Open Thread: April 26

by cv harquail April 25, 2014
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 Welcome to our weekend open thread! Be kind, and be patient with moderating this weekend– we are on a min-vacation in Quebec and the wifi at our auberge is simply awful. Awful as in “like 1997”– when wi~fi hardly existed. Use this open thread to bring up any topic that’s been on your mind. This […]

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Themes, Perspectives, and Cultural Stereotypes, Ideas from TexasHM

by cv harquail April 25, 2014
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Just days before a demonstration of how stereotypes about certain nationalities can feel unkind and unhelpful, frequent contributor TexasHM sent me this guest blog post. Perfect timing! We’re always working to generalize wisdom from our individual experiences, so stereotypes and national personalities are a common topic of conversation among folks in the AuPair community. TexasHM […]

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Don’t try to make your “two toddlers, small house, no au pair car” life “attractive”

by cv harquail April 22, 2014
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“There’s a lid for every pot.” This wisdom was offered by HRHM four years ago, and it’s stuck with me. I love it because it’s just so TRUE when it comes to au pairs and host families. No matter how weird unique your family is or how weird distinctive an au pair candidate is, if […]

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Open Thread: April 19

by cv harquail April 19, 2014
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 Welcome to our Weekend Open Thread!   Open threads are for comments on any subject at all, including past posts, things we haven’t posted on, what you’ve been thinking or doing, etc. You can even let me know if there’s a topic you think I should queue up for the coming week. Have you responded […]

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Explaining To Family and Friends Why You’re Getting An Au Pair

by cv harquail April 18, 2014
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Can you remember back to the first time you ever heard about the Au Pair program? I can’t remember how I first heard about it (and I think I assumed I knew what an au pair was). But I *do* remember trying to explain the whole concept to my dad. And then to my coworkers, […]

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When Your Au Pair Works a Second Job, As an ‘Escort’

by cv harquail April 16, 2014
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There are some ‘random, crazy and true’ au pair stories that seem like urban myths … … The Fox in the Henhouse, the au pair who disappears two days after she arrives, and of course, the au pair who gets a second paid gig in the ‘tourism industry’. When I first heard stories about au […]

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Open Thread: April 11

by cv harquail April 12, 2014
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 Welcome to our Weekend Open Thread!   Open threads are for comments on any subject at all, including past posts, things we haven’t posted on, what you’ve been thinking or doing, etc. You can even let me know if there’s a topic you think I should queue up for the coming week. Have you responded […]

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The Academically-Ambitious Au Pair: Options for serious education during an Au Pair Year

by cv harquail April 11, 2014
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The education requirement for au pairs can be a bit of a fig leaf. The requirement makes Au Pairs “look like” exchange students for the purposes of Homeland Security and Immigration, even while the au pairs are here for what amounts to a full-time job.   Most of the time, an au pair’s education is […]

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What Au Pair Agency Selection Process Works Best For You?

by cv harquail April 9, 2014
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A guest post comparing Cultural Care and GoAuPair, by MultiTaskingHost Mom On AuPairMom we spend a lot of time sharing tips for matching with an AuPair. It makes sense that we focus on the interview questions, how to evaluate experience in a certain skill, and how to interpret the vibe given by the potential au […]

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Photographing Host Children: What’s appropriate to shoot, and what’s appropriate to share?

by cv harquail April 7, 2014
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All children are beautiful. When we, our au pairs, our families, and our friends see our beautiful child, it’s oh-so-tempting to try to hold that image of beauty still, to want to preserve it as a memory forever. When we adore these children, when we are proud of them, when we love them, we want […]

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