Foundations & Basics

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

by cv harquail May 14, 2015

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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Helping an Au Pair with Depression – without Rematch

by cv harquail May 11, 2015

It’s more than homesickness. It’s more than a bad day, or a bad mood. It’s depression, and it’s a serious disorder. Is there anything a host parent can do to help? HostMomInParadise writes: I am a host mom in transition. My au pair had been here 8 months and left suddenly, stopping work abruptly and […]

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Energetic Male Au Pair Lacks Judgment. Should we rematch?

by cv harquail May 6, 2015

Dear AuPairMom — Our family has had au pairs since 2008. We had some amazing aupairs some mediocre and some terrible experiences that resulted in rematches. So one would think that we went through so many situations, we now know how to pick the right au pair and we know when it’s time for rematch. […]

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Taking An Au Pair on Vacation: Hotel Room Arrangements

by cv harquail April 9, 2015

Already looking forward to your summer vacation? If you’re planning to bring your Au Pair, now is the time to start talking about vacation arrangements –especially how you plan to manage hotel rooms. Au Pairs should be provided with their own private room to sleep in — that’s what the Agencies require. The Agencies require […]

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Unhappy Au Pairs Can Start “Reset” Conversations Too

by cv harquail March 13, 2015

You don’t have to be a host parent to notice a problem in your Host Family-Au Pair relationship. Obviously, Au Pairs notice problems too. That’s why Au Pairs should try some using some of the very same tools we recommend to host parents, tools like weekly meetings, written schedules, and the always-useful reset conversation. One […]

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When Your Au Pair Complains About A Fair Schedule

by cv harquail March 9, 2015

File this under: “Grrrrrr.” You are a lovely family with an adorable child. You offer a reasonably cushy schedule to your au pair. Most days it’s 2 hours in the morning and 4- 4 1/2 in the afternoon/evening. You go out some weeks nights here and there, to book club or (gasp) to the gym. And […]

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What if an Au Pair Doesn’t Want To Take Antibiotics– and we’re all sick!

by cv harquail February 23, 2015

HostMomX raised this concern in the comments on the post about Dr. Host Dad and his Vitamin B injections: This situation brings up a related issue that HD and I have wondered about. We have had several APs tell us that they are very anti antibiotic, and won’t take them. I understand that attitude – I […]

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Au Pair’s Dr. Host Dad insisting she receive Vitamin B shots? No. No. No.

by cv harquail February 19, 2015

This particular pair of host parents wins the prize for “Most Invasive Expectations”. I received an email from an au pair currently working in Europe. She writes: Hi AuPairMom– I don’t know any other au pairs and so I’m hoping to get some advice from you on this difficult situation. I have been living with […]

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Which Au Pair Rules Feel Flexible?

by cv harquail February 4, 2015

This is a companion post to “Which Host Family Rules Feel Flexible to Au Pairs?” Au Pair Program Rules are Great. One of the strongest elements of the US Au Pair Program is the framework created by the State Department rules. These clear and specific boundaries around work hours and work responsibilities help US Host Parents and […]

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Which Host Family Rules Feel Flexible to Au Pairs?

by cv harquail February 4, 2015

Okay, Au Pairs — It’s your turn to tell us which Host Family rules you feel it’s okay to be “flexible” with every now and then. [This is a companion post to “Which Au Pair Rules Feel Flexible?”] Since there is no set group of Host Family rules, I can’t create polls for specific ones. Instead, […]

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