Can this relationship be saved?

New Au Pair Has Already Invited Her Mom to Visit. For Two Weeks. In Our House.

by cv harquail October 22, 2017

The situation below features an Au Pair who’s been quite presumptuous– inviting her mom to stay WITHOUT asking her Host Parents. I can’t even figure out how to set this post up nicely because this situation would have me fuming. As much as I want to be generous, and welcoming, I’ve found that having other […]

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Au Pair’s Attitude is a Downer: Can we get her to change?

by cv harquail October 18, 2017

“A wet blanket” “Debbie Downer” “Sad Sack” “Uninspiring” What a drag to imagine these words characterizing your Au Pair. When an Au Pair has a “not optimistic” attitude towards the every day, it’s hard to imagine them adding to the family spirit rather than subtracting from it. Is it possible to get an Au Pair […]

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My Au Pair Is Selling Products on Facebook: Should I care?

by cv harquail September 29, 2017

Au Pairs who want to make extra money, beyond their stipend and in violation of the State Department rules, usually stick to a few basic strategies — working a few extra hours for their family, walking a dog or two, or taking the rare emergency babysitting job down the street. None of these jobs are legal […]

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Beware the “Au Pair Program Survey”

by cv harquail May 9, 2017

Many of us long time Host Parents received an email today with the disarming subject line: “Tell Us About Your Au Pair.” The email is actually asking us to participate in a short survey about the Au Pair Program. The email does note that the information “will be helpful to au pairs in pursuing the […]

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With Au Pair-Host Parent Problems, It’s Never Just One Thing …

by cv harquail March 19, 2017

It’s usually a bunch of things, all tangled up in a knot, like when you put tights and long-sleeved T-shirts in the dryer. Just as with a laundry knot, you can’t just pull on (or fix) one thing, and expect the all the little pieces to unlock, unkink, and fold themselves up into nice packets ready […]

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Teach Kids to Apologize to The Au Pair

by cv harquail February 6, 2017

Hosting an Au Pair presents us with one opportunity after another to teach our children how to be kind. In many of our conversations here on the blog, we worry about being kind proactively. As adults, we Host Parents spend a lot of time thinking about how to be kind to our Au Pairs, to […]

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Au Pairs, Don’t Even THINK About Driving For Uber

by cv harquail January 18, 2017

When I saw the first mention of this in the comments several weeks ago, I was surprised. Au Pairs driving the Host Family car as a second job? What Au Pair would even presume s/he could use the Host Parents car to drive on off-duty hours to earn some extra money? With the Host Parents’ car? […]

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Intervene, or Not? Our Rematched Au Pair is Misrepresenting Herself to Potential Host Parents

by cv harquail December 13, 2016

We always, always recommend that Host Parents get current references when they consider rematch candidates. This Host Mom’s situation explains why. Dear Au Pair Mom — I’ve trying to figure out whether, and how, to interfere in a situation that I’m sure will become a problem. Our first Au Pair was a epic fail. […]

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Au Pair Scam: Latest Example

by cv harquail December 13, 2016

Hi Folks– Ever wonder what “Au Pair Scams” look like? We remind Au Pair candidates to never, ever send anyone money to secure their place as an Au Pair, after only exchanging emails. While many international recruiters/ au pair agencies will place ads and send emails to find potential au pair candidates, NO REPUTABLE […]

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