Food and your Au Pair: Label it if you don’t want her to eat it

by cv harquail December 9, 2008
cookies18-735236

Do you know what it feels like to spend two precious hours baking several dozen homemade cookies for your daughter’s class party, only to discover the next day, when you go to wrap them, that your au pair and her friends have eaten all but 6? That’s about how I felt last week, when an […]

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More Thanksgiving Day ideas…for you and your Au Pair

by cv harquail November 24, 2008
wampanoag aupairs low cost childcare au apir advice

What do you know about Thanksgiving? The AuPairCare website for Au Pairs has a fun little activity for Au Pairs celebrating Thanksgiving with their host families. If you haven’t seen this yet, you might want to suggest it to your au pair, or just play it with the family yourself. First, visit this website for […]

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Tip: Family Fun for Thanksgiving

by cv harquail November 21, 2008
thanksgiving au pair celebrating, blogs about au pairs

20 Fun Things You Can Do with Family on Thanksgiving Hi Host moms—  I found this great list of ideas for Thanksgiving on the DumbLittleMan Tips for Life blog. It’s such a great list that there is no way to summarize it and do it justice, so I’m excerpting it in large chunks… but if […]

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Can This Relationship Be Saved?: Host Dad’s au pair is causing problems for me, in my house

by cv harquail November 20, 2008
Arguing, au pair advice, low cost childcare

Host moms–your advice is needed on this one– and it’s a pretty unique situation. There are THREE relationships — maybe even four– in this request for advice.  Relationship 1: Between the writer and the au pair , Relationship 2: Between the au pair and the Host Dad, and Relationship 3: Between the writer and the […]

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Can This Relationship Be Saved? Should It Be? Your Host Mom advice wanted….

by cv harquail November 18, 2008
disgruntled au pair, resentful, au pair advice, low cost childcare

Hi Moms- Just got this request for advice from another mom– It’s one of those questions that I find especially vexing: Can this relationship be saved? And, even before that, Should it be?   What do you think?  Here’s the story: I’m having a personality conflict with my au pair and am really unsure as to […]

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Tip: It is Probably Better NOT to Talk About Daniel Craig …

by cv harquail November 18, 2008
daniel craig, sex appeal, James Bond, 007, Moms, au pair advice

… with your Au Pair, or for that matter, when your Au Pair is nearby. Can you see why? And yes, Kathy, Jamie, Margot and Sarah, I’m talking to you.  :-)

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Celebrate Your Au Pair’s First Snowfall!

by cv harquail November 13, 2008
Au Pairs enjoy their first snowfall au pair advice low cost childcare

Does your au pair come from a tropical or always warm country? Do you live in a place with four seasons? If so, your family might get to share a real delight — you might get to see your au pair enjoy her very first snowfall! Check out this photo of two of our au […]

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Tip: Teach your Au Pair about Vampires

by cv harquail October 31, 2008
vampire bill compton au pair aupair advice

Special Halloween Edition Every Host Mom should teach her au pair about vampires. No, I don’t mean the Bill Compton kind of vampire, I mean the bill ELECTRIC kind of vampire. [If you want to know more about Bill Compton, check these vids: "I’m Too Sexy…" (almost NSFW) or "Talking in Your Sleep." Apparently, these […]

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Host Mom Advice Wanted: Allow Au Pair to use personal computer while on duty?

by cv harquail October 22, 2008
feet up on couch pretty pillows

Hi Host Moms- We’ve gotten a request for advice, from KT_VA: We have an au pair, who takes care of our 6 month old. Today I came home to find my daughter sleep upstairs, and the au pair on the computer instant messaging her friends, with the baby monitor off. 20 minutes later, I heard […]

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In Rematch Again? Why didn’t you call me?

by cv harquail October 16, 2008
call me for au pair advice

Just a quick, little story: I heard through the grapevine that the au pair we had briefly, who rematched with another family over “personality issues” is in rematch– again. This made me wonder, just as I wondered when this au pair was in rematch the first time: Why didn’t you call me? Yes, you, host-parent-in-rematch. […]

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