If you have a housecleaner, does s/he clean your Au Pair’s room?

by cv harquail December 14, 2009
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I admit, I was a little surprised to learn that some of us who pay to have our houses cleaned include the au pair’s room in the housecleaner’s duties. Probably it’s because I’m always trying to save money and have needed to have the housecleaner’s energy all on the main parts of the house, but […]

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Your Au Pair’s Room: How much mess can you take?

by cv harquail December 14, 2009
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A host mom sent me a few photos of her au pair’s bedroom (taken with the au pair’s permission). The host mom was agonizing, because the room was a freaking mess. This family’s au pair was following the two most important bedroom-related rules: No dirty dishes and no candles/incense. But otherwise the place was a […]

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Mixing Grandparents and Au Pairs at the Holidays

by cv harquail December 12, 2009
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Who’d have thought this would be a topic? As I neatened up the spare room to welcome my mother-in-law, I was remembering some of the well-intentioned tensions we had our first Christmas with our au pair and Grandparents together, and how we tried to manage them. My parents-in-law, like most grandparents, were over the moon […]

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Advice Wanted: Damage Control for Possible Escape Artist

by cv harquail December 10, 2009
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Au Pair Host Mom “Not Smiling in Seattle” writes: I am hoping you readers have some honest input for us. My Au Pair last night announced her mother was ill and needs an operation. My first impression was “oh my gosh, is your mom ok?” When I asked for more information, our au pair could […]

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Christmas Tip: Make sure your Au Pair has a stocking

by cv harquail December 10, 2009
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If you are a first-time host family, and if you celebrate Christmas, you might find yourself caught off guard when you begin to incorporate your Au Pair into your family traditions. Some families will want their au pair to help select and decorate the tree, others won’t. Some families will invite the au pair to […]

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Holiday Gifts for Au Pairs

by cv harquail December 10, 2009
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It’s time to start thinking of gift ideas for your au pair, if you haven’t already! In previous posts we’ve talked about gifts that we like to give our au pairs, either for holidays or birthdays. These ideas have included scrapbooks, photo albums, scented bath treats, and of course, the ever-popular gift set from Sephora […]

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AuPairMom: Proudly Independent

by cv harquail December 7, 2009
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We interrupt our conversation to discuss the status of AuPairMom. In case you were wondering, AuPairMom is not affiliated with any au pair agency. I, CV (aka mom@aupairmom), am not a host mom affiliated with or currently using any au pair agency. I feel compelled to remind you of the independence of the blog, because […]

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We *are* making a difference

by cv harquail December 5, 2009
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We got this email, below, earlier this week, from a mom who’s been reading and participating on the blog for a while now. I’m sharing it with you because it’s a happy story, and because you all know that my main role here is to create a space for all of us to share ideas. […]

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Leftover Thanksgiving Tips for your Au Pair Relationship

by cv harquail December 2, 2009
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Do you have any Thanksgiving Leftovers leftover? We got cleaned out by my sister, who took several tubs of Gladware back to her house, leaving us with just one day of warmed turkey and too much cranberry sauce. Luckily, she overlooked Enid’s Pumpkin Chiffon Pie. DH and I polished that off all by ourselves. But […]

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Crazy MisCommunication with your Au Pair

by cv harquail November 28, 2009
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Ah, the fun of mis-communicating– it adds a special zing to the parent-au pair-child relationship, no? Whether or not it’s due to a language barrier, there are some times when you discover what you think your au pair thought you said isn’t actually anything near what you think you thought you said, or vice versa. […]

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