Can this relationship be saved?

Cultural Exchange: American kids react to breakfasts from around the world

by cv harquail February 17, 2015

Cultural Exchange always feels more concrete when it’s translated into food. Food preferences, food differences, food customs, and beyond. With a hattip to Mark Frauenfelder at BoingBoing, here’s a video that reminded me of the first time I had fishpaste from a tube, on a business trip to Sweden. I wonder how many […]

37 comments Read the full article →

When your Au Pair hires a babysitter so s/he can go to the gym. Really?

by cv harquail January 21, 2015

Whoa there Nellie. Get down off that exercise equipment. Host Mom Mimi dropped an aside that felt like a bomb. In her comments on Slush Funds vs. Petty Cash jars, Mimi mentions: “If our AP takes the kids to the gym while she is on the clock, she is responsible for babysitting room fees.” What? HRHM asks in […]

85 comments Read the full article →

Lost Passport Delays Au Pair’s Arrival. Should we match or move on?

by cv harquail January 17, 2015

Dear Au Pair Moms– We’ve got a crazy delay in our Au Pair’s arrival that messes up my carefully made plans. Specifically, we are looking at a 3-5 week gap, maybe longer, to figure out childcare and wait for our au pair who lost her visa. Can you advise me what to do? Our old au […]

8 comments Read the full article →

Evaluating Progress As Your Au Pair Aims to Improve

by cv harquail January 8, 2015

au pair performance, au pair rematch, host parent advice

How much improvement is ‘enough’ to shift an au pair out of “on the way to rematch”? When there are performance issues with an Au Pair and we ask for an improvement, we expect that: (1) The au pair’s performance will improve, (2) Performance will improve enough to satisfy the Host Parent’s original concerns, (3) The […]

21 comments Read the full article →

Is It This Particular Au Pair, or Is An Au Pair Just Not Right for Me?

by cv harquail December 31, 2014

Au Pairs “as a concept” and a particular au pair in real life are two very different things to imagine in your world. An Au Pair “as a concept” is the idea of a young adult living with you as part of the family and as an employee childcare provider, sharing your food, sharing your […]

73 comments Read the full article →

Teaching Your Au Pair Real American Values: Celebrate #Giving Tuesday

by cv harquail December 2, 2014

Just when we’re trying to celebrate the most welcoming American tradition, and start off the winter holiday with a warm, family gathering, we get Black Friday. The annual celebration of consumerism and low low prices that results in shoving, pushing, overspending, and spiritual emptiness. Black Friday is American culture at its worst. So you can […]

14 comments Read the full article →

TurnAround Situations With Au Pairs and Host Parents: Do they exist?

by cv harquail November 12, 2014

ReturningHM claims that they do: We have had three major turnaround situations over the 8 years we’ve been hosting, two of which happened on the cusp of rematch, so they do work out some of the time! I have to believe this is true– with all the good advice that gets shared here, surely someone’s […]

72 comments Read the full article →

Beware the Homesick Au Pair: Screen it out, or wait it out?

by cv harquail October 28, 2014

Homesickness is completely predictable Homesickness is something that every au pair should anticipate, and that every au pair should make a commitment to work through. If you’re signing up to spend a year in another country, in another family, then you are committing to working through any homesickness that occurs between month 1 and month […]

52 comments Read the full article →