Random Advice

Choosing an Au Pair: Language as a Selection Criterion (Poll)

by cv harquail November 2, 2009

What do you think of the idea of choosing an au pair based on her native language? Note: Choosing on language is not the same as choosing an au pair based on culture. Just think of the range of cultures where French is spoken! Cameroon, Haiti, Montreal and Tuscany are very different cultures. Is there […]

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Matching: What should a potential au pair tell you about herself?

by cv harquail October 23, 2009

Coordinating with the previous posts about questions an Au Pair should ask a potential host family, what would you like an au pair to tell you about herself? There are perhaps 4,387 categories of things that an au pair could tell you about, so challenge yourself to offer maybe the top 2 or 3… This […]

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How to be an Extreme Encourager: Advice from Christine Kane

by cv harquail October 21, 2009

Host Parents– Ever wonder how to help your Au Pair make her year with you as adventurous as it can be? Here are some ideas about supporting someone, from the (in)famous blogger Christine Kane (shared here in its entirety). Just a little something different for you…. Can you imagine trying some of these suggestions, and […]

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Cultural Exchange and Having an Au Pair

by cv harquail October 20, 2009

Today I was interviewed by a journalist who is writing an article for a parenting magazine about the au pair hosting experience. One area she was very interested in was the idea of Au Pairs as a cultural exchange experience for the host kids. She wanted to know: How much of the host family experience […]

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My Au Pair Won’t Get a Flu Shot … and we have an Infant. Now what?

by cv harquail October 15, 2009

There are several situations where getting a flu vaccine is a MUST— and one of those is if you care for a child under 6 months old. These littlest ones are uniquely vulnerable to both the regular flu and the H1N1 virus– because they are too young to be vaccinated themselves. Adults who care for […]

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3 Reasons Having an Au Pair Has Been Great for My Family

by cv harquail October 14, 2009

We just got this lovely email from Jane, helping to remind us of (just) 3 Reasons why au pairs are great! “Responding to your call for some positive blog posts, I’d like to share with the group some of my experiences that have made the au pair program worth the effort. I’ve had four good […]

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How to Handle Under-Age Drinking

by cv harquail October 7, 2009

How do you handle it when you discover that your au pair has been out drinking, even though she is under the legal drinking age in your state? What if she has been out drinking with older au pairs? Or gone to a keg party at a local college? Or just bought some wine to […]

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Don’t break your own childcare rules

by cv harquail September 30, 2009

Here’s a way to mess up your relationship with your au pair, your au pair’s relationship with your child(ren), and your child(ren)’s relationship with you, all at once: Break your own childcare rules. Have a rule that no candy can be eaten before dinner? How about not letting the kids watch tv before homework, or […]

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3 Questions to Ask Yourself as Rematch Approaches

by cv harquail September 16, 2009

We received an email from a host mom who unintentionally became a doormat, and who wonders whether she should consider rematching. Since I feel confident at how you all will respond once your read her email (a link to which appears below), I thought instead we might consider how, when facing a rematch, we can […]

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How did I become a doormat?

by cv harquail September 16, 2009

Hello. I have been reading Au Pair mom website since we got our first Au Pair from Brazil in Feb 2009. She is 19 years old. We have 22 month old twins. My husband works out of the home for the most part and I work some from home and some away from home. My […]

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