Groceries: How much ‘extra’ can your Au Pair ask you to buy?

by cv harquail July 3, 2009
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As part of our conversations about grocery shopping, food, costs, and being ‘part of the family’, many of us have mentioned that we invite or allow our au pairs to add items to the family grocery list, which we then pay for out of our family budget. Usually, we do this to accommodate our au […]

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Part of the Family: The Au Pairs’ Perspective

by cv harquail July 2, 2009
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Okay Au Pairs– It’s your turn to chime in… and share the au pair side of the ‘part of the family’ equation. What does it mean to you to be "part of the family"? What do host families do that helps you feel "part of the family"? What do host families do that takes away […]

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Part of the Family: What does that mean to you?

by cv harquail July 1, 2009
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What does it really mean for your au pair to be "part of the family"? What do you do in your relationship with her that is different, if you treat her as "part of the family" versus if you don’t? Have you had the opportunity to compare the experience of a live-in caregiver who was […]

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Not Listening? Not Understanding? Not working out… help!

by cv harquail June 27, 2009
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This mom has an interesting twist on a common challenge: the language barrier. In this case, her AP speaks clearly…she just doesn’t seem to understand…or listen.. or care. it’s not clear. Can you offer her any advice? Our new au pair, from Brazil, arrived two weeks ago after our Swedish au pair decided our family […]

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Hello? Your Au Pair needs good “phone manners”

by cv harquail June 25, 2009
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I just got off the phone with the au pair of one of my friends, and I had two serious problems during the call. Neither problem was caused by the au pair’s still-limited English. Both of these problems were cause by bad phone manners. Said another way, the problems would not even have occurred if […]

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Would you give your Au Pair a credit card?

by cv harquail June 25, 2009
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An anonymous reader of the post “Feeding my kids too much fast food” mentioned having had a problem with her au pair and credit cards: DO NOT EVER give your AP a credit card or debit card to use. We learned the hard way with our first AP. She was getting cash back with all […]

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Feeling Squished by Our Au Pair

by cv harquail June 23, 2009
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What do you do when your au pair wants so much to be with you and your family that you never get any personal space? And, what happens when, in your efforts to be kind and generous, you continue to cede important personal space, events, and rituals to incorporate her, making your personal space smaller […]

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Feeding my kids too much fast food… Now what?

by cv harquail June 21, 2009
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What is it about Au Pairs and fast food? Maybe because it’s so ‘American’, or because fast food outlets are ubiquitous, or because they are always warm, dry and welcoming public places, fast food emporiums seem to capture the attention of many an au pair. Au pairs seem to spend a lot of time at […]

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What skills has your Au Pair learned… from You?

by cv harquail June 20, 2009
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I was downstairs early this morning, in quiet reverie folding laundry. When I dragged the fitted sheets out of the dryer and started the elaborate and effective semaphore choreography that gets them folded into tidy piles, I was reminded of all of the crazy little things that I have taught my au pairs over the […]

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Traveling with Kids: Book to investigate

by cv harquail June 20, 2009
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Strolling across the interweb this morning, I came across this review of a book about traveling with kids … and it looks like the kind of information Au Pair host parents might be interested in. Many of us choose to have Au Pairs over US college student live-ins, or other caregivers, because we’d like to […]

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