Au Pairs outside the USA

Labor Day: An American Celebration of Workers

by cv harquail August 29, 2014

American Culture is on my mind today. Of the three big distinctions between Au Pair childcare and other childcare, the idea of cultural exchange often takes a back seat. One reason for ‘culture’ receding in to the background is that we regularly experience cultural differences and cultural exchange at the interpersonal level. Cultural exchange […]

2 comments Read the full article →

When a Host Parent Is Diagnosed With Asbergers, How Does This Reshape The Au Pair Relationship?

by cv harquail October 13, 2013

We’ve had some wonderfully honest, thoughtful and insightful conversations here on Au Pair Mom about how to manage relationship dynamics with Au Pairs who have emotional challenges or histories, and children who have cognitive or developmental ‘special needs’ — chronic cognitive or relational challenges that families need to support. But we haven’t even talked about […]

30 comments Read the full article →

Au Pair Confessions: All the stuff we don’t want to believe Au Pairs actually think

by cv harquail June 11, 2013

Last month a regular reader/commenter brought to my attention the Facebook page called “AuPair Confessions” . It’s almost as bad as looking at Pinterest. It took me a long time to get up the energy to go check it out, because I just didn’t want to see what disgruntled au pairs might ‘confess’ about — […]

41 comments Read the full article →

Au Pairing in Europe vs. in the USA

by cv harquail January 28, 2013

europe-according-to-the-united-states-of-america-716x477.jpg

A note from AuPairMom muse, ShouldBeWorking: Here is an insight I just had about USA vs. European au pair programs. It’s a surprising paradox: The US Au Pair Program is actually more “European” in the way it works: It is highly regulated; Insurance is included in the program (built into fees paid on both sides); […]

57 comments Read the full article →

Start By Following the Rules: Au Pair Asks About Hours, Holidays and Discipline

by cv harquail December 29, 2012

97% of the time that something goes wrong between an au pair and a host family, it’s because one or both parties is not following the rules. Okay, maybe it’s not 97%. Maybe it’s just 95%. But in the vast majority of the problems we talk about here, someone isn’t following the rules. We got […]

25 comments Read the full article →

New Advocacy Group to Help Prevent Exploitation of Au Pairs Worldwide: Your thoughts?

by cv harquail November 19, 2011

HI All- Two colleagues in the Au Pairing community have initiated a project to help international Au Pairs avoid being exploited. Talya Shoup Burnett, of Best Au Pair Guide, and Edina Stone of Au Pair Clearinghouse, are partnering to create Prevent Exploitation of Au Pairs (P.E.A.P.). The organization’s purpose is to raise awareness of the […]

27 comments Read the full article →

The Au Pair Guide Tumblr: Advice for Au Pairs

by cv harquail June 24, 2011

A soon-to-be au pair emailed me last month to let me know she’s started a Tumblr (a simplified blog) to offer advice to au pairs. The blog, The Au Pair Guide, will cover questions and answers, au pair to au pair. She’ll also be sharing from her own experience as she leaves the USA to […]

4 comments Read the full article →

New baby, New Challenges for your Au Pair

by cv harquail October 19, 2010

When a new baby arrives, so do lots of new family dynamics. We’ve discussed so of these already, in the conversation about Having another baby? How to tell your au pair. But, we recently got this request from an au pair, who’d like some help in thinking about the challenges of a new baby in […]

8 comments Read the full article →

An Open Letter to Au Pairs without an Agency, Outside the USA

by cv harquail October 5, 2010

Be sure to read the comments! There is some terrific information about how agencies work (or don’t work) in specific countries! Dear Au Pairs- I’m writing this letter to you to tell you a cold, difficult truth: As much as you hope that you did some careful screening of possible host families, and as much […]

26 comments Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →