Comments on: Thanksgiving Thoughts about Gratitude

By: Chicago

Chicago — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 20:12:23 +0000

The Project Linus event was a huge success-check it out here…
http://blogs.aupairinamerica.com/chicagoarea/2009/08/30/project-linus/

By: Jeana

Jeana — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 18:13:19 +0000

Our cluster leader, from AuPair in America was aware of my work with The Red Thread Promise and volunteered to have the girls do this! Isn’t that amazing??? Can’t wait to pass the blankets on!

By: CV

CV — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 00:26:03 +0000

Hi Jeana-
I always enjoy it when you comment, because you so often share specific examples of what you and your girls enjoy about having au pairs… The examples always share some kind of specific insight, and I bet they are encouraging to host parents (and au pairs).
The project that you organized with the Chicago Au Pairs– having them make blankets for orphans around the world– is a wonderful example to set, too.
Readers, go check out Jeana’s blog post about this, at TwiceBlessedChinaMom (see link in the sidebar on the right of APM…=> )
Happy thanksgiving to you all.

By: Jeana

Jeana — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 12:07:43 +0000

My daughters have relationships with focused, responsible young women who are excellent role models. My girls have seen our aupairs devote time to their studies, save money, and spend time with our extended family. They’ve seen our aupairs listen to my advice and tell me that they appreciate that I’m watching out for their safety when I remind them to hold onto their beverages if they’re going out, or to stick together with their friends in new environments. My daughters have witnessed conversations about making wise choices about the people we choose to spend time with; conversations initiated by our aupairs. My children have nurtured out aupairs when they are missing their families. Our last two aupairs have been from China, the country where my children were born. I love that we’ve been able to learn about China in a way that we could only learn from a person who is Chinese and who has lived her life in China. When we return to China in the future, we’ll have two friends to visit! As a single, adoptive parent, having an aupair in our home has given me a backup, which has been an incredible blessing many times when something unexpected happened. The early lives of my children were not good, and I’ve been determined to provide a consistently stable family life for them. Having another adult in our home, who helps in caring for them, at home, has been a tremendous blessing for our family. I take the time to share our experiences because I want other families to be blessed from this experience, as well. I’m also incredibly thankful for our agency, AuPair in America. They’ve been wonderful to work with over the years. The Chicago aupairs donated many blankets that they made recently, which I’ll be giving to The Red Thread Promise, a non-profit organization that provides support to orphans in various parts of the world.