Random Advice

What a little bird said about Au Pairs

by cv harquail July 12, 2009

@dawnpopp Dawn, how is it that your AP wants to cook for you, but (seems like) everyone elses just want to eat? Spill the secrets! # @CaliYost rt @CravingBalance Wally Bock: work life balance comes down to choices, choices connected to what you value. http://ow.ly/gzqQ # @AuPairAnswerMom To me, some of these reasons 4 APs […]

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Food secrets from the West Coast: Calif Mom shares all!

by cv harquail July 7, 2009

Calif Mom gets her own post this time! Just TOO MUCH good info to tuck in there as the 27th comment on the Groceries post. Calif Mom writes: For the broader discussion I can vaguely imagine for myself, in some sort of idealized parallel universe, a life in which I would have the entire week’s […]

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Food and Your Au Pair

by cv harquail July 7, 2009

Boy, that post on Groceries triggered a lot of issues! Rather than try to keep track of them in the comments to that one post, let’s pull them out into posts of their own. So, coming up over the next several days, we’ll have posts about: Our AP’s appetite is so big, I can’t afford […]

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Extending– without the Agency. Yes or no?

by cv harquail June 17, 2009

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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What a little bird said about Au Pairs

by cv harquail June 7, 2009

Now that I see a bunch of au pair mom advisors on Twitter, guess I must double up with accounts. my alterego? @cvharquail # Check out this interesting interview about The Daddy Identity Crisis http://bit.ly/102trV # Just found this comparison of au pair programs. Great if you read German (or understand “ja”) http://bit.ly/BlCxe # A […]

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A Little Something for/about Host Dads…

by cv harquail June 3, 2009

Okay Host Dads, it being June and all, here’s a little info treat about– you guessed it– being a dad. Maybe the rest of us moms need to read it too so that we can be more sympathetic. ;-) The Daddy Brain Moms aren’t the only ones whose bodies change after having a baby. Jeremy […]

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All real, all the time

by cv harquail May 26, 2009

A regular reader and commenter sent me an email this morning asking whether the story posted with the poll is real, or whether I made it up. Dear readers, may I just say, you can’t make this s%*# up. I am as surprised as you are at what people are willing to put up with, […]

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Rematch? You vote yes or no….

by cv harquail May 25, 2009

When I saw this comment pop up earlier tonight, it reminded me of the story that we just discussed… so many similar issues. So I have an idea– let’s take a vote on whether or not this mom should insist on a rematch. Then, let’s give this mom some ideas about what to tell her […]

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Au Pair Advice: Can we get her to speak the right language with the kids?

by cv harquail May 21, 2009

Sing me Spanish techno? This just in from Madrid!! A host mom with a different kind of language challenge! Just about every host family- au pair relationship I know of feels some kind of communication challenge… and these are always exacerbated when the host family and au pair grew up speaking different languages. But this […]

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Choosing an Au Pair: Using email to reach out to a candidate

by cv harquail May 14, 2009

Once you’ve found a candidate that interests you and you have her contact information, you need to establish contact reach out to her. I’ve found that an email is a great way to start the conversation. (If she does not haves an email address, go to the phone pronto.) An email can "warm up" a […]

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