Interviewing: When An Au Pair Has Special Experience To Offer

by cv harquail March 6, 2014
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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 […]

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

by cv harquail March 4, 2014
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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 […]

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

by cv harquail March 1, 2014
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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 […]

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

by cv harquail February 25, 2014
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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 […]

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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 […]

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Au Pair Appreciation: Sharing Her Language and Extending Herself

by cv harquail February 23, 2014
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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. […]

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When Your Au Pair Wants To Bring Home A New Romance

by cv harquail February 22, 2014
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Oh, the au pair adventure! A new country, a new family, and sometimes even a new romance. When our au pairs fall in love — or heck, if they find somebody really hot that they want to date — they often want to bring this person home with them. When that home is also your […]

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Autonomy vs. Food Safety When The Au Pair Cooks

by cv harquail February 21, 2014
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How do I give my Au Pair autonomy in the kitchen without worrying that my kids are going to eat something that could make them sick? Dear AuPairMoms —  I need to find ways to teach my au pairs about food safety, without offending them. Any ideas? Here’s my story: AP1: Raw Bacon My son was […]

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Forget Overlap: Help Me Get My Departing Au Pair Out The Door!

by cv harquail February 20, 2014
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I need help handling the transition between our departing au pair and our arriving au pair. I’m nearing the end of our year with our very AP, who is 26, from China, with excellent English.  Our AP#1 is kind and patient with our 13-month baby girl.  She is also immature. AP#1’s term ends in less […]

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8 Ways To Teach Your Au Pair About Food Safety

by cv harquail February 19, 2014
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Milk left out on the counter. Raw eggs in salad dressing. Undercooked chicken thighs. And of course, the picnic lunch with macaroni salad but no ice pack. All of these are food safety disasters. If your Au Pair hasn’t been taught about food safety, though, he or she might think these are harmless mistakes. That […]

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