Phases of AuPair’s Year

Maximizing a Warm Welcome from first-time Host Kids

by cv harquail July 30, 2009
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Getting an au pair for the first time is a big deal for host parents, and it’s a particularly bg deal for host kids. They too will be switching from one form of care to another, and they too will have someone they don’t know (yet) living in their house, drivin their car, petting their […]

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Saying Goodbye to an Au Pair you Parents really love

by cv harquail July 8, 2009
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Last year I wrote a post about “Her Next Adventure”: Telling your kids that your Au Pair is leaving which elicited a lot of good advice for helping the children say goodbye to their au pair. We just got a request from a mom with a different version of the problem– a version which, if […]

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Extending– without the Agency. Yes or no?

by cv harquail June 17, 2009
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We are in month 8 with our first au pair (she’s frmo Thailand), who has been great. We would like to extend, and she would like to stay for at least six months more, but she would like to do so outside of the agency. Apparently a friend of hers, at the end of her […]

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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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Advice Wanted: Lost Mojo, Cold Feet. Now what?

by cv harquail June 7, 2009
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Some call it losing your Host Mom Mojo. Others call it cold feet. Whatever it is that MR has, she needs some advice: "My new au pair is scheduled to arrive in less then 3 weeks. So far, we have had 2 au pairs in one year, both were failed matches. To make the matters […]

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3 Ways to Reclaim Your Host Mom Mojo

by cv harquail June 7, 2009
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Remember back when you were a brand new host mom, all excited and positive about getting an au pair? Before you knew that being a host parent could be really challenging at so many levels? Once you’ve had a tough experience, a disappointment, or even just several good au pairs in a row, you can […]

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Changing Visa status… should you get involved?

by cv harquail June 3, 2009
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Here’s an issue I know absolutely nothing about– whether or not to help an au pair change her visa status. Here’s our host mom’s question: I am a first-time Host parent with a second year Au Pair. She has been with us for 8 months and has decided that she’d like to change her Visa […]

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Starting out on the right foot, when you’re on maternity leave

by cv harquail June 2, 2009
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We’ve talked a bit about how to start out with an au pair, and it seems that in general, we think that the best strategy is to get her working right away. This helps your au pair feel needed, distracts her from homesickenss, helps with training, and ramps all of the family up fairly quickly. […]

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What’s the cure for “Summer Fever”?

by cv harquail May 22, 2009
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When seasons change, so do family schedules. When family schedules change, so do au pair schedules. And when au pair schedules change, sometimes you uncover a problem. For my family, there is a big difference between winter and summer. In the summer, we spend weekends and even some full weeks at my dad’s house at […]

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What if my kids overwhelm her on her first day?

by cv harquail May 16, 2009
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Request from a host mom: How do you fellow host parents deal with the excitement your kids have for the new Au Pair? We all know how it is, the new Au Pair arrives and the kids barely let them go to the bathroom alone! I feel like I spend the first few days shooing […]

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