Random Advice

Extra Umbrellas and Hidden House Keys: The beauty of redundancy

by cv harquail April 30, 2009

In my household, there are 7 sets of house keys. My husband knows about 4 sets, my au pair knows about 6 sets, and only I know about the 7th set. Similarly, we have: at least one umbrella in each of 3 cars, two or three umbrellas in the hall closet, one umbrella in my […]

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Reminder: Au Pair Appreciation Week… send in your appreciation!

by cv harquail April 29, 2009

Moms and Dads — Only 3 days 1 day to go until the start of Au Pair Appreciation Week! I’m really excited about it, except for one thing: So far, I haven’t received *any* I have received ONLY 3 stories, sentences or photos to post during the week. HELP!!!!!!!!!!!

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How to choose between two good candidates? Offer your opinion…

by cv harquail April 24, 2009

When folks ask for advice about their au pair, don’t you just wish sometimes you could go back with them to the very beginning, back when they were deciding what kind of au pair to choose? And you could tell them just what you think they should do? It could be just like in a […]

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Setting Guidelines when your Au Pair has guests

by cv harquail April 23, 2009

When an au pair has guests come to visit, it is tempting for the Host Parents to give the au pair lots of ‘extras’– extra time off, extra flexibility, extra food and space, and basically to try to accommodate their au pair’s expected desire to spend time with the visiting friend or family member. This […]

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Extending with your current Au Pair: A Bad Idea?

by cv harquail April 20, 2009

Our post about interviewing extension candidates reminds us of an earlier bit of advice that was a surprise to many of us host parents. My LCC gave me great advice. No matter how good the relationship is, NEVER extend with the same au pair. It almost never works out. She thinks that an au pair […]

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What keeps you hanging on to a disappointing Au Pair?

by cv harquail April 19, 2009

Let’s look at the other side of the situation of the half-empty/half-full relationship … We’ve shared and commented on stories from host parents who are having bad experiences but can’t seem to let go , even though to us — as outsiders looking in — the decision to rematch (or not to extend) seems both […]

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Oh, Dear Readers…..Your emails, discovered, finally

by cv harquail April 17, 2009

I am having a small heart attack. Every now and then, over the course of writing this blog, I’ve wondered why I never got any email. Sure, lots of you posted messages and comments on the blog itself, and a few of you tracked me down through my profile, but I didn’t get mail of […]

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When you are available and your Au Pair is ‘on duty’ — how to manage?

by cv harquail April 16, 2009

Anything She Can Do, I Can Do Better.... on Flickr - Photo Sharing!_1231092697748.jpeg

Caveat: This is NOT a post about (1) when you work at home and your au pair is on duty, [post for another day] or (2) when you are absolutely off duty and she is on duty…[post from earlier today]. This one is about: When you both are at home and available to the kids— […]

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How to find a great host family: Part 1

by cv harquail April 16, 2009

Although this isn’t a blog for au pairs to get advice on being an au pair, sometimes it’s just nice to have the opportunity to share advice, especially when it comes to helping an au pair clarify her needs and expectations before she begins her host family search. Hello! My name is Casey, I’m from […]

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Scheduling your Au Pair to be on duty when you are at home…

by cv harquail April 16, 2009

I got a bit of a chuckle when I saw this topic suggestion on the Skribit form: “Should you make your au pair work on weekends if both parents are at home doing nothing?” The topic suggestion was anonymous, but if I had to guess I’d say it was from an au pair. Why? Because […]

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