Privacy and Family Time

Feeling Squished by Our Au Pair

by cv harquail June 23, 2009

What do you do when your au pair wants so much to be with you and your family that you never get any personal space? And, what happens when, in your efforts to be kind and generous, you continue to cede important personal space, events, and rituals to incorporate her, making your personal space smaller […]

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Your Au Pair’s Guests: A few guidelines….

by cv harquail June 17, 2009

I just love reading all these posts nodding my head knowing I am not alone in my feelings! One topic that I think may have been covered lightly is Out of Town Guests. Our Au Pair is having A TON of guests! She has her Step Father coming, a single girlfriend, a married couple, her […]

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What if my kids overwhelm her on her first day?

by cv harquail May 16, 2009

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Request from a host mom: How do you fellow host parents deal with the excitement your kids have for the new Au Pair? We all know how it is, the new Au Pair arrives and the kids barely let them go to the bathroom alone! I feel like I spend the first few days shooing […]

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You’re on YouTube! Is that okay?

by cv harquail May 13, 2009

In the post Help: My Au Pair is Blogging about My Family!, we’ve addressed the question of how folks feel about their au pairs blogging about the family and/or posting information about the family on Facebook or MySpace. Lots of host parents weighed in with their opinions. We agreed that your family should have a […]

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Setting Guidelines when your Au Pair has guests

by cv harquail April 23, 2009

When an au pair has guests come to visit, it is tempting for the Host Parents to give the au pair lots of ‘extras’– extra time off, extra flexibility, extra food and space, and basically to try to accommodate their au pair’s expected desire to spend time with the visiting friend or family member. This […]

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Scheduling your Au Pair to be on duty when you are at home…

by cv harquail April 16, 2009

I got a bit of a chuckle when I saw this topic suggestion on the Skribit form: “Should you make your au pair work on weekends if both parents are at home doing nothing?” The topic suggestion was anonymous, but if I had to guess I’d say it was from an au pair. Why? Because […]

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Poll: Does your Au Pair join you for dinner?.

by cv harquail April 8, 2009

Our family tradition Sitting down together at the table for supper is one of my favorite moments of the day. During the week, when it’s just us girls, we all hold hands and sing grace before we eat. In that brief moment, everything is peaceful and undeniably happy. Then we let of each other’s hands, […]

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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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It’s YOUR vacation, not hers. Okay?

by cv harquail February 2, 2009

I had a long listen at a neighborhood party last week…one of my host mom friends had just come back from a family vacation to Disneyworld. Three kids, three adults, two bedrooms, 5 days. And for my friend, not a vacation at all. What went wrong? I’ll tell you what went wrong. My friend forgot […]

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Help: My Au Pair is Blogging about My Family!

by cv harquail January 11, 2009

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It’s s Web 2.0 nightmare no Au Pair Host Parent is ready for — your au pair is blogging about your kids, your family, your discipline strategies, and who knows what all else. And the picture is not altogether flattering. What do you do? Here’s how md describes her challenge and her request for advice: […]

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