An Au Pair Asks

My Future Host Mom’s Sister is Creeping Me Out

by cv harquail November 28, 2010

Okay, “creeping me out” is clearly an American idiom that I have supplied as a headline, but that phrase seems to capture the dynamic going on for this cautious au pair. She’s matched with a family, and getting to know them through emails, etc. before she joins the family in a few months. The family [...]

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What to Wear? asks the Au Pair

by cv harquail November 2, 2010

I know we had a conversation a while back when a host mom’s au pair was dressing link a tramp a little “inappropriately”, but I thought we could revisit that conversion from a more positive direction, thinking about what we’d recommend. We received this email from a soon-to-be au pair: I am a 20 year [...]

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Au Pair Asks: What happens when you discover that you can’t provide what your Host Kid with Special Needs needs?

by cv harquail October 15, 2010

Dear AuPairMoms- What happens when the au pair is placed with a host family that has a special needs child, and it isn’t working out? Both the agency and the host family knew beforehand that the au pair did not have any previous experience with special needs, but the Au Pair chose to take the [...]

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An Open Letter to Au Pairs without an Agency, Outside the USA

by cv harquail October 5, 2010

Be sure to read the comments! There is some terrific information about how agencies work (or don’t work) in specific countries! Dear Au Pairs- I’m writing this letter to you to tell you a cold, difficult truth: As much as you hope that you did some careful screening of possible host families, and as much [...]

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Exploited in Italy: What’s the best way to leave my host family?

by cv harquail October 5, 2010

Dear Moms, I’ve found your website infinitely helpful to get a look at “the other side” of the au pair experience, and now I’m hoping that you can help me. The Situation I am an American girl who moved to Europe to be an au pair last month. My host family consists of a single [...]

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My Potential Host Parents Might Be Divorcing. Should I ‘unmatch’?

by cv harquail September 14, 2010

Dear Au Pair Mom, For the past couple of months, I had been looking for an Au Pair job in Europe (I am American), and finally found a great family via Aupair.com. I used your advice and evaluated the match by shared values, lifestyle, and mutual expectations. We seemed like a perfect fit, and everything [...]

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When Your Host Mom is a Stripper

by cv harquail July 1, 2010

Host moms and dads have a lot of interesting occupations, and habits. On this blog, we’ve got police officers, massage therapists, teachers, managers, writers, dog breeders, and more. But up until this comment, below, I never thought any of us host parents … well, here’s the comment: This isn’t really to ask for advice, more [...]

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Can you say “exploited” in French? Au Pair asks what to do

by cv harquail June 8, 2010

Dear Au Pair Moms & Readers, I need serious advice and thought you would give me great advice as I love your blog! I’m 21 and am working in France as an Au Pair. I arrived last Wednesday (a week ago tomorrow) and have enjoyed it so far as I love the family and feel [...]

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Au Pair Asks: How can I get my Host Mom to give me a schedule?

by cv harquail May 23, 2010

Dear Au Pair Mom, I just find out this site, and I think it’s really helpful. You have a lot of useful information for all of us, and I would like some advice from host parents. I’m an Au Pair, and I just started the program. I’m here for two months and everything is incredible! [...]

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Realizing you aren’t ready to be Au Pair host parents? And you have an Au Pair?

by cv harquail May 12, 2010

If we only knew then what we know now… being an Au Pair Host Parent would be really easy. Okay, easier. As our au pair parenting experiences unfold, we learn a lot about what works and what doesn’t, what we can change and what we can’t, how we can accommodate to an au pair and [...]

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