Au Pair Gifts To Kids: Katrin’s Book-a-Day Advent Calendar

by cv harquail December 6, 2012
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Host Mom Sandra tells us about a creative, low cost holiday gift idea that combines a clever physical gift with an enduring gift of spirit: I just wanted to send a quick note about my au pair, Katrin Schwingenschlogl from Austria. For the Christmas holiday, she developed her own Advent calendar for my children. She […]

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AuPair Gifts That Give Back ~ Ideas from Susan Robinson

by cv harquail December 2, 2012
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How about some some gift ideas for au pairs that, with their purchase, provide a donation to women’s and children’s causes around the world? It’s two gifts in one!  The curator of this list is Susan Robinson, known to many of you as AuPair Answer Mom over at Cultural Care. Susan Robinson has been host […]

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Au Pair Gifts That Are Easy To Pack – From NoVA Twin Mom

by cv harquail November 28, 2012
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NoVA Twin Mom lives in the DC Suburbs with DH and twin 2 year olds and an Au Pair.  She writes:  “Our first au pair left in mid-January, so we were very aware that anything she acquired in December had to be lightweight and easy to pack! These are some of the gifts that have […]

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Create and Share Your Au Pair Holiday Gift Ideas

by cv harquail November 26, 2012
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There’s nothing like a well-chosen holiday gift to tell a person “I see you. I understand you. I care about you.” Each year, the Winter holidays give us a chance to let our au pairs know that we appreciate them as a family member, as a valued childcare giver, and as a young adult “on […]

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All Unhappy Au Pair Situations Are Unhappy in Complicated Ways

by cv harquail November 25, 2012
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In the nearly 6 years we’ve been talking together on this blog, we’ve never once had a concern with an au pair that was simple. Never. Not once. The situation is never just “She won’t follow directions”, or “He can’t pass the state driver’s license test”. There’s always some complicated mix of themes, usually involving […]

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This Thanksgiving, Teach Your AuPair Real American Values with #GivingTuesday

by cv harquail November 20, 2012
World Homeless Day

Just when we’re trying to celebrate the most welcoming American tradition, and start off the winter holiday with a warm, family gathering, we get Black Friday.  The annual celebration of consumerism and low low prices that results in shoving, pushing, overspending, and spiritual emptiness. Black Friday is American culture at its worst. So you can […]

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5 Key Strategies For Building A Strong Relationship With Your Au Pair

by cv harquail November 8, 2012
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Dear AuPairMom Readers– I need your advice for summarizing host parent wisdom. Next Tuesday night, I’m scheduled to give a talk at The Modern Village, a parenting workshop series, about being an effective Host Parent. Back when I agreed to give the talk, I was sure I’d have a lot of ideas to share with […]

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Celebrate Democracy: Take Your Au Pair to a Polling Place

by cv harquail November 6, 2012
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(I realize I’m a little late with this one, but maybe there’s still time.) We Americans often take democracy for granted. Too many of us just never make it to the polls to vote, even in a close presidential race like this one. In my family, voting has always been a big deal. My dad […]

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Should Au Pair Agency Contracts Have a “Flame Out — Opt Out” Clause?

by cv harquail November 5, 2012
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Host Families can easily get screwed when the au pair that they match with is so bad s/he can’t or won’t make it through the initial two weeks. When an au pair/ host family relationship breaks, there is an emotional and financial cost to everyone involved. Au Pair Agency procedures are designed to push au […]

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When Your Au Pair Complains About The Schedule

by cv harquail October 31, 2012
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Even when we host parents follow all the rules about scheduling, we can still run into trouble when au pairs begin to resent that their on-duty schedule cuts into their off-duty social time. Whether it’s a Saturday night that you need her to work, a school holiday he too thinks he should have ‘off’, or […]

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