Your Host Parent approach

Au Pair Appreciation: All this, and a friend too

by cv harquail May 1, 2009
200904302038.jpg

International Au Pair Appreciation Week As shared by a Host Mom I am the very proud mother of three children, ages 10, 9 and 2. My older two were adopted three years ago from Torosovo, Russia. They came from a background of extreme poverty, abuse and neglect, and as older adopted children, the transition to […]

5 comments Read the full article →

How to choose between two good candidates? Offer your opinion…

by cv harquail April 24, 2009
boxolove.jpg

When folks ask for advice about their au pair, don’t you just wish sometimes you could go back with them to the very beginning, back when they were deciding what kind of au pair to choose? And you could tell them just what you think they should do? It could be just like in a […]

12 comments Read the full article →

Setting Guidelines when your Au Pair has guests

by cv harquail April 23, 2009
bro.jpg

When an au pair has guests come to visit, it is tempting for the Host Parents to give the au pair lots of ‘extras’– extra time off, extra flexibility, extra food and space, and basically to try to accommodate their au pair’s expected desire to spend time with the visiting friend or family member. This […]

11 comments Read the full article →

What keeps you hanging on to a disappointing Au Pair?

by cv harquail April 19, 2009
the sky is always blue.jpeg

Let’s look at the other side of the situation of the half-empty/half-full relationship … We’ve shared and commented on stories from host parents who are having bad experiences but can’t seem to let go , even though to us — as outsiders looking in — the decision to rematch (or not to extend) seems both […]

3 comments Read the full article →

Announcing…. International Au Pair Appreciation Week!

by cv harquail April 18, 2009
cute girl by blackboard.jpg

International Au Pair Appreciation Week May 1 – 9, 2009! Au Pair Appreciation Week is our chance as host moms and dads to celebrate what we enjoy the most about having au pairs in our family lives. Although moms and dads who ask for advice here on AuPairMom are occasionally accused of being grumpy, demanding, […]

6 comments Read the full article →

When you are available and your Au Pair is ‘on duty’ — how to manage?

by cv harquail April 16, 2009
Anything She Can Do, I Can Do Better.... on Flickr - Photo Sharing!_1231092697748.jpeg

Caveat: This is NOT a post about (1) when you work at home and your au pair is on duty, [post for another day] or (2) when you are absolutely off duty and she is on duty…[post from earlier today]. This one is about: When you both are at home and available to the kids— […]

9 comments Read the full article →

Scheduling your Au Pair to be on duty when you are at home…

by cv harquail April 16, 2009
james dean w feet up 1.jpg

I got a bit of a chuckle when I saw this topic suggestion on the Skribit form: “Should you make your au pair work on weekends if both parents are at home doing nothing?” The topic suggestion was anonymous, but if I had to guess I’d say it was from an au pair. Why? Because […]

33 comments Read the full article →

3 Ways to be a Great Host Parent

by cv harquail April 14, 2009
Free Pink Flower pick sherbert.jpeg

Here’s the first in an occasional series about Ways to be a Great Host Parent . Sorry Tolstoy. Whether happy or not so happy, not every host family is the same.  We host families like to revel in our uniqueness and we like to think that, for the lucky au pair, our family is just […]

11 comments Read the full article →

Build the Mothers’ Rights Movement!

by cv harquail April 10, 2009
mommanifesto.jpg

Up to this point I haven’t posted here at AuPairMom on topics beyond the particular world of hosting Au Pairs, but today I’m making an exception to share the offer I got, below, from an organization that I really believe in: MomsRising. MomsRising is an organization whose "members are bringing important motherhood and family issues […]

Read the full article →

Au Pair Mom Admin: When Au Pairs comment … Poll

by cv harquail April 10, 2009
kissing hand.jpg

Hi Moms & Dads, I’ve been wondering how you all feel about the comments by au pairs on various posts, and whether you’d like me to take a more active role in managing the participation of au pairs in our conversations. We have had some really useful comments from au pairs, where they have asked […]

16 comments Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →