Scheduling

Out Overnight: Okay, or Not? (Poll)

by cv harquail December 28, 2009
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On New Year’s Eve, we can expect that our off-duty au pairs may want to be out all night celebrating. And for one night a year (especially, when everyone else seems go be out celebrating) you might not have a problem with your au pair being gone overnight, even if she has to be on-duty […]

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Will your Au Pair be On Duty this Thanksgiving? (Poll)

by cv harquail November 22, 2009
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Every holiday my DH and I have the same holiday conversation: Should we ask our Au Pair to be on duty? Scheduling your au pair to work on and around holidays, family vacations, and birthdays (yours and hers) can be challenging, because you’re once again right on top of the question– What does it mean […]

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Share the Cream: Give your AP meaningful work to do

by cv harquail September 28, 2009
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One piece of advice my friend Adelaide gave me when we got our first au pair was “Share the Cream.” “Sharing the Cream” means sharing both the good parts (the cream) as well as the tough parts of a job or an experience. I don’t know where Adelaide came up with this saying, but it’s […]

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Scheduling your kid(s) week: Can the AP be in charge?

by cv harquail August 25, 2009
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I have a question for those seasoned HP’s… School has started for us. I was really prepared with the summer calendar so that the kids (very different ages and needs) were stimulated and the AP wasn’t overwhelmed. But now, one child is in school and the other child is bored. The younger one goes to […]

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Calendar Advice from CalifMom

by cv harquail August 10, 2009

A treat from Calif Mom! Knowing that I’d be away from the blog (for a little longer than I’d planned) Calif Mom sent us a present: a guest post on calendars! Here’s her advice, with the usual blend of wisdom and wit! cv Dorsi mentioned Google Calendar in a comment advising a host mom who […]

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Can she wake up to her responsibilities?

by cv harquail July 11, 2009
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Here’s a request for advice from a Host Mom in VA Our au pair (our 4th) has been with us 2 weeks. She’s 20, fluent in English, is a rematch from other family (no fault of her own) after several months, and has 3 months left. We have 2 kids 2 and 4. I work […]

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Your Au Pair’s Guests: A few guidelines….

by cv harquail June 17, 2009
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I just love reading all these posts nodding my head knowing I am not alone in my feelings! One topic that I think may have been covered lightly is Out of Town Guests. Our Au Pair is having A TON of guests! She has her Step Father coming, a single girlfriend, a married couple, her […]

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Working out isn’t working, is it?

by cv harquail June 11, 2009
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What really counts as "work" and when are we willing to bend the rules? This mom’s getting a workout– and not the kind that makes your heart healthy. … "We are family members at our local gym, which provides childcare while parents are working out. We added our au pair to our membership (didn’t change […]

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Vacation – All she ever wanted?

by cv harquail June 10, 2009
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Another wrinkle on vacations! Our second au pair has arrived, and I need some au pair mom support and suggestions :) This second au pair has been much more difficult than the first. She’s in the midst of her third week here, and we’ve already had a 3-point meeting with the LCC and there have […]

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Almost-done Au Pair Refuses to Work Weekends!

by cv harquail June 8, 2009
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I heard this one ‘thru the grapevine’ over the picnic table tonight– and just so you know, I got irked on the host mom’s behalf, even though I don’t know her!! Here’s the situation: This family’s au pair has a little bit more than a month left before she leaves (for home or for a […]

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