely Au Pair Plans Early Departure – Do we approve?

by cv harquail December 3, 2011

Hi there AuPairMom, I was hoping you may be able to give me some advice. I am a 22 year old UK girl working as a AuPair in Germany. I have been here for just over 3 months. When I first arrived I found it difficult but was soon used to the job. The family [...]

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New Advocacy Group to Help Prevent Exploitation of Au Pairs Worldwide: Your thoughts?

by cv harquail November 19, 2011

HI All- Two colleagues in the Au Pairing community have initiated a project to help international Au Pairs avoid being exploited. Talya Shoup Burnett, of Best Au Pair Guide, and Edina Stone of Au Pair Clearinghouse, are partnering to create Prevent Exploitation of Au Pairs (P.E.A.P.). The organization’s purpose is to raise awareness of the [...]

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Example of an Untrustworthy Ad for Au Pairs

by cv harquail November 19, 2011

Here’s an example of the kind of web comment or bulletin board advertisement that au pairs should be wary of —  Anonamomma very cleverly checked for similar text and found this in a place that seemed untrustworthy.   

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Too Much Generosity or the Wrong Kind? Trust your heart

by cv harquail October 8, 2011

Dear AuPairMom- The posting from the host mom offering the fancy host family situation make me think of the choices that I made when I was matching with my host family. I talked to many different families. All of them had some different things to offer, cars yes or no, no Saturday nights, babies and [...]

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Struggling to Communicate With Host Dad

by cv harquail August 5, 2011

Every host parent has his or her own approach to interacting with their au pair. Our personalities affect some of this, but even more important is who has taken which role in the host parents – au pair relationship. When adults team up to become parents, homemakers and breadwinners, they divvy up these roles so [...]

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How to Help Your Au Pair Connect With Your Kids

by cv harquail July 9, 2011

How do you want your au pair to interact with your children? We spend a lot of time in our handbooks and meeting going over the house rules and general family principles, but often we leave implicit our our expectations for day-to-day kid – au pair interaction. Sure, we want each au pair-kid combo to [...]

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Unbearable Fighting Between Siblings: Fair cause for rematch? (Bettina)

by cv harquail June 28, 2011

Here’s Bettina’s story about her host kids… click back to the original post to discuss whether, if, and how an au pair can make a positive difference in host family dynamics. I’m an au pair in the US for 2 weeks now, and I really like it here. When I arrived, I immediately felt comfortable [...]

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The Au Pair Guide Tumblr: Advice for Au Pairs

by cv harquail June 24, 2011

A soon-to-be au pair emailed me last month to let me know she’s started a Tumblr (a simplified blog) to offer advice to au pairs. The blog, The Au Pair Guide, will cover questions and answers, au pair to au pair. She’ll also be sharing from her own experience as she leaves the USA to [...]

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