Your au pair’s social life

Layers of Au Pair Problems…Leading to Rematch?

by cv harquail November 9, 2015
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This Host Mom’s got it all falling apart. Little seems to be going as expected. When this Host Mom emailed, I’d suggested to her that maybe it would be easier if we separated the topics and had one post for #1 and another for #2 & #3– but they feel too connected in the Host Mom’s […]

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When Another Au Pair is Dating a Drug Dealer

by cv harquail November 4, 2015
au pair dating, au pair problems

It’s a classic case with a new wrinkle — What’s classic:   Your Au Pair’s friend, who is also an Au Pair, is doing something unsafe. Your Au Pair told you about it, because she’s worried. And she should be worried, since the Au Pair’s friend is putting herself and her group of Au Pairs in […]

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5 Ways for Au Pairs to Find Other Au Pairs

by cv harquail September 9, 2015
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It’s the season to Welcome New Au Pairs! A time for orienting, driving lessons, checklist making, getting lost, and — sometimes for new Au Pairs — feeling lonely. When a new Au Pair arrives, it’s critical that s/he make a few Au Pair friends right away. Only another Au Pair can understand the unique situation of […]

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We Discovered Our Au Pair Doesn’t Share Our Family Values

by cv harquail August 20, 2015
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For Bothered Host Mom, things started out fine. Then, oops, turns out her au pair wasn’t who she thought she’d be. Now what? Our Au Pair was great — in the beginning. We treated her like a friend and family member, gave her lots of gifts, took her to Vegas for her birthday. She does […]

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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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Night Owl Au Pairs: Should You Give Them a Bedtime?

by cv harquail May 19, 2015

Dear AuPair Mom,  I am always delighted and relieved when my AP makes friends and starts spending time with them. I have never set a curfew since it seems to me that if I expect them to be responsible for my 4 children, I ought to reasonably expect them to be responsible for themselves; they […]

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Does Your Au Pair Car Have A Curfew? (poll)

by cv harquail May 14, 2015
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 Back in 2010, we had poll to see what percent of au pair blog readers had a curfew on the car that the au pair uses.    60% of host families  who responded to that poll had a curfew on their au pair car [ Check out that post: Au Pair Guidelines: Does your car have a curfew? (Poll) ] […]

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Why Have a Curfew on Your Car and not Your Au Pair?

by cv harquail May 13, 2015
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Some readers have wondered why a family might put a curfew on the au pair car, but not have a curfew on the au pair him/herself. They point out that if au pairs are dependent on the au pair car for transportation during their time off, then having a curfew on the car is effectively the […]

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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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Fun Au Pair Activities for Monthly Cluster Meetings– ideas?

by cv harquail March 8, 2015
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Dear AuPairMom and Readers–   I enjoy reading the blog and learning from all your advice.  I wonder if we could crowd-source some ideas?   Our Au Pair Community Counselor is a lovely person, but sometimes she seems a little out of touch with what Au Pairs might think is fun or useful. Our Counselor […]

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