Common Challenges

5 Secrets of Good Au Pair Host Parents

by cv harquail June 10, 2012

I was tidying up my desk this morning, preparing to get back in the saddle with AuPairMom posts, and I found this post-it note to myself: Did I ever write this post? I can’t tell, so here it is! What makes for a Good Au Pair Host Parent? In my experience talking with […]

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Tips for Taking Baby and Au Pair on a Business Trip

by cv harquail May 30, 2012

What can you do to make it easier on you, your au pair and your baby when you all take a business trip together? I’m a first time host mom who’s going to be taking her au pair with her on a business trip with my 8 month old daughter. My au pair understands that […]

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Tip: Know How To “Pull a Garbo”

by cv harquail April 20, 2012

“I Vant to Be Alone” ~ Greta Garbo As the famous film actress explained, sometimes a wo/man needs a break. A grown-up’s “time out”. A moment of quiet, in her own kitchen, with a cup of tea and no one asking her to explain yet again how the microwave works. You’ve been there, I know. […]

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Our Au Pair is Headed for Heartbreak: Should we intervene?

by cv harquail April 4, 2012

Ah, young love. One joy of having an au pair in your home is that you get to relive (however vicariously) the drama, adventure and sometimes romance that your au pair entangles herself in. You hear about the handsome guy/beautiful girl your au pair met, you offer your opinion on what outfit to wear for […]

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Vacationing at DisneyWorld with your Au Pair in Tow: What’s worked for you?

by cv harquail March 5, 2012

I have a confession to make. My kids are 11 and 13, and I have never taken them to DisneyWhere. I probably never will. I know, it doesn’t count that I *have* taken them to see WIcked on Broadway– I’m still a bad mom. Worse, I don’t know much about the excitements and demands of […]

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Texting: Taming the Au Pair Distraction

by cv harquail February 10, 2012

Who’s got an au pair who texts a lot? Sometimes at inappropriate times, and often without any understanding of how this behavior distracts them? Raise your hands. Okay, you can all put down your hands. It annoys me hugely that people have bad manners when it comes to texting. In our family, we have rules […]

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Our Au Pair is Dating My Husband’s Close Friend. Now what?

by cv harquail February 4, 2012

And speaking of trying to maintain some privacy around ones adult social life, Here’s an email that has me completely stumped. How do they stay “host parents” to their au pair, and friends with their friend, and have any separate adult social life? We really need your ideas here, folks. Dear Au Pair Mom, I […]

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Thriving despite conflicts: 9 Rules of Negotiating with Your Au Pair

by cv harquail January 29, 2012

One of the crazy benefits of being an au pair mom or dad is that host parenting gives us many chances to practice skills that make us better everywhere in our lives. Chief among the skills we get to practice is how to negotiate. By using conflicts with our au pairs (or even simple disagreements […]

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Should au pair rules be changed, to allow for “extra vacation without pay”?

by cv harquail January 25, 2012

Within the legal boundaries of the au pair program, both host parents and au pairs like to have a bit of personal discretion. We want to be able to satisfy family demands and any sensible au pair dreams. We want to be flexible when issues come up, and we want to be accommodating and reasonably […]

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Do you let your Au Pair drive in the snow?

by cv harquail January 23, 2012

Snowstorms in weird places (like Oregon) and snowstorms in predictable places (like Chicago) have raised the question for many aupair host parents — Do you allow your au pair to drive in the snow? Of course, there are a million variables that affect this decision. Here are the ones I came up with off the […]

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