Would you ever hire an AWOL Au Pair?

by cv harquail June 23, 2010
201006232225.jpg

That’s a rhetorical question. A host mom just sent me a link to a discussion forum wherein a parent was asking for help finding an au pair. This parent doesn’t want just any au pair. This parent wants an au pair who has gone AWOL– who has left an official au pair program & host […]

29 comments Read the full article →

Is Your Host Family Handbook Too Long?

by cv harquail June 21, 2010
201006210913.jpg

Eleven Au Pairs and 12 revisions after first being written, our Host Family Handbook is now, officially, “long”. Excluding examples of kids’ and au pairs’ schedules, and excluding the basic information about emergency phone numbers and the like, our rules/guidelines section runs 16 pages, with almost 4500 words. Is that too long? Host Family Handbook: […]

43 comments Read the full article →

What exactly is a Host Family Handbook?

by cv harquail June 21, 2010
lana binders.jpg

We’ve got a lit of different terms floating around to describe the written information that we give our au pairs. We call them handbooks, manuals, guidelines, and rules. (And who knows what our au pairs call them!) For the purposes of our conversations here on AuPairMom, let’s try to lock down the terminology. A Host […]

43 comments Read the full article →

From “All of Us at AuPairMom”: A note

by cv harquail June 18, 2010
owl wing clip.jpg

I was just sending an email to Anna, to wish her well with the impending arrival of her new baby, and I *really* wanted to send her hugs from everyone here on the blog. Similarly, a few days ago I emailed another contributor who has been going through chemo, again wanting to send her collective […]

11 comments Read the full article →

Itty Bitty Babies: Ups & Downs of Au Pairs for Infants (and new Host Parents)

by cv harquail June 18, 2010
201006181306.jpg

[[I’m delighted to share with your a Guest Post from a regular contributor, Dorsi. Dorsi noted that she hasn’t seen much on the blog about infants and offered to share her reflections. Reading her post brought back so many memories of those tender first days of being a mom and having to look like I […]

29 comments Read the full article →

When Au Pairs Get Tattoos…

by cv harquail June 18, 2010
201006180821.jpg

Do their moms cry, or only their host moms? Less than half of our au pairs have gotten tattoos, but each time, I’ve worried that I’ve let their moms (and dads) down. Most host parents are of my generation (more or less) so I use my own feelings about permanent body decor as a proxy […]

64 comments Read the full article →

Your Au Pair is not a Maid

by cv harquail June 17, 2010
201006172007.jpg

What’s the difference between an au pair and a maid? In some host families, not very much. Some host families expect their au pairs to do basic housework in addition to caring for children. In the US, “housekeeping”is limited to cleaning up the kids rooms (but in my mind, not vacuuming them), keeping the play […]

81 comments Read the full article →

Tip: Insist on the Second-To-Last bus

by cv harquail June 16, 2010
201006091159.jpg

One of our guidelines is: “Take the second to last bus or train home. Never count on being able to get the very last bus. Always make sure you have a backup.” You might look at that and think we are controlling– but underneath that guideline (like so many others) is a real story of […]

12 comments Read the full article →

Why is a good Manny so hard to find?

by cv harquail June 14, 2010
201006142239.jpg

I can’t believe that I’m over forty, married, and writing a blog post about how to find a good man. Sure, I have some experience in this department– I actually found my self a very nice man (DHD) — but unfortunately I don’t have exactly the right experience to help out those of you who […]

79 comments Read the full article →

Matching with an Au Pair: How much info to share about an Atypical Host Parent Situation

by cv harquail June 14, 2010
finelittleday blogspot com.jpg

Today’s Truth: Some of us are typical host parents, some of us are atypical host parents, and all of us are trying to be better host parents. I’ve been wanting to write about atypical parenting situations for a while now, but a conversation over the weekend has raised a particular situation where we can consider […]

25 comments Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →