“Pitching In”: What does that mean in your host family?

by cv harquail July 15, 2014
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What does it mean to “pitch in” with host family chores? Pitching In (defn): To join the family in doing some everyday household upkeep, to help keep the household running smoothly In anticipation of an au pair question that will get posted later this week, I wanted to sketch out the basic advice (okay, my aupairmom […]

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Open Thread: July 12

by cv harquail July 11, 2014
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We’re baaaaack! I know that you’ve missed the Open Thread — I can tell from all the re-directions in the comments on the posts! Use this open thread to toss out any question or concern you have — except for one:   If you are an au pair outside the USA whose host parents are somehow […]

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Scheduling Your Au Pair: The Minimum Length of a Work Shift

by cv harquail July 11, 2014
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The US State Department sets firm, legal parameters for scheduling an Au Pair.  But the US State Department rules, and the contractual stipulations of each Au Pair Agency, form only the required, minimum guidelines for scheduling an Au Pair. Within this rough outline, host parents and au pairs need to negotiate what is sensible, fair, effective […]

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Do you really want to know what your Au Pair is up to?

by cv harquail July 9, 2014
au pair, breaking rules, advice, secrets

‘Let me live in my fantasy world, where where Au Pairs drink only Diet Coke.’  This is what I’d say to Potential Tattletail AP. How about you? Dear AuPairMom-  I have a bit of a delicate question that I would love to get some feedback on from a HF perspective if possible.  I was an […]

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When Your New and Old Au Pairs Get Jealous of Each Other

by cv harquail July 6, 2014
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How hard is it to see the incoming au pair making connections with the kids, settling into the AuPair room, learning to drive in the USA, and talking about all she’s going to do in her year of adventure? If you’re the host mom, it’s not hard at all– you *want* to see this. But if […]

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Should We Extend An Au Pair While She Plans To Wed Her American Husband?

by cv harquail July 4, 2014

I need immediate advice from some of our host moms who have dealt with an aupair, wanting to extend, but also planning to get married, switch visas etc. Our aupair whom we love is thinking of marriage! her boyfriend has proposed? we are happy and excited for her, but not sure how to advice her. […]

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Talking Politics With Your Au Pair

by cv harquail July 3, 2014
au pair, talking politics, aupair-mom

“Obama never should have taken the soldiers out of Iraq.” So opined my neighbor’s au pair, over dinner last week. “Obama let the Iraq people down, because he promised that the US would protect their freedom,” she continued. My neighbor choked on her caesar salad, fighting back the urge to scream “Stop watching Fox News!“ […]

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Fun for the 4th: Bake a Flag Cake

by cv harquail July 1, 2014
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Does your Au Pair like to bake? Do your kids? If you’ve ever made a checkerboard cake, a heart-shaped cake, or a cake-like thing that looked vaguely like Thomas The Tank Engine, you have all the skills and equipment you need to make this very American beauty. The flag-making process and recipe come from the […]

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Extreme Scheduling: Is it fair to an Au Pair?

by cv harquail June 27, 2014
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 Extreme Scheduling: When you use all your 45 ‘on duty’ hours in one fell swoop People actually do this. I’ve heard from au pairs who are scheduled for three days in a row when no parents are otherwise present, even at ‘off duty’ times (such as when a mom is a pilot and works in 3 […]

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The Au Pair Scheduling Constraint That Might Surprise You

by cv harquail June 26, 2014
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I’ve been surprised by some of the fine details in the rules and the principles that guide how we should schedule an au pair’s ‘on duty‘ hours.   For example, I was surprised to learn that some Au Pair Agencies require that an au pair’s day off and half-day off are contiguous (making it 36 […]

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