Christmas Gift Ideas: From Au Pair to Host Family

by cv harquail December 1, 2011
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It’s time for little elves to get busy, making things to capture memories. Writes an LCC — I’m a counselor for a small group of au pairs and at our last meeting the question about Christmas gifts for host parents came up. They all want to give something meaningful, they understand that in most cases […]

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Establishing Expectations when an Au Pair Has Guests

by cv harquail November 30, 2011

There’s something about hosting a friend of relative of your au pair that can mess with the fine balance between “part of the family”&  “childcare provider” and between “host mom” and “house elf/slave”. For lots of us, we forget to check our assumptions about how we should act towards other people’s guests, how much of […]

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Christmas & Holidays with your Au Pair: Post round-up

by cv harquail November 25, 2011
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The Christmas & Holiday season is now officially upon us — just in time to work off that second slice of pumpkin pie. I think I’m finally figuring out how to do these seasonal celebrations — I’ve got the weekly countdown calendar planner out again. We’ve sent out party invitations and even bought cases of […]

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New Advocacy Group to Help Prevent Exploitation of Au Pairs Worldwide: Your thoughts?

by cv harquail November 19, 2011
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HI All- Two colleagues in the Au Pairing community have initiated a project to help international Au Pairs avoid being exploited. Talya Shoup Burnett, of Best Au Pair Guide, and Edina Stone of Au Pair Clearinghouse, are partnering to create Prevent Exploitation of Au Pairs (P.E.A.P.). The organization’s purpose is to raise awareness of the […]

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Example of an Untrustworthy Ad for Au Pairs

by cv harquail November 19, 2011

Here’s an example of the kind of web comment or bulletin board advertisement that au pairs should be wary of —  Anonamomma very cleverly checked for similar text and found this in a place that seemed untrustworthy.   

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Holiday Cards: Do you include your Au Pair in the family photo? (Poll)

by cv harquail November 14, 2011
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Don’t you love getting holiday cards from friends, especially when the cards have a photo of their whole family? We have so many friends who live so far away that the only chance I get to see how their kids are growing is from the holiday card photos.  Plus, I love to put them on […]

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How can employers help working moms? (Survey)

by cv harquail November 13, 2011
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Would you like to share your opinions, insights, and concerns about how employers can support their female employees while these employees pursue their commitment to being great mothers? My colleague Elise Jones is conducting a study looking at factors that influence whether mothers and prospective mothers take advantage of employer-provided work/life support programs, and what […]

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Au Pair Counselors (LCCs): Your #1 Defense Against Bad Host Parent Behavior

by cv harquail November 5, 2011
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It breaks my heart when we get emails and comments from au pairs who are being taken advantage of by their host parents. We know that the host parents’ behavior is out of line, and we’re happy to tell au pairs what host parent behavior is inappropriate or downright exploitative. We tell au pairs to […]

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Damage to the Au Pair Room: Should we have a security deposit?

by cv harquail November 2, 2011
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We’ve had some funny and not so funny stories about damage to our homes by au pairs who were clueless (at best), careless (most often) and intentionally destructive (nightmare). Everything from soaked ceilings under the au pair bathroom, to hair dye on the bathroom walls, to nail polish on the fancy sheets. We have a decent handle on what to expect […]

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9 Ways to Celebrate Halloween with your Au Pair

by cv harquail October 29, 2011
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Special Halloween Edition Halloween is one of my favorite holidays to share with Au Pairs. Unlike some holidays, Halloween doesn’t seem to trigger a whole lot of nostalgia and homesickness. For au pairs who ‘do’ Halloween in their home countries, it’s a chance for her to share traditions from her culture. And, if your au […]

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