Foundations & Basics

Thanksgiving Is Not A Spectator Sport: How Will You Involve Your Au Pair?

by cv harquail November 23, 2013

Thanksgiving is a time when all Host Parents find that they need to get into the ‘Cultural Exchange’ mode. You can’t just plant yourself on Grandad’s Barcolounger hogging the remote, expect everything to unfold the usual way. And, you can’t expect that your au pair will feel as comfortable as this kitty (left) if her/his […]

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Departure Gift Ideas– For Not-So-Great Au Pair

by cv harquail October 15, 2013

“We only have to endure our au pair for 6 more weeks!”, writes a Host mom.” Yes, endure. Very long story, but we have had a mediocre au pair for the past 10 + months. She only wants to party, lies consistently, does not respect curfew, treats our children like potato sacks, and I have […]

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Can’t seem to fill the Au Pair Educational Requirement. What to do?

by cv harquail October 10, 2013

Help! We are having a serious issue with the educational component for our au pair. Dear AuPairMom– Our au pair came to us in early January of last year, too late to start classes for the semester. We had planned to get her registered in the summer, but my military duty unexpectedly took me away […]

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Personal Time: Do Host Parents take it personally when Au Pairs retreat to their rooms?

by cv harquail September 16, 2013

It can be so easy to misinterpret behaviors — and to take offense where none is intended. Tone of voice, awkward choice of words, different cultural norms, and even the specifics of the ‘moment’ influence the meaning we extract from someone’s behavior. Wait, make that “the meaning we think we extract from someone’s behavior”. Even […]

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Is There a Sensible Way Around “Infant Care” Restrictions?

by cv harquail September 14, 2013

This question is a great one for Local Counselors to answer– have you had experience with this issue? Dear Au Pair Moms ~~ We have found a prospective au pair who is just great and seem like she would fit perfectly into our family. She has been in the USA with another family and […]

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Au Pair Asks: How Do I Ask Prospective Host Families About Guns in Their Home?

by cv harquail June 17, 2013

Following on our earlier post about guns in the home, here’s a different take on the issue. An au pair candidate writes to ask– How do I ask possible host families about whether they have weapons in their home? When I replied this au pair’s email, I mentioned to her that she’s the first au […]

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Au Pairs and Guns in Your House: Rules, Principles, and Having the Conversation

by cv harquail June 15, 2013

I remember the first time my baby was invited to someone else’s house for a playdate, without me but with my au pair. The other child’s au pair had extended the invitation, but I called the other parents myself just to check in. I asked them all the usual questions– what time, where, allergies, any […]

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Au Pair Scheduling: How to count time around Drop-Offs and Pick-ups

by cv harquail June 10, 2013

When does an au pair actually ‘stop’ being on the clock? Is it when the kids are off with someone else, or when the au pair is back at ‘home base’? Before we even address this substance of the question, I need to point out => If you have to count minutes down to […]

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Overnight hours: Should we be able to schedule Au Pairs to work overnight?

by cv harquail May 25, 2013

StudentHostMom writes with a question about overnight childcare. Our contract strictly forbids leaving the kids alone with the au pair overnight. Our main reason for getting an au pair was to support me as I returned to classes, part time, to finish my college degree. Since my husband travels all week, every week, our Au Pair […]

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What do Host Parents think about Nanny Cams?: Au Pair Asks

by cv harquail May 8, 2013

It’s been a long time since we had our last conversation about Nanny Cams. We’ve had a couple of suggestions for a post about them, but I have always resisted. Only about 15% of host parent readers who took our poll back then reported that they even considered using a nanny cam. Personally, I […]

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