Scheduling

Back to School – How to Ease the Transition by TexasHM

by Texas HM August 8, 2018

Can you believe it’s that time of year again?!  If you are anything like me, in spite of how awesome my kids are about this time every year I am counting the days back to school (and the routine it brings back into our household)!  So how can host parents and au pairs work together to […]

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Counting Au Pair Hours at the Gym, with Kids in Gym Childcare

by cv harquail March 28, 2018
images

I’ve always thought it was a wonderful perk for an au pair, to have a gym membership and to be able to go during the day when she was normally on duty but was able to leave the kids at the gym’s childcare. Several of my own Au Pairs had this option — I was […]

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Digital Tools for Scheduling Au Pairs: Share your faves

by cv harquail September 12, 2017
calendar old

It’s rather pitiful, but I’m still (and perhaps always) a fan of the paper calendar.   While I *do* use the Tiny Calendar app on my iPhone, I always was printing out — and adding up by hand — on duty hours. Surely, someone else has a better way? Because Calendaring Host Mom has asked for […]

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Counting On-Duty Au Pair Hours When You’re In A Car or Plane

by cv harquail March 15, 2017
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How does your family handle the Au Pair’s time spent with the family over a long car or plane trip? Formally and officially, we are supposed to count all of this time as “on duty” hours.   But, if you have a long haul to get to your vacation destination, you can use up a […]

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Alas, One Au Pair Can’t Cover Your “40 Hour” Work Week

by cv harquail September 5, 2016
au pair advice, au pair problems

It’s a horrible reality:  Even if you have your au pair work a full 45 hours a week, if you work 40 hours a week yourself, your au pair is not going to be able to cover all your childcare needs. Every one of us full time working parents knows– that job is supposedly “40 […]

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Keeping Au Pair To 45 Hours When Kids are Not In School : Ideas to Offset Time?

by cv harquail June 9, 2016
choosing an au pair

I need suggestions on what I can do to off set my Au Pair’s hours! With the summer months upon us and the end of the school year, I am stressed out about how to off set my Au Pair’s hours so she does not exceed the 45 hours a week. Both my husband and […]

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How Soon To Schedule Au Pair’s First Day Off?

by cv harquail April 24, 2016
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Venturing into the grey areas of Au Pair regulations and scheduling, a First Time Host Mom asks– how many days might a brand new au pair work before she must be given a day off?   (I phrased it differently in the headline of this post, but essentially it’s the same question).  She’s thinking about […]

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Any Way to Change Behavior of an Au Pair Who’s Always Late?

by cv harquail April 15, 2016
Running Late Au Pair

What do you do when you’ve organized yourself and been clear about your needs, but find yourself unable to influence the behavior of your Au Pair? When communication or training differences pop up, we usually go back to the basics: Do you have a handbook? Do you have regular check-in meetings? Were you clear about […]

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How To Count Au Pair Vacation Days

by cv harquail December 6, 2015
jon mitchell

Please note: Check your Agency’s contract for their interpretation of vacation policies. These may vary from one Au Pair Agency to another. Here’s AuPairMom’s best shot at explaining the logic of vacation days… I’m being sensible, but not necessarily following the specifics of your Agency’s contract. There’s often confusion about how to count the number […]

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Night Owl Au Pairs: Should You Give Them a Bedtime?

by cv harquail May 19, 2015

Dear AuPair Mom,  I am always delighted and relieved when my AP makes friends and starts spending time with them. I have never set a curfew since it seems to me that if I expect them to be responsible for my 4 children, I ought to reasonably expect them to be responsible for themselves; they […]

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