I Know a Great Au Pair going into rematch… how can I help her find a good family?

by cv harquail January 17, 2011
I am serious. And don

We try not to meddle, but sometimes the temptation is too high… like, when you know a ReallyGreatAuPair® who’s going into rematch. Host Mom Jemima would love your advice, maybe even if it means trying to do a re-match through the comments… ! From Host Mom Jemima — When I was choosing my current (and […]

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Au Pair Asks: My Host Mom wants to get rid of me. … Am I alone in this feeling?

by cv harquail January 16, 2011
Heartbroken

Readers, here’s another one of those emails that I just don’t have a good answer for… Can any of you au pairs or host parents offer her some comfort? Hi Au Pair Mom, I am an au pair and always read this blog, to know if I am doing right, to have kind of a […]

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Classic Case: We’re in rematch… Now what?

by cv harquail January 15, 2011
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Sometimes the questions we get are so big and so overwhelming to imagine answering, that the email ends up sitting in my box for days and days, waiting for me to get up the energy to tackle it. And so it was with this email, below. A first time host mom asks — We’re in […]

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Experienced Host Parent is Weary: How can she regain enthusiasm for the Au Pair program?

by cv harquail January 12, 2011
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Over time, being an au pair Host Parent can start to feel tiresome. Even though each au pair is new, with his or her own talents and challenges, the activity and responsibility of being a host parent stays the same. Sure, with each new au pair relationship you get better and better with your handbook, […]

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How can an Au Pair candidate hasten a match?

by cv harquail January 11, 2011
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Yesterday we got this email from an au pair candidate who is very excited about finding a family. She asks: How could I be selected as an au pair as soon as possible? I offered her a little advice, and I’d love to hear what you all might suggest… Hi I’m Shannon from (Southeast Asia), […]

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When should we send our Family Handbook to our incoming au pair?

by cv harquail January 6, 2011
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As every reader of this blog knows, we are big fans of the concept of the Family Handbook. And by “we” I don’t mean the royal  moi, but all of us host parents (and even au pairs). It really helps to create a handbook to get your expectations and needs out into clear language, and […]

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Too much excitement for her first weekend?

by cv harquail January 6, 2011
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Dear Au Pair Mom readers– We are expecting our very first au pair to arrive tomorrow — we are really excited! And we already have a question about the best ways to get her into the swing of family life. We were invited to a birthday party the day after the Au Pair arrives. (She […]

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How can we prepare our Au Pair for significant disruption?

by cv harquail January 4, 2011
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Life brings us wave after wave of change. To move forward, we have to adapt to changes that happen to us and to changes that we make ourselves. And, as parents, we have to help our families anticipate and adapt to the changes we see coming, and to all the surprises we’re not quite able […]

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New Year’s Eve Thanks

by cv harquail December 31, 2010
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Some New Year’s Eve thank you thoughts: Thank you to all of you host parents who are staying in tonight, so that your au pairs can go out on the town. Thank you to all of you au pairs who are staying in tonight, so that your host parents can go out on the town. […]

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10 Most Engaging Posts of 2010 on Au Pair Mom

by cv harquail December 31, 2010
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Each of us has a topic or two that really hits our hot buttons… but have you ever wondered which topics we all seem to want to talk about? In an ‘end of the year retrospective’ moment, I went back and looked over the posts for this past year to see which ones were the […]

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