Foundations & Basics

When An Au Pair’s Thriftiness Shortchanges Her Adventure

by cv harquail April 4, 2013

Frugality is an admirable trait. It takes a lot of restraint and self discipline for an au pair to save money from her/his weekly stipend. Whether s/he’s saving for a vacation, a laptop computer, or to send money back home, au pairs who are carefully watching their expenses deserve our support. But when an au […]

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Sample Family Handbook, with sections on Food from HM P

by cv harquail March 22, 2013

Family Handbooks should all cover a core set of topics including schedule, safety, child care rules, car rules, and family rules. Beyond these topics, we each need to add specifically what’s important to OUR family. At my house, this means a section on “How to Adore Coco (our dog)” and another on “Traveling Safely in NYC”. In […]

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Send an Excerpt from your Family Handbook to Prospective Au Pairs

by cv harquail March 19, 2013

In my house we have a saying: “Fewer, better things.” This advice is to keep me from buying those $2.00 sequined rabbit statues at Target when I already have ceramic bunnies that will make perfectly fine easter decorations thank you very much. This advice also works for the family handbook selections we send to prospective […]

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Sample Family Handbook, from HM Amy Tea

by cv harquail March 14, 2013

When you’re planning to welcome a new au pair, nothing is a better use of your time than updating– or creating — your Family Handbook. Whether your Handbook is filled with instructions for how to use the washer, or whether it’s more like a Manual that has all your car-related rules, getting that stuff written […]

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Should Au Pairs be expected to do chores on their Day Off?

by cv harquail March 12, 2013

In our earlier conversation about what chores are appropriate to ask an au pair to do, AussieAuPair raised an interesting question– When an au pair is officially having a day off, should s/he still be expected to do household chores? We need to make two sets of distinctions first, between — family member household chores […]

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Au Pair Confused: How much income to report for taxes?

by cv harquail March 11, 2013

Dear Au Pair Mom– I’m confused about Income Taxes. I am a second year Au pair who extended with a new family. Last year (2012) I worked 51 weeks and my host mom paid me $200 every week instead of $195.75. She declared $200 on her tax files. What number am I supposed to declare? I […]

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Au Pairs and Income Tax

by cv harquail March 9, 2013

Every year around this time I feel a creeping dread. Anytime now, my DH is going to ask me for receipts from my charitable contributions, any random pay stubs from freelance work, and those so called ‘records’ that I keep of medical copayments ‘n stuff. Because it’s time to file our income tax statement. Uck. […]

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Au Pairs and Common Sense: Guest Post by TakingAComputerLunch

by TakingAComputerLunch February 27, 2013

Mother Owl, fox, baby shower card, baby shower invitation, adoptive mother card, grandmother, whimsical, blank card

Common sense plays a huge role in how we function as adults, especially those of us with children. As parents, we know a late night out will cause us to pay double in the morning, because the kids’ internal alarm clocks don’t reset just because we’ve had no sleep. We know we need to think […]

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Violence In The Host Family Home: What Should An Au Pair Do?

by cv harquail February 18, 2013

Because Au Pairs live with families, inside their homes and inside their family lives, Au Pairs often see things that outsiders do not. Au Pairs see not just messy kitchens or heaps of laundry. Sometimes they also see emotional and physical abuse among host family members. Violence in the Home I don’t like to call […]

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On Valentine’s Day, Give Your Au Pair a Heart Attack

by cv harquail February 12, 2013

What are you doing to celebrate Valentine’s Day with your Au Pair? My girls just finished decorating our kitchen for Valentine’s Day-– some shiny hearts, a glittery “I Love You” sign, and a few foil garlands. Tomorrow I’ll put up the heart-shaped wreath with the tiny lights, then the special valentine that Petal made […]

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