One Slight After Another: Can this au pair relationship be saved?

by cv harquail September 29, 2014
il_570xN.609913982_ihwv

It’s interesting to get emails from host parents — and au pairs– where it seems that the very act of writing to us is helping them gain some clarity about how untenable their situation actually is. This seems especially true when there isn’t one prominent issue but instead several smaller ones that, when all pulled […]

55 comments Read the full article →

Au Pairs Should Use Language that Host Kids Can Understand

by cv harquail September 23, 2014
2189089518_f1a797b9db_z

Many families look for au pairs who can help their children learn a language other than English. The idea is that the au pair can speak to the child in the au pair’s first language, and teach the child the second language through everyday interactions. Conceptually, this makes sense. We do, after all, learn our […]

39 comments Read the full article →

It’s the Parents’ Job to Teach Children Kind Behavior

by cv harquail September 18, 2014
14070424932_3cb77dbb4a_z

Au Pairs can reinforce discipline and expectations, but it’s Parents who remain responsible. Many parents who are either new to parenting at all or new to host parenting specifically struggle with this issue. We all want our children to be kind. Full stop. (I’m assuming this is true. It’s true, right? We want our kids […]

32 comments Read the full article →

If an AuPair is being exploited, is it okay for her to disappear?

by cv harquail September 15, 2014
girl with suitcase1

We’ve heard the horror stories of au pairs disappearing while the host family is at church, or in the middle of the night without warning. Although this is often selfish behavior by an au pair and intended as a slap in the face to the host parents, there are actually a few situations where I […]

55 comments Read the full article →

How to Get Your Au Pair Ready To Cook

by cv harquail September 12, 2014
bagel

Once your host kids get past the ‘oatmeal and smashed peas’ phase, it’s time for an Au Pair to do some real cooking. Even au pairs who’ve cooked in their home countries find cooking in America to be a bit challenging. Au Pairs need to figure out: How our appliances work What each of the foods […]

35 comments Read the full article →

Smelly House: Host Mom Hates Air Fresheners

by cv harquail September 11, 2014
thread

Attention readers: This second post about smells and host parents is absolutely unrelated to the previous post.  The Au Pair in the first post and the Au Pair here are not the same person, and the host parents aren’t the same people. It was coincidence that TACL brought up this issue last week….I already had […]

29 comments Read the full article →

My Host Family’s House is Smelly. What should I do?

by cv harquail September 10, 2014
good air

Everyone’s house has a smell. Sometimes it’s “dog”, sometimes it’s “curry” and sometimes it’s just “ick”. We don’t usually notice the everyday smell of our own home because we’re accustomed to it. But when our au pairs walk in for the first time, they notice because the smell is new to them. Over time, they […]

30 comments Read the full article →

Should She Ask Her Host Mom To Read AuPairMom?

by cv harquail September 8, 2014
6847244791_bf2fd1ae57_z

Dear AuPairMom – I have been reading AuPairMom while I was deciding to become an au pair and I was expecting that what you have on this blog explains what an au pair should expect. My host mom seems to be having some struggles with having an au pair. I’m my family’s first au pair. My family is […]

15 comments Read the full article →

Improve Your AuPair’s Driving With an Online Driving Class

by cv harquail September 5, 2014
3930504131_52a9259f83_z

An online driving course is an easy, inexpensive way to get both you and your AuPair feeling confident about her/his driving– before your au pair even arrives in the USA! Here’s a tip from TexasHostMom—  Our first AP was 26 when she arrived and had been driving for some time, so I never thought we’d have […]

40 comments Read the full article →

Host Mom Desperately Trying — Too Hard?

by cv harquail September 3, 2014
2907465561_6bda3f0fea_z

What is it they say about choosing a third au pair after two huge disappointments: It’s the “Triumph of Hope over Experience”? OzHostMom writes with a quandary: She’s really trying, she’s really optimistic, except she’s lost her host mom mojo. I’ve reordered her story, below, so that you get the critical point near the start: […]

102 comments Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →