Foundations & Basics

Gift, Bonus or Tip: Call it what you want, but keep in mind….

by cv harquail December 17, 2008

I’m intrigued by the comments in the previous post about a Christmas/ Holiday tip for your au pair… it seems that some readers are taken aback by the idea that one would tip ones au pair. As a trained social scientist, I see these reactions as "data" — but what is the data telling me? […]

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How much should you tip your Au Pair at Christmas?

by cv harquail December 12, 2008

If you celebrate Christmas and if you don’t, the quote-unquote Holidays are a time of year when many people think about giving, some people think about getting, and most of us think about both. If you were to search for information about Christmas Tips for au pairs, you’d discover that the commonly-advised amount is "one […]

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Christmas Tip: Tell your Au Pair what your family believes about Santa

by cv harquail December 12, 2008

Three Wise Monkeys (Oops, I Mean Three Silly Reindeer) by Pink Sherbet Photography.

Don’t put your au pair in that awful situation of being the person who blows Santa’s secret. Explain to your au pair how your family talks about the man in the red suit, what he does, and what he means. Help her understand your way of discussing the Santa phenomenon, so that she can coordinate […]

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Food and your Au Pair: Label it if you don’t want her to eat it

by cv harquail December 9, 2008

Do you know what it feels like to spend two precious hours baking several dozen homemade cookies for your daughter’s class party, only to discover the next day, when you go to wrap them, that your au pair and her friends have eaten all but 6? That’s about how I felt last week, when an […]

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More Thanksgiving Day ideas…for you and your Au Pair

by cv harquail November 24, 2008

wampanoag aupairs low cost childcare au apir advice

What do you know about Thanksgiving? The AuPairCare website for Au Pairs has a fun little activity for Au Pairs celebrating Thanksgiving with their host families. If you haven’t seen this yet, you might want to suggest it to your au pair, or just play it with the family yourself. First, visit this website for […]

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Tip: Family Fun for Thanksgiving

by cv harquail November 21, 2008

thanksgiving au pair celebrating, blogs about au pairs

20 Fun Things You Can Do with Family on Thanksgiving Hi Host moms— I found this great list of ideas for Thanksgiving on the DumbLittleMan Tips for Life blog. It’s such a great list that there is no way to summarize it and do it justice, so I’m excerpting it in large chunks… but if […]

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Can This Relationship Be Saved?: Host Dad’s au pair is causing problems for me, in my house

by cv harquail November 20, 2008

Arguing, au pair advice, low cost childcare

Host moms–your advice is needed on this one– and it’s a pretty unique situation. There are THREE relationships — maybe even four– in this request for advice. Relationship 1: Between the writer and the au pair , Relationship 2: Between the au pair and the Host Dad, and Relationship 3: Between the writer and the […]

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Tip: Teach your Au Pair about Vampires

by cv harquail October 31, 2008

vampire bill compton au pair aupair advice

Special Halloween Edition Every Host Mom should teach her au pair about vampires. No, I don’t mean the Bill Compton kind of vampire, I mean the bill ELECTRIC kind of vampire. [If you want to know more about Bill Compton, check these vids: "I’m Too Sexy…" (almost NSFW) or "Talking in Your Sleep." Apparently, these […]

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Host Mom Advice Wanted: Allow Au Pair to use personal computer while on duty?

by cv harquail October 22, 2008

Hi Host Moms- We’ve gotten a request for advice, from KT_VA: We have an au pair, who takes care of our 6 month old. Today I came home to find my daughter sleep upstairs, and the au pair on the computer instant messaging her friends, with the baby monitor off. 20 minutes later, I heard […]

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Homesickness and your Au Pair: How you might help

by cv harquail October 15, 2008

Being an Au Pair’s host mom occasionally calls for you to help your au pair take care of herself, both physically and emotionally. You will find yourself needing to offer her ideas about how to distinguish between a cold and an allergy, how to find new friends, and almost certainly how to deal with homesickness. […]

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