Part of the Family

Halloween Fun for Au Pairs and Host Kids

by cv harquail October 30, 2015
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Every holiday gives your kids and your au pair a chance to work together, have fun and build memories with holiday-related crafts and activities. Cultural sharing and just plain ‘ole relationship-building happens in the doing of things. Given that Halloween is one of the trio of secular, nation wide cultural holidays (the other two being Thanksgiving and […]

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Welcoming Your New Au Pair While You Say Goodbye To Your Former Au Pair.

by cv harquail October 24, 2015
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How do you manage to welcome a new Au Pair and create room in your heart for the Au Pair in your home, while you’re still missing your former Au Pair, the one who’s gone home? This question is not so much about “overlap”, when you have two au pairs in your home. It’s more […]

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Au Pairs and Modesty: A Challenge of Cultural Fit

by cv harquail September 29, 2015
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I had just come back from dropping my kid off at school. As I climbed out of my car, my neighbor walked by on the way to the park with my favorite golden retriever. I was compelled to run down the driveway and get a cuddle from that darn dog. It was only when I […]

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How To Resolve Middle-School “Drama” with Your Au Pair and Host Kids

by cv harquail July 1, 2015
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I laughed with recognition of the dynamics in this Host Mom’s comment– who hasn’t seen their Au Pair and their kid(s)-of-a-certain-age get into  squabbles just like 7th graders fighting over who gets to sit where in the cafeteria? FubolHostMom writes: … I’ve got a concern regarding the “attitude” issue. Over summer vacation, issues that were […]

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My Brother is Dating My Au Pair – Against My Wishes

by cv harquail June 15, 2015
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Usually it helps to think about your Au Pair as ‘part of the family’. S/he lives with you, sees what’s behind the scenes, and knows some of your family drama.  Because we do integrate our Au Pairs into our family lives, situations come up that– were s/he a live-out nanny or part time babysitter — would […]

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Au Pair Handbook: Describing “Give and Take” Philosophy

by cv harquail May 23, 2015
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One in an ongoing series of posts on very specific information to include in your AuPair Handbook… HostMom MeanwhileInCanada writes: I am currently in the process of revising the section of my handbook on give-and-take & related attitude (it’s in the section on “being part of the family”). I know there have been multiple discussions on […]

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Managing Your Au Pair When Someone in the Family is Sick

by cv harquail May 7, 2015

from ShouldBeWorking: Background: Anorexic teen daughter is in hospital. This is a relief, actually. We had some very bad weeks and now she is getting good care and nutrition. I have been beyond exhausted, anxious and miserable trying to re-feed her and seeing things just fall apart. While she is inpatient I’m trying to rest […]

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Can an Au Pair Help An Anorexic Host Mom? Should She Try?

by cv harquail April 21, 2015
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When an au pair notices that the host mom is having some kind of personal problem, should the au pair try to talk with the host mom about it? When I think about this question in the abstract, my answer is “Of course! If the au pair cares about the host mm as a person, […]

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Selling Our House: How do we show the Au Pair Room to Buyers?

by cv harquail April 14, 2015
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(Part of a series on Moving With Your Au Pair) When your family is selling your house, everyone has to pitch in to make the sale as easy as possible. This means – being on their best ‘pick up after yourself’ behavior, – being ready to dash out and stay out at a moment’s notice, […]

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Why Your Au Pair Should Go To Your Kid’s School Play …

by cv harquail March 15, 2015
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… and all sorts of other family events. If having an Au Pair is a Cultural Exchange, school and community events are an important part of the excitement. Hey, I’ve endured enjoyed  enough grammar school orchestra concerts to be an expert on ways to butcher the violin parts of The Str Spangled Banner. But if […]

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