Guidelines & rules

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 […]

18 comments Read the full article →

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 […]

4 comments Read the full article →

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 […]

4 comments Read the full article →

When your Au Pair has a Fender-Bender — Who pays, and what, and how?

by cv harquail September 24, 2008

I have dreaded writing about au pairs and car accidents, because fear of accidents is one of the scariest things about having children, and even scarier when you are entrusting your children to someone else’s driving. Even the best of au pairs can have car accidents. (Heck, even the best of drivers can have accidents!) […]

1 comment Read the full article →

After the Car Accident: Advice on what to talk about with your Au Pair

by cv harquail September 19, 2008

As I was working through the possible advice we could offer to MT, the mom whose Au Pair just backed into a BMW, I realized that we need to focus on the really big picture– that is, how to manage the damage that an Au Pair’s car accident can do to your relationship with each […]

22 comments Read the full article →

When your Au Pair complains about working too many hours, but still less than 45… what can you do?

by cv harquail August 4, 2008

A Host mom/reader, Acicala, wrote in a comment/question last week that hit me right in the pit of my stomach, because this particular problem has been the source of nearly all the “APA” (AuPairAnxiety) that I have experienced as a host mom. The problem, in a nutshell, is when your Au Pair begins to complain […]

8 comments Read the full article →

Want Safe Driving? Forbid your Au Pair to use the cellphone in the car. Period.

by cv harquail July 1, 2008

The announcement that California and Washington will ban the use of hand-held cell phones while driving prompts me to write about safe driving and cell phones. For a long time, we didn’t even give our Au Pair a cell phone, but now she has one for her own use and for family emergencies. So, we […]

3 comments Read the full article →

What are Host Dads afraid of? The Top 3 “Fears of the Host Dad” & How to manage them

by cv harquail June 25, 2008

Back when you were deciding whether to get an Au Pair, you might have encountered some resistance from your potential Host Dad. “I’m not sure I want someone else living in our house.” “Isn’t it just easier to hire a bunch of babysitters?” “Maybe you should cut back at work.” “Why can’t the kids just […]

5 comments Read the full article →

Our Home: Guidelines

by cv harquail May 15, 2008

Principle: Our home is for you to enjoy as a member of the family, and we expect that you will treat it with respect and consideration. You should clean up after yourself (put your dishes and clothes away) and do your own laundry, but we do not expect you to clean the whole house or […]

4 comments Read the full article →

Caring for the Children: Guidelines

by cv harquail May 15, 2008

Principle: We want you to help Child1 and Child2 grow into curious, happy, and friendly little children When on duty, your first priority should always be engaging with the children, facilitating and supporting their activities. Always be just a little bit early to pick up Child1 and Child2 at school. They get very nervous when […]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →