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

Safety

Au Pairs and Online Romances: Your role as a Host Parent

by cv harquail June 10, 2011

As host parents we feel responsible for keeping our au pairs safe, since they are under our roofs and with our families. However, we recognize that what they do on their own time is (largely) their own business. Au pairs deserve social autonomy, privacy, and the chance to experiment with new things and new relationships. [...]

15 comments Read the full article →

Plan Ahead for Disasters: Tips from CalifMom

by cv harquail March 14, 2011

We know what we ‘should’ do, but we often just don’t get to it. Who wants to think about how she or he can respond to horrific tragedies, like terrorism, earthquakes, and floods? That’s the kind of thing for action movie heros, not ah pair host parents, right? We’ve brought this issue up before and [...]

4 comments Read the full article →

Have a 9-11 Plan for your family and your au pair

by cv harquail March 14, 2011

(First published on 9.11.09.  Republished with original comments.) Thinking about ‘lessons’ from 9-11 can often be heartbreaking, especially in my community where so many of us lost family, friends and co-workers in the WTC attacks. It’s almost disrespectful to bring up the idea of a “9-11″ plan, but maybe thinking ahead about how we might [...]

13 comments Read the full article →

Traveling Together — Managing your Au Pair’s independence and Safety

by cv harquail January 18, 2011

Dear AuPairMom Readers– I would love the input of some other host families regarding our upcoming cruise vacation with our Au Pair. We have never done a vacation like this with an AP and I am concerned about how best to make it work. Going along on the cruise are me (Host Mom), my husband, [...]

28 comments Read the full article →

5 Ways to Assess an Au Pair’s Driving Skill when Choosing an Au Pair

by cv harquail November 4, 2010

The original title I had for this post was “In which we address, once again, the issue of driving skills”.  However, since that’s neither SEO-friendly, nor really helpful, let’s see if we can actually come up with ways to assess driving skill. Everyone who has ever driving a car can call say that s/he’s an [...]

33 comments Read the full article →

Halloween Party Safety Concerns for my Au Pair

by cv harquail October 28, 2010

Halloween is a favorite holiday of… just about everyone. I think it has become a quintessential American experience that every Au Pair should get involved in. But how should they get involved? Handing out candy at the house? Taking your kids out to trick or treat? Helping to make costumes? Or getting involved in the [...]

11 comments Read the full article →

Can you train an Au Pair to be conscious of safety?

by cv harquail October 7, 2010

Hi AuPairMom, I can’t believe I’m sending this email, but I am at my wit’s end and don’t quite know where else to turn. I’ve been lurking on your blog for about 3 months, ever since we decided that an au pair situation would be a good one for us (we’re first timers). Here’s a [...]

34 comments Read the full article →

The Three Phone Calls I Want to Get From My Au Pair at 2 am

by cv harquail June 3, 2010

I’ve had too much to drink and I can’t drive home safely. Can you come and get me? My friend has had too much to drink and she can’t drive us home safely. Can you come and get us? I don’t feel safe and I don’t know how to get home. Can you come and [...]

32 comments Read the full article →

The Best $98 You Can Spend on Your New Au Pair

by cv harquail May 20, 2010

One of the best things a host parent can do with a new au pair is to pay some professional driving lessons. Driving lessons are something that you should consider in addition to having the au pair go out driving with one or more host parents, and in addition to having the au pair study [...]

11 comments Read the full article →

Rematch with just 2 months to go? Or other options?

by cv harquail May 16, 2010

An “I need advice right away” post from West Coast Mom: Dear Host Moms, Have any of you rematched near the end of your year? We are considering sending the current AP home, after an alarming call from another Mom who witnessed some alarming AP behavior in front of the kids (followed by months of [...]

47 comments Read the full article →

← Previous Entries