When Your Au Pair Loses Your Smart Phone

by cv harquail May 7, 2013
droid meets pavement

Yeah, it happens.  The phone falls out of a pocket into a puddle. Or a purse gets stolen. Whatever the reason … If your au pair loses or breaks the smart phone that you provided for her/him, it is up to her/him to replace it, or to pay to replace it. One of our au […]

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Apps for Au Pairs — Suggestions from Lara Coffee

by cv harquail May 6, 2013
top 10 smart phone apps for au pairs

Host Mom, Marketer and Blogger Lara Coffee (@laracoffee)  has gathered together her recommended “Top 10 App for Au Pairs” and sends the link our way.  Lara writes:  I know most families might not provide a smart phone, but from my experience, the Au Pairs have their own devices any ways. We hope our Au Pairs are not […]

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How Can We Help Our Grieving Au Pair?

by cv harquail April 18, 2013

About three weeks ago my au pair’s boyfriend (local in the USA) died suddenly in an accident. By way of background, she has been with us since last June and is planning to stay another year.  We have twin boys that are 13 months old.  Both my husband and I work in demanding jobs.  We […]

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How To Rematch: Share your best practices

by cv harquail April 16, 2013

Rematching with your au pair is both a horrible drag and a great opportunity. Rematching au pairs is a drag. Rematches are always hard to execute and fraught with anxiety and second guessing– and that’s just on the au pair’s side. Host parents have to tell the au pair that the match isn’t working, deal […]

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When An Au Pair’s Thriftiness Shortchanges Her Adventure

by cv harquail April 4, 2013

Frugality is an admirable trait. It takes a lot of restraint and self discipline for an au pair to save money from her/his weekly stipend. Whether s/he’s saving for a vacation, a laptop computer, or to send money back home, au pairs who are carefully watching their expenses deserve our support. But when an au […]

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When Host Parents Start Working ‘At Home’: Helping your au pair make the switch

by cv harquail April 2, 2013

Given all the work that we put into matching our family situation with just the right au pair, it can feel pretty painful when– all of a sudden– your family situation changes.  Adopting a baby, getting a divorce, moving across the country, moving to a new house  starting home renovations, getting a dog, … you get […]

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The Best Time of Year to Choose an Au Pair Is …

by cv harquail March 31, 2013

… when, exactly? Is there really a “best time of year” for selecting an au pair, or is it just the “best time for you and your family”? We seem to want to believe that there is a best time. By ‘best’, we mean (I htink) when there are the most au pairs to choose […]

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First Time Host Mom Overwhelmed by Regret: Can She Fix Her Mistake?

by cv harquail March 29, 2013

  Dear Au Pair Moms — I am a first time Au Pair Host Mom and I am having serious second thoughts about my choice of au pair. I  need some sage advice. Our Au Pair has only been with us a few days but now that she’s here I’m having SO. MANY. REGRETS. It […]

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Sample Family Handbook, with sections on Food from HM P

by cv harquail March 22, 2013

Family Handbooks should all cover a core set of topics including schedule, safety, child care rules, car rules, and family rules. Beyond these topics, we each need to add specifically what’s important to OUR family. At my house, this means a section on “How to Adore Coco (our dog)” and another on “Traveling Safely in NYC”.  In […]

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Send an Excerpt from your Family Handbook to Prospective Au Pairs

by cv harquail March 19, 2013

In my house we have a saying: “Fewer, better things.” This advice is to keep me from buying those $2.00 sequined rabbit statues at Target when I already have ceramic bunnies that will make perfectly fine easter decorations thank you very much. This advice also works for the family handbook selections we send to prospective […]

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