Posts tagged as:

privacy

What if there were Nanny Cams for Host Parents?

by cv harquail July 15, 2010

I’m not thinking about Nanny Cams that host parents can use to watch their au pairs during the day, but hidden cameras that watched us host parents when our au pairs weren’t around.
What behavior of yours would a nanny cam catch?
What things would you be proud of, and what things might embarrass you?
This question popped [...]

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When you need some time alone … with your kids, without the Au Pair

by cv harquail May 17, 2010

‘SotaGal commented last week about, sometimes, she just wants to be with her kids, alone.
“Mommy-a-mano”, no DH, no DP, no AP. Just Mom & the kids.
There is nothing wrong with that. We all want 1 on 1/2/3 time, time when we are the only adult in the room, the only adult in the universe, with [...]

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Au Pairs and Your Privacy: My Au Pair’s kindof nosy!

by cv harquail March 22, 2010

When invite an au pair to come live in our home and be ‘part of the family’, our lives become an open book.

Frustrated with your DS? Your au pair knows.

Threw out 6 bags of organic greens that decomposed in the fridge? She saw it.

Hoarding Thin Mints in your special cabinet even though you’re trying to [...]

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You’re right, he’s wrong. This is a problem.

by cv harquail February 8, 2010

Most of the time when I get an email for us at AuPairMom, I do my best to hold back. I usually want to let you all take charge of an issue, so I restrain myself from sharing my opinion first.
But in this case …. well, you can tell from the post title, can’t you?
Here’s [...]

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Is Snooping in your Au Pair’s room ever okay?

by cv harquail February 6, 2010

I got an email from “Undercover Host Mom” — she is struggling with this dilemma:
Although we have a strict and absolute non-smoking policy, and discussed this before we matched with our au pair, I have come to wonder whether she is smoking in our car and maybe even in the house. (It’s hard to tell [...]

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O. M. G. My Au Pair is “Sexting”

by cv harquail December 29, 2009

I can’t even figure out how to begin this post! Where do you start, when you find out that your au pair is sending lewd photos of herself from her/your cellphone, and downloading lewd photos of someone else onto her/your computer?
We got this request for advice from a host mom who is, to put it [...]

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Your Au Pair’s Room: How much mess can you take?

by cv harquail December 14, 2009

A host mom sent me a few photos of her au pair’s bedroom (taken with the au pair’s permission). The host mom was agonizing, because the room was a freaking mess.

This family’s au pair was following the two most important bedroom-related rules: No dirty dishes and no candles/incense. But otherwise the place was a disaster.
What [...]

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“No Room at the Inn” because AP changed her plans. Now what? (Poll)

by cv harquail August 22, 2009

My au pair’s vacation is coming up. To cover for her, we’re having both sets of grandparents come stay over. They’ll be here for a month, but will overlap for a little over a week. The overlap will occur while the AP is on vacation.
We have a smallish house – 3 bedrooms. Our “guest bed” [...]

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Gossip Girls: When your AP tells stories, what can you do?

by cv harquail August 18, 2009
Thumbnail image for Gossip Girls: When your AP tells stories, what can you do?

Researchers in my field of organizational behavior&theory have found that gossip in organizations provides some useful functions, like lubricating relationships, creating interpersonal bonds, allowing people to express their fears, and perhaps most important, offering people an informal way to make sense of what’s going on around them.
While it may be that gossip at work [...]

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Setting Guidelines when your Au Pair has guests

by cv harquail April 23, 2009

When an au pair has guests come to visit, it is tempting for the Host Parents to give the au pair lots of ‘extras’– extra time off, extra flexibility, extra food and space, and basically to try to accommodate their au pair’s expected desire to spend time with the visiting friend or family member.
This willingness [...]

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