Can this relationship be saved?

Swimming, Personal Choices and Cultural Norms

by cv harquail July 5, 2010

A request for advice from “Everybody In The Pool” — Dear Au Pair Mom readers, An issue has arisen with our new au pair (arrived 2 weeks ago) – and it’s not one I anticipated. I’m hoping AuPairMom readers have some thoughts and insights… It’s a cultural issue and also a personal issue. It is […]

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Use Everyday Math Skills to calulate our rematch percentage

by cv harquail July 1, 2010

Rather than wait until I find a polling tool that can divide as well as count, let’s use our everyday match skills to get a sense of the percentage of rematches AMONG AuPairMom readers. [Remember, this is a poll of the special group of host parents that reads AuPairMom. Our results will not be the […]

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Have you ever regretted that you initiated a rematch?

by cv harquail June 29, 2010

A host mom emailed to get my opinion on whether or not to go into rematch. This host mom and her family have a less-than-great au pair, one who is kind but can’t seem to complete tasks. Who is on time but ultimately not reliable. And, she’s not very smart. She’s so ‘not smart’ that […]

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Driven to the edge because my Au Pair can’t drive

by cv harquail June 28, 2010

What happens when your au pair candidate says she can, but then it turns out she can’t? And, what if you said she didn’t really need to, but then you realized she did? When we consider the characteristics and skills we want our au pair to have, we usually think about what we or our […]

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Doubling Up on Au Pairs: Two Times the Challenge

by cv harquail June 27, 2010

I’ve been hoping to get the host moms who have two au pairs at a time to write guest posts for us explaining how they make this work for them. It’s hard to find the energy and mind space to write reflectively about your au pair experiences… so believe me I understand the gap between […]

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Would you ever hire an AWOL Au Pair?

by cv harquail June 23, 2010

That’s a rhetorical question. A host mom just sent me a link to a discussion forum wherein a parent was asking for help finding an au pair. This parent doesn’t want just any au pair. This parent wants an au pair who has gone AWOL– who has left an official au pair program & host […]

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From “All of Us at AuPairMom”: A note

by cv harquail June 18, 2010

I was just sending an email to Anna, to wish her well with the impending arrival of her new baby, and I *really* wanted to send her hugs from everyone here on the blog. Similarly, a few days ago I emailed another contributor who has been going through chemo, again wanting to send her collective […]

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Are “crazy” Au Pair guidelines really all that crazy?

by cv harquail June 9, 2010

I laughed at the comment by Taking a Computer Lunch, on rules in her family handbook: My least favorite rule that I had to add – don’t burn candles and leave your room. Duh! As I look through our family handbook, there are some real doozies. My personal favorite is “In the evening, please do […]

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In Loco Parentis? Your Parental Responsibilities when your AP’s behavior challenges your values

by cv harquail June 1, 2010

As Host Parents, we have an odd role in our Au Pair’s lives. We are responsible for keeping them safe, housed, fed, and supported in their work with our children. And we also often play a role that I call Pseudo In Loco Parentis. Pseudo In Loco Parentis Like the fancy Latin? Years ago, women’s […]

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Yes, I’m playing with the formatting!

by cv harquail May 28, 2010

This weekend it’s pink, green & brown to match the new owl. Next week, it may be back to the old owl, but with blue & green colored text to match. Do you think the pink is too much? let me know! cv

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