Can this relationship be saved?

My Au Pair is Stealing Little Items: Should I rematch?

by cv harquail December 16, 2010

This query was tucked away in a previous post: Tough Topic: When your au pair steals from you. I thought it deserved its own, up-to-the-minute conversation. From Host Mom Pippa: I just last week caught our au pair stealing little items from us, confronted her, and then caught her the next day stealing more. AP […]

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A Series of Bad Matches: Is it you, or your au pair Agency?

by cv harquail December 14, 2010

No one is responsible for a great host parent-au pair relationship. Or, rather, no one person or entity is responsible for great host parent-au pair relationship. That responsibility is shared between three parties: 1. The Au Pair her- or himself 2. The Host Parent(s), and 3. The Au Pair Agency. Because we host parents know […]

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When an Invasion of Privacy Threatens an Au Pair Relationship

by cv harquail December 9, 2010

There’s a reason we have doors on our bedrooms, and it’s not to keep out the light or the noise when we’re trying to fall asleep– it’s to give us some privacy where we can completely relax, knowing that no one will see whatever it is we are doing. Sometimes I’ve felt like there is […]

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Is it reasonable to stop trusting my Au Pair after this?

by cv harquail December 5, 2010

When we share a bond of trust with another person, we can can handle almost any kind of conflict or difference of opinion. For most of us, we begin our relationships with our au pairs with a foundation of ‘swift trust’, and then build on this foundation as each party meets their obligations, treats the […]

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My Au Pair has Awful Table Manners

by cv harquail December 2, 2010

Dear AuPairMom Readers — What do you do when your (otherwise great, fabulous) AP has ATROCIOUS table manners – think smacking and chewing sounds not even heard at a trucker convention! Chews with mouth open, talks with mouth full of food, slurps drinks, smacks lips when chewing….it is REALLY LOUD. It is also setting a […]

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Check out challenge: Our au pair is leaving, and …

by cv harquail November 30, 2010

AuPairMoms– I’m curious if anyone has been in this situation or how you would recommend handling this. We are leaving the AP program and our LCC is now MIA. Our AP’s year is up Dec 27th but she asked to leave the program early to go home to her country. Her last day with us […]

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My Future Host Mom’s Sister is Creeping Me Out

by cv harquail November 28, 2010

Okay, “creeping me out” is clearly an American idiom that I have supplied as a headline, but that phrase seems to capture the dynamic going on for this cautious au pair. She’s matched with a family, and getting to know them through emails, etc. before she joins the family in a few months. The family […]

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Thanksgiving Buffet

by cv harquail November 24, 2010

Wondering what we’ve talked about in previous years? Here’s a list of Thanksgiving posts from the olden days… More Thanksgiving Day ideas…for you and your Au Pair Leftover Thanksgiving Tips for your Au Pair Relationship 3 Reasons Having an Au Pair Has Been Great for My Family Thanksgiving Day Tip: Involve your Au Pair in […]

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What if we don’t follow through to rematch, when we said we would?

by cv harquail November 19, 2010

One of the most important lessons I learned when my kids were toddlers, and one of the important lessons I’ve tried to impart to our au pairs, is that actions have consequences. If we said no drawing on the wall and you drew on the wall, well then you would not be able to use […]

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How do you get a refund from an Au Pair Agency after a flameout Au Pair?

by cv harquail November 18, 2010

A “flameout” au pair is one who obviously never intended to do the job of an au pair. Few things are more infuriating to a host parent than going through ll the work (and cost) of screening, interviewing and matching with an au pair– not to mentioned preparing kids and home — to have that […]

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