Welcoming your AuPair

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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Advice Wanted: How to set the right tone from Week 1

by cv harquail May 13, 2009
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OK experienced host moms (and dads), I need some of your advice. Although I have had three Au Pairs, they have all ended in transition so I feel like a new host mother. Since this is the first time I am going into the AP relationship with the aid of other mothers as mentors, I […]

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How Can You Get Your Au Pair to be (more of) a Self-Starter?

by cv harquail October 6, 2008

Moms- We’ve got another request for advice! Not so surprisingly, this request shares a theme with last week’s question, about how to get your au pair ‘out and about’ so that you can have some alone-ish time. I’ve taken the liberty of highlighting some of the passages to call your attention to them… What are […]

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Au Pair Advice: Send a welcome package to your Au Pair’s orientation

by cv harquail September 10, 2008
ap welcome package

[Help me find our 100th Host Mom subscriber!] Almost everyone loves to get presents and almost everyone loves to get mail. Put these two things together by sending your au pair a welcome package, and you’re probably going to make her feel happy, welcomed, and maybe even special. Once upon a time, when I thought […]

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6 Potential Problems with Au Pair Overlap

by cv harquail July 25, 2008
partied too hard

Even though the 6 Reasons to Have Au Pairs Overlap are compelling, there can be some significant downsides to this strategy for orienting your new Au Pair. Sometimes, these downsides will be deal breakers — the danger of having one of these problems go from ‘potential’ to ‘actual’ may outweigh the expected benefits of overlap. […]

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Your Au Pair’s Room: Advice about Transition Cleaning

by cv harquail July 7, 2008
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As I was staggering down the stairs to the laundry this morning, burdened by my armload of bedding from the Au Pair room, I remembered an important part of preparing Your Au Pair’s Room. This important item is “Transition Cleaning”. Transition Cleaning When your Au Pair arrives, it’s nice to have the Au Pair’s room […]

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Your Advice Wanted: Should you have your new Au Pair overlap with your old Au Pair?

by cv harquail July 7, 2008
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Calling All Host Moms- We want your opinions! ** Should a Host mom have her incoming Au Pair overlap with her outgoing Au Pair? ** A reader recently posed this question in the comments section of the post on Orienting Your New Au Pair. Rather than responding unilaterally with my $.02, I’d like to get […]

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Ways to start orienting your New Au Pair: Some advice for the first two days

by cv harquail June 30, 2008

The first two or three days can be really overwhelming– not just for your new Au Pair, but for you. It’s like drinking from the proverbial fire hose — Where do you possibly begin? How can you get it all done? How much will she actually understand? Should you spend the first few days sightseeing […]

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Phases of the AP Year

by cv harquail June 2, 2008
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To everything, there is a season.…. this was true of your relationships with your college boyfriends, and it’s true of your relationships with APs. Every AP relationship follows a predictable pattern– the anxiety of selection, the celebration of finding someone, the anticipation of her arrival, the chaos of orientation, the ease of the cruising time, […]

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