Can this relationship be saved?

Can an Au Pair be happy without driving privileges?

by cv harquail February 11, 2010

[[This question popped up in a different comment thread, and I’ve pulled it out for its own page & conversation, seeing as how this is an issue for many of us. I’ll eventually re-post the comments already made, but here is a start:]] My husband and I are expecting our first au pair in May. […]

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Au Pairs and Your American Politics

by cv harquail February 11, 2010

If you ever come to over to my house, our politics are pretty clear. Right there at the front door, you can wipe your feet on George Bush. Our George Bush doormat is an endless source of amusement for canvassers from Greenpeace, The Sierra Club, Amnesty International, and others. It seems like the only person […]

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You’re right, he’s wrong. This is a problem.

by cv harquail February 8, 2010

Most of the time when I get an email for us at AuPairMom, I do my best to hold back. I usually want to let you all take charge of an issue, so I restrain myself from sharing my opinion first. But in this case …. well, you can tell from the post title, can’t […]

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Is Snooping in your Au Pair’s room ever okay?

by cv harquail February 6, 2010

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I got an email from “Undercover Host Mom” — she is struggling with this dilemma: Although we have a strict and absolute non-smoking policy, and discussed this before we matched with our au pair, I have come to wonder whether she is smoking in our car and maybe even in the house. (It’s hard to […]

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Tell your AuPair stories to a Journalism Student

by cv harquail February 5, 2010

… who contacted me as part of her research. This NYU graduate journalism student is looking to speak with current and former au pairs, and families who have lived with au pairs (either currently or in the past), about their experiences for a series of pieces over the next couple of months. Email NannyStoriesNYC@gmail.com for […]

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Au Pair Abruptly Quits, then wants to come back to see kids. Really? (poll)

by cv harquail January 28, 2010

Here’s a painful situation, about which this host mom could use some good advice. I’m sure that this kind of situation has happened to other families who’ve gone into rematch [Something similar happened to us with our flame-out au pair, and so reading this mom’s email got me all mad all over again. What went […]

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Your Experiences in Withholding Pocket Money

by cv harquail January 25, 2010

Okay parents– here’s a place to catch the different stories about whether or not you withheld pay from your au pair — for a super legitimate reason– and whether or not there was an Agency policy or response behind that. We’ve already had one mom mention that with the first agency she used, withholding was […]

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Took the car for the weekend & lied: Should I report car stolen?

by cv harquail January 23, 2010

The quick answer? Only if you’re ready to rematch, and Only if you are ready to have your au pair hate you. And you may well be ready for that, if this situation is what it’s boiled down to: I actually just found this great blog because I believe my au pair has stolen our […]

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Tough Topic: When your au pair steals from you

by cv harquail January 19, 2010

There are many topics that I have dreaded bringing up here, but I’m going to bring them up anyway with a little bit of warning… I’ll announce in the headline that it’s a “Tough Topic” and everyone will know to treat it gently. One of the painful tough topics is when you discover your au […]

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Haircolor and Au Pairs: What’s up with that?

by cv harquail January 16, 2010

Last year I made a joke in one post about au pairs spending a lot of money on Garnier Nutrisse hair color, and nobody commented… I thought I was alone in the “What’s with all the hair coloring?” question. I have since discovered, for better or worse, that I am not the only host mom […]

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