First Time Here? Please Take Our Survey

by cv harquail March 11, 2014
needlefelted-owl-ornament-scratchcraft.jpg

If this is your first (or second) visit to AuPairMom, we’d like to hear about what brought you here and whether you found what you need so that we can make the site work better for you.  Will you take our New Visitor Survey?  It’s 10 quick questions–it should take about 1 minute, 2 if you […]

Read the full article →

Notes About The Blog: What’s been happening behind the scenes at AuPairMom

by cv harquail March 9, 2014
mail2

You might be wondering what’s going on here at AuPairMom, what with the revised blog formatting and my efforts to post more often.  I’ve finally put the wheels in motion to ‘upgrade’ AuPairMom so that it works more effectively for you and for me. AuPairMom has got itself a consultant, Shawn. 

98 comments Read the full article →

Au Pair Appreciation: Our Feedback Really Matters

by cv harquail March 9, 2014
yellowcakecrafts

Sometimes the posts on AuPairMom make it all the way around the world. Recently, one of the post for AuPair Appreciation Week showed up on the screen of the au pair it described. She writes back: Oh Host Mom,   I am moved to tears,what a wonderful post about me!!  Thank you so much,this article […]

Read the full article →

Don’t Make Your Au Pair Do Your Kids’ Homework

by cv harquail March 8, 2014
il_570xN.392205173_8eh2

Haven’t we all wished for someone else to do our Algebra homework? That’s normal. What’s not so normal, though, is to ask your au pair to do your 17 year old’s homework. This situation is a little outside our usual boundaries, because the au pair is in Europe (US rules don’t apply), because she has […]

16 comments Read the full article →

Interviewing: When An Au Pair Has Special Experience To Offer

by cv harquail March 6, 2014
cat bird susie ghahremani

Every au pair has his or her ‘thing’ — a hobby, a life experience, a skill or two, a great sense of humor  — that sets them apart as an individual.   In most matches, this stuff is the icing on a cake. For some families though, these skill could help make that au pair […]

48 comments Read the full article →

Classic Case: Should we keep trying with a Mediocre Au Pair?

by cv harquail March 4, 2014
il_570xN.490509298_im3e

Here’s a situation we see time and time again on AuPairMom: The family has an au pair (often, their first one) and the au pair is only okay. The au pair’s relationship with the kids is “fine”, but the au pair doesn’t follow through on her other responsibilities. The host parents have tried a few […]

45 comments Read the full article →

50 Shades of Shocking? Au Pair has trashy taste in reading

by cv harquail March 1, 2014
Fifty-Shades-Teddy-Bear-600x450

It can be pretty exciting to finally ‘find’ your au pair match, and to be able to look forward to meeting your new au pair. That is, until you discover how s/he likes to spend her/his free time. Dear AuPairMom–  Am I a prude, or is this something to be concerned about?   We recently […]

30 comments Read the full article →

How to Sabotage the Au Pair’s Authority By Refusing To Discipline Your Kids

by cv harquail February 25, 2014
311564310_57bc708134

When I look around troubling dynamics in the au pair — host child– host parent relationship triangle, I see three Host Parent behaviors that seem to set everyone up to fail: 1. Parents undercutting the au pairs authority, especially by reversing decisions. 2. Parents skimming all the good chores, events and behaviors, leaving the au […]

51 comments Read the full article →

Helping Your Au Pair Navigate Health Care Costs & Insurance

by cv harquail February 24, 2014

When an au pair is injured or gets ill, their health insurance is supposed to cover their care. But sometimes managing the both getting care and getting it paid for is more than any of us can handle.    Even those of us host parents who have “good” health insurance can get beaten down by […]

27 comments Read the full article →

Au Pair Appreciation: Sharing Her Language and Extending Herself

by cv harquail February 23, 2014
il_570xN.547407170_f1az

Every morning and evening I am thankful for our  au pair, S. She arrived in January 2013 to take care of our son,  who was 8 months old at the time. S was trained to be an au pair in a foreign run orphanage for handicapped and other abandoned children and orphans in Zhengzhou, China. […]

5 comments Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →