Au Pair Appreciation: All this, and a friend too

by cv harquail May 1, 2009
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International Au Pair Appreciation Week As shared by a Host Mom I am the very proud mother of three children, ages 10, 9 and 2. My older two were adopted three years ago from Torosovo, Russia. They came from a background of extreme poverty, abuse and neglect, and as older adopted children, the transition to […]

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Advice wanted: My AuPair prefers the infant, won’t interact with the 6 yr old

by cv harquail April 30, 2009
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I need some advice. Our Aupair pretty much ignores my 6 year old daughter. She takes care of my 7 month old son but hardly interacts with my daughter. Her interaction is limited to telling her what to do [like brush her teeth] and what she should not be doing [no talking since the baby […]

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Extra Umbrellas and Hidden House Keys: The beauty of redundancy

by cv harquail April 30, 2009
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In my household, there are 7 sets of house keys. My husband knows about 4 sets, my au pair knows about 6 sets, and only I know about the 7th set. Similarly, we have: at least one umbrella in each of 3 cars, two or three umbrellas in the hall closet, one umbrella in my […]

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Reminder: Au Pair Appreciation Week… send in your appreciation!

by cv harquail April 29, 2009
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Moms and Dads — Only 3 days 1 day to go until the start of Au Pair Appreciation Week! I’m really excited about it, except for one thing: So far, I haven’t received *any* I have received ONLY 3 stories, sentences or photos to post during the week. HELP!!!!!!!!!!!

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Would you ever use a “nanny cam”?

by cv harquail April 26, 2009
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A reader suggested that we talk about nanny cams. (She suggested the topic using the Skribit widget on the sidebar… hint hint). Personally, I think nanny cams are kindof creepy, in general. And, if I were ever tempted to use one myself, it would be a sign to me that my relationship with my au […]

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Poll: Have you ever switched Au Pair agencies? If so, why?

by cv harquail April 25, 2009
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As a believer in the “path of least resistance’” and a fan of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, I’ve been with the same agency since we started with au pairs. I chose the agency because it was one of the only two in my town at the time, it had a much larger […]

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How to choose between two good candidates? Offer your opinion…

by cv harquail April 24, 2009
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When folks ask for advice about their au pair, don’t you just wish sometimes you could go back with them to the very beginning, back when they were deciding what kind of au pair to choose? And you could tell them just what you think they should do? It could be just like in a […]

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Setting Guidelines when your Au Pair has guests

by cv harquail April 23, 2009
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When an au pair has guests come to visit, it is tempting for the Host Parents to give the au pair lots of ‘extras’– extra time off, extra flexibility, extra food and space, and basically to try to accommodate their au pair’s expected desire to spend time with the visiting friend or family member. This […]

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Extension Candidates: How to interview, what to look for

by cv harquail April 20, 2009
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Extension candidates are a tough bunch. These au pairs already know the score… they know what it takes to be an au pair, they have already improved their English a bit, they know how hard it can be to take care of children, and they know the wide range of material situations that host families […]

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Extending with your current Au Pair: A Bad Idea?

by cv harquail April 20, 2009
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Our post about interviewing extension candidates reminds us of an earlier bit of advice that was a surprise to many of us host parents. My LCC gave me great advice. No matter how good the relationship is, NEVER extend with the same au pair. It almost never works out. She thinks that an au pair […]

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