Get the easy email newsletter! Just add your address to the yellow box, below right.
Powered by MaxBlogPress  

au pairs

Do you let your Au Pair drive in the snow?

by cv harquail January 23, 2012

Snowstorms in weird places (like Oregon) and snowstorms in predictable places (like Chicago) have raised the question for many aupair host parents – Do you allow your au pair to drive in the snow? Of course, there are a million variables that affect this decision. Here are the ones I came up with off the [...]

11 comments Read the full article →

9 Ways to Celebrate Halloween with your Au Pair

by cv harquail October 29, 2011

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 [...]

10 comments Read the full article →

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!

12 comments Read the full article →

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 [...]

14 comments Read the full article →

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 [...]

30 comments Read the full article →

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 [...]

10 comments Read the full article →

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? [...]

12 comments Read the full article →

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 [...]

Read the full article →

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. [...]

9 comments Read the full article →

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. [...]

6 comments Read the full article →

← Previous Entries