Scheduling

Energetic Male Au Pair Lacks Judgment. Should we rematch?

by cv harquail May 6, 2015
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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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Unhappy Au Pairs Can Start “Reset” Conversations Too

by cv harquail March 13, 2015
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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
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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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Share The Fun and the Not-So-Fun with Your Au Pair

by cv harquail November 11, 2014
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Prompted by our conversation over the weekend about the au pair who was unhappy with the ratio of chores-to-child interaction in his work week, I’m reposting something from 2009: One super-helpful piece of advice my friend Adelaide gave me when we got our first au pair was “Be Sure to Share the Cream.” Share both […]

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Scheduling Your Au Pair: The Minimum Length of a Work Shift

by cv harquail July 11, 2014
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The US State Department sets firm, legal parameters for scheduling an Au Pair.  But the US State Department rules, and the contractual stipulations of each Au Pair Agency, form only the required, minimum guidelines for scheduling an Au Pair. Within this rough outline, host parents and au pairs need to negotiate what is sensible, fair, effective […]

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The Au Pair Scheduling Constraint That Might Surprise You

by cv harquail June 26, 2014
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I’ve been surprised by some of the fine details in the rules and the principles that guide how we should schedule an au pair’s ‘on duty‘ hours.   For example, I was surprised to learn that some Au Pair Agencies require that an au pair’s day off and half-day off are contiguous (making it 36 […]

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Your Summer Re-Set Conversation: What should you cover?

by cv harquail June 2, 2014
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Summertime, and the living is… different.  Whether it’s our kids’ schedule, our own work schedule, or even just the return of the Good Humor Man, the start of summer opens up a chance to adjust how things are going with our Au Pairs. As our family’s patterns change, we need to bring our au pairs along with […]

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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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Scheduling Your Au Pair: When does “On Duty” start and stop?

by cv harquail March 28, 2014
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When does an au pair actually ‘start’ or ‘stop’ being on duty? When we’re counting up the hours in the week that we need childcare, it’s tempting to imagine that we can start and stop ‘on duty’ time right on the precise minute. How else are we to cover an entire week? I look back […]

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Blended Family Challenge: Half-Time Custody but Full Time Au Pair?

by cv harquail March 20, 2014
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My partner and I have three daughters between us and are looking into the AuPair Educare program. All three of are girls are in school full time and we would essentially only need before and after care. The question is: We have our daughters every other week. We attempt to have all three of them […]

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