Choosing an Au Pair

Do Facebook Groups Really Help Au Pairs Find Host Families?

by cv harquail July 7, 2013

When it comes to looking for a new au pair, I’m a big fan of staying “inside the box”. Maybe it’s the cautious side of my nature, or the lazy side, but I’ve not been tempted to look beyond the official agencies. Meanwhile, unaccredited websites and facebook groups have sprung up all over the ‘net, offering […]

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When Host Parents Start Working ‘At Home’: Helping your au pair make the switch

by cv harquail April 2, 2013

Given all the work that we put into matching our family situation with just the right au pair, it can feel pretty painful when– all of a sudden– your family situation changes. Adopting a baby, getting a divorce, moving across the country, moving to a new house starting home renovations, getting a dog, … you get […]

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The Best Time of Year to Choose an Au Pair Is …

by cv harquail March 31, 2013

… when, exactly? Is there really a “best time of year” for selecting an au pair, or is it just the “best time for you and your family”? We seem to want to believe that there is a best time. By ‘best’, we mean (I htink) when there are the most au pairs to choose […]

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First Time Host Mom Overwhelmed by Regret: Can She Fix Her Mistake?

by cv harquail March 29, 2013

Dear Au Pair Moms — I am a first time Au Pair Host Mom and I am having serious second thoughts about my choice of au pair. I need some sage advice. Our Au Pair has only been with us a few days but now that she’s here I’m having SO. MANY. REGRETS. It […]

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Send an Excerpt from your Family Handbook to Prospective Au Pairs

by cv harquail March 19, 2013

In my house we have a saying: “Fewer, better things.” This advice is to keep me from buying those $2.00 sequined rabbit statues at Target when I already have ceramic bunnies that will make perfectly fine easter decorations thank you very much. This advice also works for the family handbook selections we send to prospective […]

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Au Pair Applications: What would you really like to know about an Au Pair Candidate?

by cv harquail March 17, 2013

There are only so many questions you can ask a potential Au Pair candidate in an interview. It took us only a few posts about interviewing candidates to come up with over 318 questions! (Well, maybe not that many. But it was a lot.) Even if we were able to ask that many questions, there would still […]

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What Do You Look For In A Male Au Pair?

by cv harquail January 18, 2013

When we talk about how to choose an au pair, we’re usually talking about female au pairs. Although I/we try to make advice on this blog ‘gender neutral’, most of the time we’re discussing how ‘general’ desirable characteristics get demonstrated by young women. And, while the characteristics we look for might seem gender-neutral, they are laden […]

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Can married couples get jobs as Au Pairs? Or a person with his/her own child?

by cv harquail January 7, 2013

Occasionally we get emails asking whether and how people who are not single and childless themselves can become au pairs. I’m sure this happens because people don’t usually understand that — in the USA — an au pair position is more strictly defined than in other countries. I’m not sure, though, whether being married or […]

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What Can This Host Mom Learn From Her Experience?

by cv harquail October 19, 2012

It can be so hard to do better with each au pair relationship. I know that I liked to kid myself sometimes that I was actually improving– a better handbook, a clearer understanding of our family’s needs, a nicer au pair room, a sense of the arc of the year, and so on. I actually […]

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Should Your Prospective Au Pair Talk with Your Current Au Pair?

by cv harquail October 12, 2012

When you are trying to make sure that your potential new au pair has a realistic understanding of what to expect of your family, it seems like it might be a great idea to have the potental au pair talk with the current au pair. Of all people, your current au pair knows your family, your routine, […]

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