When Au Pair Candor Hurts Your Host Parent Feelings

by cv harquail May 18, 2015
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We Host Parents want our Au Pairs to be truthful with us. Whether the topic is homesickness, feelings of depression, concerns about children’s behavior, or even our own emotional situations, we want our au pairs to tell us how they see things.  As Americans, we believe that candor (being forthcoming) and honesty (telling the truth) […]

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Seventh Annual International Au Pair Appreciation Week: Open Thread

by cv harquail May 17, 2015
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Au Pair Appreciation Week is our chance as host moms and dads to celebrate what we enjoy the most about having au pairs in our family lives. Although moms and dads who ask for advice here on AuPairMom are occasionally accused of being grumpy, demanding, and/or hard to live with, we all know that we wouldn’t […]

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Au Pair Handbooks: Instructions about Child’s Allergies

by cv harquail May 16, 2015
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As part of a series of posts on very specific information to include in your AuPair Handbook… One HostMom writes: I need to update our handbook to for our incoming au pair with details on our child’s allergy. I’m not sure what level of detail would be helpful, or how to make the issue serious […]

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Does Your Au Pair Car Have A Curfew? (poll)

by cv harquail May 14, 2015
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 Back in 2010, we had poll to see what percent of au pair blog readers had a curfew on the car that the au pair uses.    60% of host families  who responded to that poll had a curfew on their au pair car [ Check out that post: Au Pair Guidelines: Does your car have a curfew? (Poll) ] […]

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Why Have a Curfew on Your Car and not Your Au Pair?

by cv harquail May 13, 2015
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Some readers have wondered why a family might put a curfew on the au pair car, but not have a curfew on the au pair him/herself. They point out that if au pairs are dependent on the au pair car for transportation during their time off, then having a curfew on the car is effectively the […]

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Massachusetts’ Domestic Workers Rights Bill. Time to write letters?

by cv harquail May 12, 2015

Massachusetts Host Families with Cultural Care Au Pair received the email, below, from their agency. As with so many forms of ‘official’ government communication, it’s hard to understand exactly how this bill might affect Au Pair Host Families and what any Host Family ought to do about it. Here’s the letter, please share your thoughts […]

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Helping an Au Pair with Depression – without Rematch

by cv harquail May 11, 2015
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It’s more than homesickness. It’s more than a bad day, or a bad mood. It’s depression, and it’s a serious disorder. Is there anything a host parent can do to help? HostMomInParadise writes: I am a host mom in transition. My au pair had been here 8 months and left suddenly, stopping work abruptly and […]

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Mother’s Day: Open Thread for Au Pairs

by cv harquail May 8, 2015
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How do you describe your Host Mom? What’s wonderful about her — as a mom, as a host mom, as a friend, as a person? Au Pairs, here’s your chance to celebrate something about your Host Mom that you personally appreciate.   Pencils by ADCShop available for purchase on Etsy

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Upcoming Celebrations on AuPairMom: Mothers Day & AuPair Appreciation Week

by cv harquail May 7, 2015
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Spring has sprung, which means it’s time to celebrate! We celebrate daffodils, columbines, and first bloomers in the garden.  Ice cream trucks, camp signup forms, and that new pair of FitFlops that you deserve. The pair with sequins. And, here on AuPairMom, we celebrate Mother’s Day and AuPairAppreciation week! For both events, we’ll have a focused […]

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Managing Your Au Pair When Someone in the Family is Sick

by cv harquail May 7, 2015

from ShouldBeWorking: Background: Anorexic teen daughter is in hospital. This is a relief, actually. We had some very bad weeks and now she is getting good care and nutrition. I have been beyond exhausted, anxious and miserable trying to re-feed her and seeing things just fall apart. While she is inpatient I’m trying to rest […]

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