There’s nothing like a well-chosen holiday gift to tell a person
“I see you. I understand you. I care about you.”
Each year, the Winter holidays give us a chance to let our au pairs know that we appreciate them as a family member, as a valued childcare giver, and as a young adult “on a life adventure“.
For some of us, holiday gifting is a time when our imaginations, creativity, and caring can run wild. For others, not so much. We get stuck in the basics — SlipperSocks anyone? — because we can’t find the right match between the person, the gift concept, and our budget of $ and time.
We have a lot of previous posts (listed below) where Host Parents have shared what gifts they’ve given to au pairs and offered suggestions to those of us who need some inspiration.
This year, I want to go above and beyond these old posts, and offer any host parent or au pair the chance to ‘curate’ a list of Au Pair Holiday Gifts, to be shared on the blog for the AuPairMom Community.
Here’s how to create an Au Pair Gift Guide:
– Create an email to mom at au pair mom dot com that shares your suggestions, and I’ll post it as a guest column.
– Make the task easy — and personal — by limiting yourself to maybe 5 but no more than 10 gift suggestions.
– Make the list specific — create a title to help you focus. Consider curating a list like “Chanukah Gifts for Au Pairs Who Love Facebook”, or “5 Techie Gifts for DrWho’s Favorite Au Pair“.
– In your email, include item images, a target price, and a description of the item. If the gift is hard to find, hand made, or very specific, go ahead and add hot links (affiliate links are okay) that can take readers to another site where the gift can be purchased.
– If you’d prefer to do something more streamlined — just a list of ideas with item names and nice descriptions — that’s fine too. Simple is always good.
– Add your name or ‘nom de mom’, and a brief description of your family and au pair history.
(For example, “HostMomName, her DH and their two toddlers live near Washington DC. They’ve had three terrific au pairs. Other moms in her cluster call HostMomName ‘the au pair whisperer’, since she’s able to help many au pairs adjust their expectations for their year in the USA.”
– If you’d like to share a photo of you and/or your family, that would be great too!)
Alternatively, if you’re active on Pinterest, you can send us the link to your pinterest page.
Send me your email, and assuming I can manage the technicalities of getting the links and pictures organized out of your emails, I’ll post each one on the blog.
Happy Au Pair Gifting to You!
~~~
Previous posts:
Holiday Gifts for Au Pairs
Holiday Gift: For her or you?
On celebrating each other’s religious holidaysHoliday Bonus, Tip, or End of Year Cash Gift? (Poll)
Hand-Crafted Gifts for the Host Family: Ideas?
How much should you tip your Au Pair at Christmas?
Gift, Bonus or Tip: Call it what you want, but keep in mind….
See also:
10 Top Holiday Gift Ideas for Au Pairs from AuPairBuzz at Cultural Care
Image: Holiday Christmas SQUIRREL CARD. Avaliable on Etsy from AtomicHotDish!
{ 1 comment }
When I left the USA, i gave my host family a photo-opoly, you should check it out, if you have time to make it, it can be a great gift to give, its gives you memories as well as a game to play with.
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