Scheduling Your Au Pair: The Half Day

by cv harquail May 28, 2010
201005281252.jpg

I don’t know whether to be embarrassed or self-congratulatory when I say that the only place I have even run afowl of the Au Pair Program Regulations has been around half days. It wasn’t intentional, mind you, but I was ‘doing it wrong’. Oops. Au Pairs are supposed to be scheduled only for five and […]

92 comments Read the full article →

Scheduling Your Au Pair: Naptime, Mealtime and Meaningful Breaks

by cv harquail May 27, 2010

Lots of us host parents schedule our pairs not for an 8 or 10 hour stretch, but for one or two (or sometimes three) portions across a day. Often this is to accommodate ‘before school’ childcare needs as well as afternoon needs, or to have our au pairs come back on duty so that we […]

75 comments Read the full article →

Happy Birthday & Thanks to all of us!

by cv harquail May 23, 2010

It’s a special day! AuPairMom is celebrating its 2nd Birthday! For two years, with 370 posts, 9,000+ comments, and 46,000 visitors, we’ve been pooling our wisdom to make the experience of hosting an Au Pair and being an Au Pair better and better. In the olden days, there were no cluster meetings for host parents. […]

26 comments Read the full article →

Au Pair Asks: How can I get my Host Mom to give me a schedule?

by cv harquail May 23, 2010
calendar_2008-03-30_2008-04-06.jpg

Dear Au Pair Mom, I just find out this site, and I think it’s really helpful. You have a lot of useful information for all of us, and I would like some advice from host parents. I’m an Au Pair, and I just started the program. I’m here for two months and everything is incredible! […]

15 comments Read the full article →

My Host Mom Fantasy: An inexpensive, convenient, accurate personality test for Au Pair candidates

by cv harquail May 20, 2010
201005202107.jpg

I know, my fantasies are not quite as exciting as perhaps they should be. < sigh > If there were a reasonably accurate, easy to administer, online test that you could give an au pair candidate, a test that that would tell you a little bit more about her or his personality, would you be […]

50 comments Read the full article →

The Best $98 You Can Spend on Your New Au Pair

by cv harquail May 20, 2010
201005200738.jpg

One of the best things a host parent can do with a new au pair is to pay some professional driving lessons. Driving lessons are something that you should consider in addition to having the au pair go out driving with one or more host parents, and in addition to having the au pair study […]

11 comments Read the full article →

If the Au Pair Agency failed in their “due diligence”, what can Host Parent do?

by cv harquail May 19, 2010
olivier bataille beads.jpg

Parents, here’s an emergency plea from a First Time Host Mom, who needs advice on dealing with an unhelpful agency. LCCs and area directors, chime in too, please! Hello! I have a problem w/ an au pair company (which shall remain nameless) and I am not sure how to handle it. We are a new […]

24 comments Read the full article →

Getting Down (on the floor) with Host Kids: Too much to ask?

by cv harquail May 19, 2010
201005171441.jpg

One of my favorite moments as an au pair mom was the summer afternoon I came home to find my two year old in a diaper, my au pair in a bathing suit, both of them in the garden, covered in finger paint. They were having a blast. This particular au pair, although very mature […]

68 comments Read the full article →

4 Ways to Reduce “Seasonal Schedule Shift Syndrome”

by cv harquail May 18, 2010
201005171616.jpg

Seasonal Schedule Shift Syndrome: AuPairMom’s fancy name for “when your au pair gets grumpy because all of a sudden the whole schedule changes, and now s/he has to work an occasional Saturday night.” When school ends and ‘summertime’ begins, family schedules change. Rhythms for your kids’ days may change, as may your own work schedules. […]

28 comments Read the full article →

When you need some time alone … with your kids, without the Au Pair

by cv harquail May 17, 2010
201005171358.jpg

‘SotaGal commented last week about, sometimes, she just wants to be with her kids, alone. “Mommy-a-mano”, no DH, no DP, no AP. Just Mom & the kids. There is nothing wrong with that. We all want 1 on 1/2/3 time, time when we are the only adult in the room, the only adult in the […]

12 comments Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →