Have a 9-11 Plan for your family and your au pair

by cv harquail March 14, 2011
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(First published on 9.11.09.  Republished with original comments.) Thinking about ‘lessons’ from 9-11 can often be heartbreaking, especially in my community where so many of us lost family, friends and co-workers in the WTC attacks. It’s almost disrespectful to bring up the idea of a “9-11” plan, but maybe thinking ahead about how we might […]

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Our Au Pair is from Tokoyo and her world has fallen apart. How can we help?

by cv harquail March 13, 2011
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Dear Au Pair Mom- I’m sure that we are not alone with this concern, and we’d love some ideas how to help: Our au pair is from a town about 25 miles southeast of Tokyo (further aware form the center of the earthquake). She is terribly worried about her family and friends after the earthquake, […]

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How Should An Au Pair Bring Up A Challenging Topic? Your preferences

by cv harquail March 9, 2011
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We all want our au pairs to let us know if they have questions, concerns, or issues that are bothering them. But how do we want them to bring these issues up? In our family, the informal-yet-scheduled-family-meeting is the best place to bring up any “issue” that goes beyond something like how best to load […]

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All the little things … that add up to a BIG help

by cv harquail March 5, 2011
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Annonamomma has suggested that we take some time to talk about “all the little things” that keep a house, a home, and a host parent happy. She writes: Could we do a post on the little things?? you know the little things that keep a house happy, i.e. send the no milk text, empty the […]

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Arguments between my child and my Au Pair are driving me nuts!

by cv harquail March 5, 2011
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Dear Au Pair Mom readers– Our au pair has been with us for 1 1/2 months. She’s 19, Italian, and speaks excellent English. She cares for our daughter while I work part-time the house, part-time out. The problem is that our daughter, who is about to turn 4, is having a hard time with this […]

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Where to Begin: New Host Mom, New Au Pair

by cv harquail February 28, 2011
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Maybe I’m more obsessive than the average bear, but I recall thinking I was as ready as I could be when our very first au pair arrived. And, that was back in the days when Handbooks were merely a suggestion, and life was much more simple. I also remember feeling pretty alone. Although there were […]

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Do you send a gift basket to your new Au Pair at Orientation? (Poll)

by cv harquail February 22, 2011

Here’s a poll to follow up on my vdiatribe…..

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Enough with the Gift Baskets!

by cv harquail February 21, 2011

A long time ago, I was experimenting with doing a vlog (a video post), but I never posted it because I looked kindof dorky. Also, a few months later, the lovely Susan Robinson of Cultural Care started her AuPairAnswerMom vlogs, and does them so well that I thought I’d just stick to text. But then […]

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Improving the Relationship between your Au Pair and Your Kids

by cv harquail February 17, 2011
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A request from VtMom — Dear Au Pair Mom readers –I have a minor issue that’s been bothering me and wanted to solicit the collective wisdom of the group. Compared to other posts on this blog, I have nothing to complain about. Instead, my issue surrounds something that’s “nice to have.” Background: We have three […]

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Calling all Forms, Worksheets, LogSheets and More!

by cv harquail February 16, 2011

We’ve had a request to add some resources to AuPairMom– in the form of a depository of forms. I’m not quite sure how we’ll do this, technically, but– please email me any forms that you’d like to share with other host parents and/au pairs. These can range from preprinted gratitude cards that you include in […]

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