My Host Family Thinks I’m Unreliable. Can I change their minds?

by cv harquail February 9, 2014
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Dear AuPairMom-  I have made a few mistakes with my host family, and I am wondering if I can fix things.  I arrived in the US a little over 5 months ago. After three months I broke my wrist, needed surgery, could not do my job correctly but I got an incredible support from my […]

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Au Pair Appreciation: Rescues Trapped Hamster!

by cv harquail February 8, 2014
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There are some Au Pair Appreciation stories that we could never anticipate, not in a million aupairyears. Such as this story of an Au Pair with real ‘derring do’, as my grandmum would call it. Courtesy of our own TakingAComputerLunch: Crazy stuff always happens in our house, but because we have a child with special […]

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Getting Back On The Right Foot When You Start Out Wrong

by cv harquail February 8, 2014
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Experienced Host Parents know that when your au pair arrives, you get him or her in action right away. Right Away! Even though it’s tempting to let him/her sleep in, or to show her around your wonderful town, or to wait until his English is better before you start giving instructions on ‘how to do […]

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Au Pair Appreciation: Listening Becomes Inspiration

by cv harquail February 7, 2014
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I am writing to celebrate our au pair from last year, “L,” for her kindness, her thoughtfulness, and her patience. She was new to us in the fall, just as our then-10 year old daughter was beginning to play the viola.  After the initial fun of a new instrument wore off, the first few weeks […]

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Au Pair Appreciation: 3 Ways To Make Your Words Matter

by cv harquail February 6, 2014
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“Why”, “Because”, and “For Example” are some of my favorite words. As a trained social scientist, I’ve been taught to hunt down the reasons, the connections, and the proof behind every claim I make in a research paper.  In research papers you have to persuade people that what you’ve found is real. And it turns […]

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Au Pair Appreciation: Cross-Cultural Connections with Our Children

by cv harquail February 5, 2014
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It been a year and a half since our beloved Educare AP, R, left us to return home for university, but she remains a strong presence in our lives. She is present through her letters, and especially through the lessons she taught the children. Our children were in third grade and kindergarten when she was […]

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Au Pair Appreciation: Wonderful Right From The Start

by cv harquail February 4, 2014
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…. So wonderful, in fact, that she set a standard that’s been hard to match. After months of struggling with the daily grind of the two-working parent household, we heard from friends having success with the au pair program.  I was intrigued at the prospect of having extra help, particularly as I grew up in […]

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Au Pair Appreciation: Life is Simply Better With Au Pair as Part of Our Home

by cv harquail February 4, 2014
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We should all have the challenges this host mom faces, as she aims to describe what she appreciates about her au pair! I am having a hard time writing this appreciation for our current au pair not because I can’t think of what to celebrate him for, but because once I start, I don’t think […]

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Do Our Careful Reviews of Au Pair Applications Actually Make A Difference?

by cv harquail February 1, 2014
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Awesome Contributor and Host Mom Dorsi asks: “If you were to revisit the applications of your best and worst Au Pairs, what would you learn about making a good choice?”, Dorsi asks. Would you actually learn…. anything? The Oh-So-Wise ShouldBeWorking  replies: “What kills me about how fabulous our current match is is that there was […]

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The Most Successful Au Pair Picker in all of New Jersey

by cv harquail January 31, 2014
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Last weekend I had an insane conversation with a woman who was introduced to me as “The Most Successful Au Pair Picker in All of New Jersey!” Okay, so our mutual friend was exaggerating. But I spied an opportunity for you, dear readers. “How does she do it? What’s her secret? AuPairMoms demand to know!” […]

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