Can you dock her pay if she owes you money? Poll

by cv harquail August 14, 2009

Are there any situations when it’s fair for you to withhold or ‘dock’ your au pair’s pocket money? We skirted around this issue in a previous conversation about when your au pair refuses to work, but never answered it directly. Now, we’ve got a topic request (on Skribit) with a very specific situation: You AP […]

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Calendar Advice from CalifMom

by cv harquail August 10, 2009

A treat from Calif Mom! Knowing that I’d be away from the blog (for a little longer than I’d planned) Calif Mom sent us a present: a guest post on calendars! Here’s her advice, with the usual blend of wisdom and wit! cv Dorsi mentioned Google Calendar in a comment advising a host mom who […]

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Maximizing a Warm Welcome from first-time Host Kids

by cv harquail July 30, 2009
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Getting an au pair for the first time is a big deal for host parents, and it’s a particularly bg deal for host kids. They too will be switching from one form of care to another, and they too will have someone they don’t know (yet) living in their house, drivin their car, petting their […]

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Choosing an Au Pair: Religion as an Au Pair selection criterion

by cv harquail July 28, 2009
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I’m A Believer. I believe that religion is something you should seriously consider when selecting an au pair. In my family’s experience, religion has been an important selection criterion — and also the source of some interesting relationship problems. Our experience Our family is of mixed religious traditions: I’m a christian with a lower case […]

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What a little bird said about Au Pairs

by cv harquail July 26, 2009

Anyone with room in her room at #Blogher09? I Found a roomie, but am still getting requests from folks off waitlist. How can we help? # #blogHer09 Anyone going who writes about business, strategy, management? Love my ‘domestic’ blog but my scholarly blog needs community too # @ShiploadofWilco sign me up # @modite Super cute […]

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Unhappy Complainer who won’t make friends: Can this relationship be saved?

by cv harquail July 21, 2009
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It’s funny how sometimes, when it’s your situation, the whole thing seems complex. Then when someone else reads it, the answer is clear. Or not. Do we ever really know whether a new au pair (or host family) is just struggling to get adjusted, or instead if it’s a lost cause? Check out the description […]

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Finding Good Au Pair Candidates: Best Practices for each system

by cv harquail July 21, 2009
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How about we sort out our advice to each other, based on the kind of system that our agencies/sites use? I’ve set up 3 posts, one each for: Finding Good Au Pair Candidates 1: Best Practices for the "1 at a time" system Finding Good Au Pair Candidates 2: Best Practices for the "they give […]

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Finding Good Au Pair Candidates 3: Best Practices for the “Searching their whole data base” system

by cv harquail July 21, 2009
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No! Not the needle in the haystack image! Okay, here’s something different. These girls are all delicious, all delightful, all of them clever smart and kind. But really, with all those cute photos and similar profiles, how do you find the one(s) who are right for you?

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Finding Good Au Pair Candidates 2: Best Practices for the “they give me a group to look at” system

by cv harquail July 21, 2009
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Okay, so you’ve set your basic preferences and sent them to the agency. The agency’s computers churn a bit, and out come 4 recommended candidates, right into your online family folder. Now what? How can you make this process really work well for you?

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Finding Good Au Pair Candidates 1: Best Practices for the “1 at a time” system

by cv harquail July 21, 2009
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How do you manage the process of interviewing candidates one at a time? What can you do to make sure that the candidates you are sent are a pretty good match to begin with, so that you don’t have to weed out girls who surely wouldn’t fit with your family?

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