Random Advice

Would you ever hire an AWOL Au Pair?

by cv harquail June 23, 2010

That’s a rhetorical question. A host mom just sent me a link to a discussion forum wherein a parent was asking for help finding an au pair. This parent doesn’t want just any au pair. This parent wants an au pair who has gone AWOL– who has left an official au pair program & host […]

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From “All of Us at AuPairMom”: A note

by cv harquail June 18, 2010

I was just sending an email to Anna, to wish her well with the impending arrival of her new baby, and I *really* wanted to send her hugs from everyone here on the blog. Similarly, a few days ago I emailed another contributor who has been going through chemo, again wanting to send her collective […]

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Are “crazy” Au Pair guidelines really all that crazy?

by cv harquail June 9, 2010

I laughed at the comment by Taking a Computer Lunch, on rules in her family handbook: My least favorite rule that I had to add – don’t burn candles and leave your room. Duh! As I look through our family handbook, there are some real doozies. My personal favorite is “In the evening, please do […]

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In Loco Parentis? Your Parental Responsibilities when your AP’s behavior challenges your values

by cv harquail June 1, 2010

As Host Parents, we have an odd role in our Au Pair’s lives. We are responsible for keeping them safe, housed, fed, and supported in their work with our children. And we also often play a role that I call Pseudo In Loco Parentis. Pseudo In Loco Parentis Like the fancy Latin? Years ago, women’s […]

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Yes, I’m playing with the formatting!

by cv harquail May 28, 2010

This weekend it’s pink, green & brown to match the new owl. Next week, it may be back to the old owl, but with blue & green colored text to match. Do you think the pink is too much? let me know! cv

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Working Mom Realities at TheMamaBee

by cv harquail May 14, 2010

For the small segment of the world who uses Twitter, Fridays are special days, full of treats. #FollowFriday (or #ff, for short) is a day when folks will tweet to recommend someone to follow… and it’s a great way to discover new resources and find new voices. Since most AuPairMom readers, like most Americans, aren’t […]

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Realizing you aren’t ready to be Au Pair host parents? And you have an Au Pair?

by cv harquail May 12, 2010

If we only knew then what we know now… being an Au Pair Host Parent would be really easy. Okay, easier. As our au pair parenting experiences unfold, we learn a lot about what works and what doesn’t, what we can change and what we can’t, how we can accommodate to an au pair and […]

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Extending Legally, Without an Agency: Ideas?

by cv harquail April 25, 2010

We would like advice on how to extend with out au pair legally, but by using a lawyer instead of going through our current agency. We want to disconnect from our agency, gently. To put it mildly, our experience with our agency & LCC has been a great disappointment. They are the only agency that […]

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When Your Au Pair Breaks Your Psychological Contract

by cv harquail April 24, 2010

July 19: Balancing act (58/61) by theDQT

[ Note: I think this might be the longest AuPairMom post I’ve ever written. It was a long train ride and I think I got carried away.] Host families and au pairs call it mutual expectations, and management scholars call it the “psychological contract”. The idea behind a psychological contract is that we agree to […]

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