Choosing an Au Pair

Can an Au Pair Manage Distance-Education and Au Pairing? If yes, then how?

by cv harquail August 19, 2010

Here’s a request for advice from Sophia, a soon-to-be-au pair: Hi everyone!! I’ve been writing and reading this blog for a while, and I’m more than happy to say that I have finally taken the step and I’m formally applying with AuPairCare. I’m now filling my application, and I’ve found trouble with some point, the […]

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Interviewing: What questions should Au Pairs ask Families?

by cv harquail August 18, 2010

Julie on Flickr - Photo Sharing!_1254076862843.jpeg

Potential Au Pair Laura writes with a question about how to interview host families…. any ideas for her? Hi, I’m from England and I am in the process of applying to be an au pair in the USA. I have not yet spoken to any host families, but will be soon. Any tips on what […]

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A Different Perspective on Cultural Exchange

by cv harquail August 4, 2010

For each of us the ‘cultural exchange’ part of the au pair program has a different meaning and importance. Are there many cases where the cultural exchange part feels irrelevant? Or, to put it bluntly, If the same sort of service existed to match American au pairs with other American families for the same overall […]

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Sharing Your Hosting History with a new Au Pair

by cv harquail July 29, 2010

With each au pair and au pair relationship, a host family develops experience and– if we’re lucky– also a bit of wisdom about the challenges of hosting an au pair successfully. Even when we have a so-so au pair, or a flameout au pair, we can learn something useful for the next time. And, when […]

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Why is a good Manny so hard to find?

by cv harquail June 14, 2010

I can’t believe that I’m over forty, married, and writing a blog post about how to find a good man. Sure, I have some experience in this department– I actually found my self a very nice man (DHD) — but unfortunately I don’t have exactly the right experience to help out those of you who […]

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Matching with an Au Pair: How much info to share about an Atypical Host Parent Situation

by cv harquail June 14, 2010

Today’s Truth: Some of us are typical host parents, some of us are atypical host parents, and all of us are trying to be better host parents. I’ve been wanting to write about atypical parenting situations for a while now, but a conversation over the weekend has raised a particular situation where we can consider […]

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My Host Mom Fantasy: An inexpensive, convenient, accurate personality test for Au Pair candidates

by cv harquail May 20, 2010

I know, my fantasies are not quite as exciting as perhaps they should be. < sigh > If there were a reasonably accurate, easy to administer, online test that you could give an au pair candidate, a test that that would tell you a little bit more about her or his personality, would you be […]

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Are you really ready to be a Host Parent? The Host Parent Readiness Test

by cv harquail May 11, 2010

We spend a lot of time on this blog sharing ideas about how to figure out whether an au pair candidate is actually ready to do the job, live in another family, and explore an new culture and country. But, we haven’t spent much time sharing ideas about preparing *ourselves” for becoming host parents. We […]

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Getting an Au Pair: What really motivated you?

by cv harquail May 10, 2010

Let’s cut through the b.s. of the lovely agency brochures, the glowing endorsements on agency blogs, and the romanticized picture of a delightful young person shepherding our kids across the park to the playground. Why do we really have au pairs as child caregivers? Why are we opening up our homes, and sometimes even our […]

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What really motivates them to become Au Pairs?

by cv harquail May 3, 2010

Very few au pairs come to the US because they want to take care of kids. They can do this in their home countries, with a lot less drama and zero homesickness. While many (let’s hope, most) au pairs like kids, and think they will enjoy caring for kids for a year, this is usually […]

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