Your Host Parent approach

What About Being an Au Pair Host Parent “Sparks Joy”?

by cv harquail July 20, 2015
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Sparks Joy? If you aren’t one of the three million people who bought this book, or one of the 17 million people I’ve talked to about it, then you might not have thought about a possible link between being an Au Pair Host Parent and The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up. If you are one […]

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How to improve your Au Pair relationship in just one minute

by cv harquail July 11, 2015
cat in hat saying WORD

If I told you that you could improve your relationship with your au pair in just one minute, would you try it? Sure you would. You’re a busy host mom (or dad), juggling many demands and competing priorities. And, you’re a busy host mom who wants her au pair to know when she is doing […]

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Time for a Reset Conversation – with the Whole Family

by cv harquail July 7, 2015
au pair problems, reset conversation

Things were going to hell in a hand basket. Dishes clean but still in the dishwasher. Laundry folded and never put away. Children announcing that they needed to be driven here and picked up there, at the last minute. Spouse “having dinner with a client. I told you about it yesterday” but nothing written on […]

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What’s Fair Pay for Au Pairs Outside the USA?

by cv harquail June 5, 2015
beach houses au pair assist site

Host Mom 4thTimeLucky?!   shared a really interesting and comprehensive recommendation for assessing Fair Pay for Au Pairs in unregulated  countries (aka countries without fully-regulated Au Pair programs).   The document was originally written and shared by Anja Kapelski. Anja runs Au Pair-Assist, an Australian Au Pair placement agency.   As 4thTimeLucky?!  writes:   The document tries to convey a realistic picture of […]

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Welcome Your Au Pair With a Fully-Stocked Bathroom

by cv harquail May 24, 2015
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When your au pair arrives in your home, the way that you’ve prepared for their arrival can say a lot about how excited you are to get to know them. We’re all away of the basic things we should have ready —  a clean, happy bedroom, a freshly printed handbook, a personalized map,  a training schedule, […]

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How Have Au Pair Host Parents -As A Group- Changed Over Time?

by cv harquail May 21, 2015
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Once you’ve had your first Au Pair, you become wiser and more effective as a host parent.  We think. We’ve seen the cycle of the au pair year ebb and flow. We know, individually, that we’ve gotten more savvy and more organized year after year. We’ve gotten less patient — or maybe more patient?– with […]

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Taking An Au Pair on Vacation: Hotel Room Arrangements

by cv harquail April 9, 2015
barbiehotel

Already looking forward to your summer vacation?  If you’re planning to bring your Au Pair, now is the time to start talking about vacation arrangements –especially how you plan to manage hotel rooms. Au Pairs should be provided with their own private room to sleep in — that’s what the Agencies require. The Agencies require […]

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How Should Au Pair Host Parents Respond to Charges Against the Au Pair Program?

by cv harquail March 23, 2015
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While I was away last week, a very disturbing post hit the Washington Post Wonkblog, where the title shares its central claim: “Au pairs provide cheap childcare. Maybe illegally cheap.” In the post, the author describes a class action lawsuit being brought against US Au Pair Agencies by a Colorado group called Towards Justice, on behalf of […]

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When Your Au Pair Complains About A Fair Schedule

by cv harquail March 9, 2015
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File this under: “Grrrrrr.”  You are a lovely family with an adorable child.  You offer a reasonably cushy schedule to your au pair. Most days it’s 2 hours in the morning and 4- 4 1/2 in the afternoon/evening. You go out some weeks nights here and there, to book club or (gasp) to the gym.  And […]

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When Your Au Pair’s Efforts to Help Just Make Things Worse

by cv harquail February 10, 2015
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You know it’s a sad story when it begins … “One weekend in an effort to emulate Martha Stewart…” … I lovingly planted thyme in between the flagstones of my back patio. My plan was for the herbs to fill in the dirt lines, crowd out the weeds, and offer up a fragrance when we walked around […]

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