Posts tagged as:

au pairs

Announcing… 2nd Annual Au Pair Appreciation Week!

by cv harquail May 3, 2010

The 2nd Annual International Au Pair Appreciation Week May 17 – 21, 2010! Welcome to Au Pair Mom! Please be sure to check out the tab “First Visit?”. Also, use the categories and the search box (both in the right sidebar) to find posts on topics you’re interested in. Please– join in the conversation! Thanks [...]

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Just Plain Dumb: Boys, Nannies and Au Pairs

by cv harquail April 1, 2010

The following post may look like an April Fool’s Joke article, but it isn’t. A reader sent an article to me about problems that might be caused by boys having a nanny/au pair care for them instead of their mom.  Our reader wondered whether this article might prompt an interesting discussion. (She thought the article [...]

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Awkward: It’s not a walk of shame if we know you are safe

by cv harquail March 8, 2010

So let’s jump on in to another awkward topic — If your au pair is having fun, safe overnights, and she just wants to make sure you’re not worried, how should she tell you? Should she even tell you? I don’t actually want to know if my au pair is having fun. I do want [...]

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9 Ways to Celebrate Halloween with your Au Pair

by cv harquail October 30, 2009

Special Halloween Edition Halloween is one of my favorite holidays to share with Au Pairs. Unlike some holidays, Halloween doesn’t seem to trigger a whole lot of nostalgia and homesickness. For au pairs who ‘do’ Halloween in their home countries, it’s a chance for her to share traditions from her culture. And, if your au [...]

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Can you guess what prompted this tip?

by cv harquail January 5, 2009

My husband laughs at me — in a kind way, he insists — every time he sees me do something like this. I try to explain that there is indeed a method to my madness, and that behind every quirky tactic in our household is an accident that’s now easier to avoid. But he still [...]

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Gift, Bonus or Tip: Call it what you want, but keep in mind….

by cv harquail December 17, 2008

I’m intrigued by the comments in the previous post about a Christmas/ Holiday tip for your au pair… it seems that some readers are taken aback by the idea that one would tip ones au pair. As a trained social scientist, I see these reactions as "data" — but what is the data telling me? [...]

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Celebrate Your Au Pair’s First Snowfall!

by cv harquail November 13, 2008

Does your au pair come from a tropical or always warm country? Do you live in a place with four seasons? If so, your family might get to share a real delight — you might get to see your au pair enjoy her very first snowfall! Check out this photo of two of our au [...]

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In Rematch Again? Why didn’t you call me?

by cv harquail October 16, 2008

Just a quick, little story: I heard through the grapevine that the au pair we had briefly, who rematched with another family over “personality issues” is in rematch– again. This made me wonder, just as I wondered when this au pair was in rematch the first time: Why didn’t you call me? Yes, you, host-parent-in-rematch. [...]

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Homesickness and your Au Pair: How you might help

by cv harquail October 15, 2008

Being an Au Pair’s host mom occasionally calls for you to help your au pair take care of herself, both physically and emotionally. You will find yourself needing to offer her ideas about how to distinguish between a cold and an allergy, how to find new friends, and almost certainly how to deal with homesickness. [...]

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How Can You Get Your Au Pair to be (more of) a Self-Starter?

by cv harquail October 6, 2008

Moms- We’ve got another request for advice! Not so surprisingly, this request shares a theme with last week’s question, about how to get your au pair ‘out and about’ so that you can have some alone-ish time. I’ve taken the liberty of highlighting some of the passages to call your attention to them… What are [...]

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