Create A Bucket List for Au Pair Adventures

by cv harquail March 24, 2014
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If you could create a ‘bucket’ list for any Au Pair coming to the USA, to help him or her make sure to take FULL advantage of the Au Pair adventure, what would you recommend? Writes TexasHM: This morning I had a random idea – what if I created for my AP a list like this […]

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Open Thread: March 22

by cv harquail March 22, 2014
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Welcome to our Saturday Open Thread!   Open threads are for comments on any subject at all, including past posts, things we haven’t posted on, what you’ve been thinking or doing, etc. as long as it follows our basic comments policy. This thread will be open for a full weekend, from today until the evening of […]

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Blended Family Challenge: Half-Time Custody but Full Time Au Pair?

by cv harquail March 20, 2014
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My partner and I have three daughters between us and are looking into the AuPair Educare program. All three of are girls are in school full time and we would essentially only need before and after care. The question is: We have our daughters every other week. We attempt to have all three of them […]

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Welcome Your Au Pair With A Custom Google Map

by cv harquail March 19, 2014
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HostMom Pippa takes advantage of easy online tools, and comes up with *surely* one of the greatest ideas for helping your au pair visualize her/his new surroundings (aka your world). She recommends creating a Custom Google Map:  An easy way to share information with your incoming AP before he or she arrives is to create […]

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Help Your Incoming Au Pair Visualize Her Adventure

by cv harquail March 18, 2014
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My au pair is doing a project for the agency and has requested photos of us, neighborhood, etc.  Should I send her pics of our house and her room?   Absolutely! Send photos! It’s understandable that your new au pair wants to be able to visualize where she is going to be. I think it’s […]

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Interviewing Au Pairs: How do you screen for Maturity?

by cv harquail March 17, 2014
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On finding an Au Pair who can handle a bunch of kids, a complex household, or both,  TexasHM says: You have got to have someone that is bulletproof.  Patient, mature, sharp judgment, a jack of all trades and that’s very hard to find — period. There are things you can teach and things you can’t. […]

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Au Pair Appreciation: Creative Fun

by cv harquail March 16, 2014
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We love coming home and discovering what projects AP and our kids worked on during the day. One time it was a cake that they made by taking on the challenge of not using a recipe. It tasted great even though it was only about an inch tall. Another time, AP showed the kids how to make papier-mâché.  For […]

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Open Thread: Here we go!

by cv harquail March 15, 2014
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Welcome to our first Saturday Open Thread/ Experiment!   Open threads are for comments on any subject at all, including past posts, things we haven’t posted on, what you’ve been thinking or doing, etc as long as it follows our basic comments policy. Each thread will be open for a full week, from Saturday morning […]

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First Impressions: Can you ‘just know’ you need a rematch, already?

by cv harquail March 14, 2014
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Did you ever just “know” you needed to rematch?   Dear AuPairMoms! Our incredible first AP left last week – tears all around; she loved our 3 little kids so much and was an amazing friend to us too.  We live in a desirable area and have a separate studio for the AP, have a third […]

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Divorce Difficulties: When Your Ex-Spouse Gets an Au Pair

by cv harquail March 12, 2014
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Childcare arrangements for families with two sets of parents can be difficult for everyone.   The non-custodial parent often has very little influence over the childcare choices the custodial parent makes. If this parent knows very little about Au Pairs as a concept, or has only met Au Pairs who have not made a good […]

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