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 […]

Read the full article →

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 […]

4 comments Read the full article →

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 […]

8 comments Read the full article →

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.  :-)

Read the full article →

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 […]

Read the full article →

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 […]

1 comment Read the full article →

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 […]

4 comments Read the full article →

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. […]

9 comments Read the full article →

Homesickness and your Au Pair: How you might help

by cv harquail October 15, 2008
homesick au pair needs help

Being an Au Pair’s host mom occasionally calls for you to help your au pair take care of herself, both physically and emotionally. You will find yourself needing to offer her ideas about how to distinguish between a cold and an allergy, how to find new friends, and almost certainly how to deal with homesickness. […]

6 comments Read the full article →

How Can You Get Your Au Pair to be (more of) a Self-Starter?

by cv harquail October 6, 2008

Moms- We’ve got another request for advice! Not so surprisingly, this request shares a theme with last week’s question, about how to get your au pair ‘out and about’ so that you can have some alone-ish time. I’ve taken the liberty of highlighting some of the passages to call your attention to them… What are […]

13 comments Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →