Common Challenges

Myths about Au Pairs: The Fox in Your Henhouse

by cv harquail April 7, 2009

Close behind the myth that every Au Pair is a "Hottie" is the myth that au pairs are out to steal your Host Dad. I guess this is one of those where the exceptions are so salient that you end up believing that it happens a lot. I haven’t ever met a host mom or […]

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Myths about Au Pairs: Au Pair = “Hottie”

by cv harquail April 6, 2009

magazine photo as mask hiding identity.jpg

What is it about the term “au pair” that triggers salacious comments from people who should know better? What do you do when someone says something rude about au pairs as a concept? This question popped up a few weeks ago for HostMomToBe: … There is this one very annoying situation that I really could […]

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Summer Au Pair Programs: Anyone tried them?

by cv harquail April 5, 2009

Summer Au Pair Programs are kind of a new thing … or at least they are new to me. The agency we’ve used hasn’t offered that program, and I’ve only recently become aware that there are several agencies in the US now doing this officially. And, not to forget, there are many au pairs and […]

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Your House is Not a Youth Hostel

by cv harquail April 3, 2009

Let me repeat that: Your house is not a youth hostel. It’s not a hotel. It’s not a pied a terre. Your house is your home, and if you choose to have friends of your au pair as overnight guests, there is a lot to think about. One blatant sign that a host mom and […]

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The 3rd Car: Avoiding a sense of entitlement

by cv harquail March 31, 2009

We all want to be generous, and we all want to be appreciated. There’s nothing like having a third car for your au pair to use to make you aware of the tension that can exist when you want to be generous and want to be appreciated. When we bought our first Volvo wagon to […]

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Poll: Putting groceries away… fair chore?

by cv harquail March 28, 2009

One great treat of the internet age is ordering groceries on line to have them delivered to home at your convenience. We’ve been doing this for several years now, and it’s been worth every extra penny. I just log on whenever I find the time, and I schedule the delivery for when our au pair […]

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Getting her stuff back home: Is there a cheap way to ship things?

by cv harquail March 27, 2009

The amount of money your au pair has saved and the amount of stuff she needs to get back home are inversely proportional. That’s a problem, because if she wants to take that stuff home, it’s gonna cost some money. How can your au pair get that extra stuff home as inexpensively as possible? One […]

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Terms of Endearment and Moms’ Deepest Fears. Also, Childcare Myths.

by cv harquail March 12, 2009

Over in the Skribit feature, as a suggested topic, an anonymous person asked “How to deal with the fact that the child calls the Au Pair ‘mom’.” When I first saw this topic suggestion, I planned to ignore it. I wasn’t sure it was from a real host mom. Honestly, how many times have you […]

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Poll: How long, exactly, is “two weeks vacation”?

by cv harquail March 11, 2009

The question has been posed: How do you count "two weeks vacation"? I’m not sure of the "official" rule, so I hope a Local Community Counselor can chime in, but in the meantime, let’s see how we host moms interpret that guideline. And, when you and your Au Pair arrange her vacation, how do you […]

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Advice Wanted: Au Pair changed her vacation… now what?

by cv harquail March 10, 2009

Moms- Big conversation going on today about Mary’s au pair…. Here’s the conversation so far…. Join in! Our au pair has been with us for 8 months. She transitioned from another family and has not been the greatest. She does the bare minimum and has left the children unsupervised. She doesn’t make good decisions and […]

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