Your au pair’s social life

Awkward Arrival Time But We Like This Au Pair — Should We Match or Move On?

by cv harquail January 15, 2015
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We’re new to the AP process, currently interviewing for our first AP ever. I’m in academia, and was hoping for someone to start in July or August, so that they can get comfortable with my son (will be 3 years old in the Fall) before school starts back up in September. One issue is that […]

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LGBT Au Pairs: Have Host Parents’ thoughts changed on whether sexual orientation matters?

by cv harquail October 5, 2014
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Given the pace of changes in the US around issues of marriage equality and the recognition of trans* people, an au pair writes to ask whether Host Parents views have changed: I found one post about the topic from 2010. I am curious if something has changed for HF’s? I am gay but none knows […]

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Flirting Au Pair Makes Life Awkward: Did we handle this well?

by cv harquail August 25, 2014
antiflirt club

Long-time AuPairMom readers know that we rarely discuss bad behavior between au pairs and male host parents, for two reasons:  There actually isn’t that much (especially compared to other kinds of problems), and Posts with certain words draw really creepy spammers that I hate to have to deal with. That said, there might be situations […]

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Do you really want to know what your Au Pair is up to?

by cv harquail July 9, 2014
au pair, breaking rules, advice, secrets

‘Let me live in my fantasy world, where where Au Pairs drink only Diet Coke.’  This is what I’d say to Potential Tattletail AP. How about you? Dear AuPairMom-  I have a bit of a delicate question that I would love to get some feedback on from a HF perspective if possible.  I was an […]

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When Your New and Old Au Pairs Get Jealous of Each Other

by cv harquail July 6, 2014
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How hard is it to see the incoming au pair making connections with the kids, settling into the AuPair room, learning to drive in the USA, and talking about all she’s going to do in her year of adventure? If you’re the host mom, it’s not hard at all– you *want* to see this. But if […]

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Vacation Ideas for Au Pair: Fun, low cost, not too lonely?

by cv harquail May 23, 2014
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I need some helpful advice about vacationing ideas for our AP. Together, we had coordinated vacations, but now her plans have fallen through. Our au pair is coming with me and the kids on a cross country trip to Seattle.  I suggested to her that she take a week off on the west coast once my […]

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When Your Au Pair Works a Second Job, As an ‘Escort’

by cv harquail April 16, 2014
poppins1 by keikolynnsogreat on Flickr

There are some ‘random, crazy and true’ au pair stories that seem like urban myths … … The Fox in the Henhouse, the au pair who disappears two days after she arrives, and of course, the au pair who gets a second paid gig in the ‘tourism industry’. When I first heard stories about au […]

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When Your Au Pair Resents Working on Saturday Nights

by cv harquail April 2, 2014
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There are two kinds of host family schedules: Host Families that use up all of their 45 hours during the host parents’ Mon – Fri work week, and Host Families that don’t. I can pretty much guarantee you that if your host family schedule is the second kind, and you try to use your au […]

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50 Shades of Shocking? Au Pair has trashy taste in reading

by cv harquail March 1, 2014
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It can be pretty exciting to finally ‘find’ your au pair match, and to be able to look forward to meeting your new au pair. That is, until you discover how s/he likes to spend her/his free time. Dear AuPairMom–  Am I a prude, or is this something to be concerned about?   We recently […]

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When Your Au Pair Wants To Bring Home A New Romance

by cv harquail February 22, 2014
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Oh, the au pair adventure! A new country, a new family, and sometimes even a new romance. When our au pairs fall in love — or heck, if they find somebody really hot that they want to date — they often want to bring this person home with them. When that home is also your […]

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