What a little bird said about Au Pairs

by cv harquail July 12, 2009

@dawnpopp Dawn, how is it that your AP wants to cook for you, but (seems like) everyone elses just want to eat? Spill the secrets! # @CaliYost rt @CravingBalance Wally Bock: work life balance comes down to choices, choices connected to what you value. http://ow.ly/gzqQ # @AuPairAnswerMom To me, some of these reasons 4 APs […]

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Can she wake up to her responsibilities?

by cv harquail July 11, 2009
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Here’s a request for advice from a Host Mom in VA Our au pair (our 4th) has been with us 2 weeks. She’s 20, fluent in English, is a rematch from other family (no fault of her own) after several months, and has 3 months left. We have 2 kids 2 and 4. I work […]

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Saying Goodbye to an Au Pair you Parents really love

by cv harquail July 8, 2009
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Last year I wrote a post about “Her Next Adventure”: Telling your kids that your Au Pair is leaving which elicited a lot of good advice for helping the children say goodbye to their au pair. We just got a request from a mom with a different version of the problem– a version which, if […]

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Food secrets from the West Coast: Calif Mom shares all!

by cv harquail July 7, 2009

Calif Mom gets her own post this time! Just TOO MUCH good info to tuck in there as the 27th comment on the Groceries post. Calif Mom writes: For the broader discussion I can vaguely imagine for myself, in some sort of idealized parallel universe, a life in which I would have the entire week’s […]

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Our AP’s appetite is so big, we can’t afford to feed her!

by cv harquail July 7, 2009
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Looks can be deceiving. Many of us have been surprised to discover that the petite young woman who is our Au Pair is actually a bottomless pit or a fledgling linebacker, in terms of how much she can eat. Obviously, no one wants to starve her au pair– part of what we provide for our […]

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Food and Your Au Pair

by cv harquail July 7, 2009
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Boy, that post on Groceries triggered a lot of issues! Rather than try to keep track of them in the comments to that one post, let’s pull them out into posts of their own. So, coming up over the next several days, we’ll have posts about: Our AP’s appetite is so big, I can’t afford […]

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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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