Choosing an Au Pair

When domestic travel is a part of the normal family rhythm how do you set yourself up for success?

by Texas HM November 20, 2018
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While working on an updated bropair post (still to come – email me if you host bropairs and don’t mind answering a few questions!) I got this email from a proactive host dad with an interesting scenario.  It is clear he has spent a lot of time thinking about how to set his family and […]

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Does a candidate’s childcare or work experience really matter?

by Texas HM October 24, 2018
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I fully realize this flies in the face of parental logic/intuition and I regularly get a shocked expression when I tell other host parents that I don’t factor childcare experience AT ALL into my au pair interviewing/selection process. Keeping in mind our au pairs’ favorite joke is that it’s easier to get into the CIA […]

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Screening Questionnaire to Improve Your Luck In Matching with an Au Pair

by cv harquail November 18, 2017
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We can’t interview our way to a “perfect” Au Pair. It’s the sad truth.   BUT…  we CAN interview well and screen out all the ‘known no’s”… which makes it a bit easier to find an Au Pair candidate with a lot of YES! LongIslandHostMom challenged herself to summarize a lot of our community wisdom to […]

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How Long Must We House Our Au Pair Once Her Contract Ends?

by cv harquail July 29, 2017
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Dear AuPairMoms — We have an au pair who is done with her year.  She decided she wanted to do another year, but not with us.  (redacted/ edited at request of OP, on Aug 4) She found a match, but the new family doesn’t want her to arrive immediately after her contract with us ends.  So, […]

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Step-By-Step Guide to Au Pair Matching, by TexasHostMom (update)

by cv harquail July 24, 2017
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TexasHost Mom’s post, sharing her step-by-step process for contacting Au Pair Candidates, is one of our most read (and most appreciated) posts on AuPairMom. We love her clarity, and not just because sometimes we really just want to execute a good routine rather than obsess about what to do next. Long time readers know that […]

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Finding an Infant Qualified Au Pair Who Can Manage Twins

by cv harquail July 5, 2017
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NowWeAreThree HostMom thought she had the whole family ready for twins, with her mom coming to stay for an entire year to help with childcare (what a mom!).  Sadly, her father got unexpectedly sick, so her mom can no longer come. This mom’s got to find a new childcare plan. What questions would you ask, and what […]

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What If Only One Host Parent is a U.S. Citizen?

by cv harquail February 28, 2017
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Here’s one of those “finer points” of the Host Parenting situation where we need some of you Agency experts to weigh in. The US State Department (not the Au Pair Agencies themselves) “(1) Require that the host parents are U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents”. What happens when one parent IS a citizen but the […]

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How to find South American/ Central American Au Pairs that fit our family’s style

by cv harquail January 30, 2017
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Hello Au Pair Moms! I am in search of our 3rd au pair, perhaps someone from Central or Latin America.  We really loved the German Au Pair we had, and would love another just like her… but I’ve noticed the European Au Pairs are not as available. I live in Chicago, which has a large Hispanic […]

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Choosing an Au Pair from Her Video: An example for your feedback

by cv harquail January 14, 2017

A prospective Au Pair from South America emailed last week– she has applied to be an Au Pair with Cultural Care, but hasn’t found a family.   She’s wondering — is there anything about her video that might be turning families off? Is there anything she could do to improve her video? I don’t want to […]

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Finding an Au Pair: Too Much Detail in Our Host Family Letter?

by cv harquail January 3, 2017
choosing an au pair

When it comes to writing the materials you use to find and match with an Au Pair, I’m all for being comprehensive. I’d much rather lay it all out for a candidate (and for myself) so that s/he can make an informed choice about whether or not to pursue an interview with us. I’d prefer […]

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