Au Pairs and Cell Phones: Concrete tips to hold down costs?

by cv harquail March 5, 2010
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When a host mom emailed to ask for some specific suggestions around keeping the cost of cell phones down, I flinched. The whole cell phone thing, like recycling, is delegated in our house to my DH. Why? Because I just can’t stand to deal with it. Though I should deal with it, and stop avoiding […]

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Can this Au Pair relationship be saved? Lying, smoking, drinking, and the silent treatment

by cv harquail March 3, 2010
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Hi, AuPairMom Readers– We are a host family in a metropolitan suburb with two young boys. This is our fourth year hosting. Over the years, we have had 3 very successful matches and 2 rematches – a mixed bag. The good matches were very good, and those au pairs continue to visit us, and we […]

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Do you require your Au Pair to get a U.S. driver’s licence?

by cv harquail March 2, 2010
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For example, in our town the police officers get upset if you don’t have a US license and have even ticketed a au pair or two, even though state lae says that using an international driver’s license is legal.

…Someone at our local DMV does not understand that a J1 working visa is different from a student visa, and has turned away more than one au pair who didn’t have a school transcript with her. it’s worthwhile to have a native English speaker there to explain the visa requirements so au pairs don’t have to stand in line for hours multiple times only to be turned away.

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My Au Pair got a speeding ticket

by cv harquail March 1, 2010
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Has your au pair ever gotten a speeding ticket? That you know of? Or that you found out about later, after several summonses arrived in the mail? How have you handled this? Tell it to this Host Mom: Our au pair got a speeding ticket– a surprise for her and for me. Now I have […]

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When your Local Community Counselor can’t remember your name

by cv harquail February 25, 2010
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Wanna talk about creating a good relationship with your Local Community Counselor (LCC)? Let’s take a tip from a real Super Nanny, TSOM’s Fraulein Maria. “Let’s start at the very beginning.” No one (neither Au Pair nor host parent) can have a supportive relationship with an LCC unless the LCC does two basic things: (1) […]

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Tax Info For Au Pairs

by cv harquail February 24, 2010
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HostDadinNJ sent me a PDF of information from the Au Pair Care Agency, which answers lots of questions AND has some great links to official & legal information. Sadly, I can’t figure out how to upload the pdf to the blog, since I’m missing the MSQL PHP or something.  However, in the meantime, if you […]

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3 Qualities of a Great Local Community Counselor

by cv harquail February 24, 2010
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We’ve got quite a backlog of posts waiting to go up about LCCs (Local Community Counselor)  — those agency employees who are in charge of your local cluster of au pairs and host families. If you use an agency, your LCC can make or break your au pair experience. She is the link between the […]

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Honest Truth, how many weeks are over 45 hrs? (Poll)

by cv harquail February 23, 2010
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The controversy continues! There’s now some concern over just how widespread is the practice of having your au pair work more than 45 hours a week. Let’s try to put some numbers in this — I’d love to get an empirical assessment of this practice… Problem is that an online poll will NOT give us […]

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Do Au Pairs have to pay income tax?

by cv harquail February 22, 2010
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I never really thought much about whether Au Pairs have to pay US income taxes. I always thought that one of the benefits of using an Au Pair Agency was that the agency somehow dealt with that? Or maybe they don’t make enough money really to have anything to pay? I honestly don’t know what […]

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Tim Gunn’s advice on breaking the rules

by cv harquail February 21, 2010
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If you ask Tim Gunn for advice about breaking the rules, he’ll tell you two things: 1. Make it work, and 2. Use the Bluefly accessories wall thoughtfully. Both pieces of Tim Gunn’s advice to fashionistas apply to au pairs & host families. In general, I am black handbag = black shoes kind of person. […]

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