Your Host Parent approach

Your Au Pair is not a Maid

by cv harquail June 17, 2010
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What’s the difference between an au pair and a maid? In some host families, not very much. Some host families expect their au pairs to do basic housework in addition to caring for children. In the US, “housekeeping”is limited to cleaning up the kids rooms (but in my mind, not vacuuming them), keeping the play […]

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Matching with an Au Pair: How much info to share about an Atypical Host Parent Situation

by cv harquail June 14, 2010
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Today’s Truth: Some of us are typical host parents, some of us are atypical host parents, and all of us are trying to be better host parents. I’ve been wanting to write about atypical parenting situations for a while now, but a conversation over the weekend has raised a particular situation where we can consider […]

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10 Days of Work that Might Surprise Your Au Pair

by cv harquail June 7, 2010
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What’s most surprising thing for Au Pairs to learn about Memorial Day, July 4th and Labor Day? A. They mark the beginning, middle and end of “summer”. B. They are celebrated with barbecues and maybe some nice cold beer. C. They are days when most Americans have “off” but most Au Pairs do not. Answer? […]

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The Three Phone Calls I Want to Get From My Au Pair at 2 am

by cv harquail June 3, 2010
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I’ve had too much to drink and I can’t drive home safely. Can you come and get me? My friend has had too much to drink and she can’t drive us home safely. Can you come and get us? I don’t feel safe and I don’t know how to get home. Can you come and […]

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

by cv harquail June 1, 2010
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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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Happy Birthday & Thanks to all of us!

by cv harquail May 23, 2010

It’s a special day! AuPairMom is celebrating its 2nd Birthday! For two years, with 370 posts, 9,000+ comments, and 46,000 visitors, we’ve been pooling our wisdom to make the experience of hosting an Au Pair and being an Au Pair better and better. In the olden days, there were no cluster meetings for host parents. […]

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When you need some time alone … with your kids, without the Au Pair

by cv harquail May 17, 2010
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‘SotaGal commented last week about, sometimes, she just wants to be with her kids, alone. “Mommy-a-mano”, no DH, no DP, no AP. Just Mom & the kids. There is nothing wrong with that. We all want 1 on 1/2/3 time, time when we are the only adult in the room, the only adult in the […]

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The 2nd Best Goodbye Gift You Can Give Your Au Pair

by cv harquail May 15, 2010
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Last year one of our most active and committed community members “Taking a Computer Lunch“, casually mentioned something that she does for all of her au pairs shortly before they depart. She gives them the gift of “The Box“. What is “The Box”? We give our APs the biggest box their home countries permit, either […]

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Working Mom Realities at TheMamaBee

by cv harquail May 14, 2010
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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
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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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