Tim Gunn’s advice on breaking the rules

by cv harquail February 21, 2010
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If you ask Tim Gunn for advice about breaking the rules, he’ll tell you two things: 1. Make it work, and 2. Use the Bluefly accessories wall thoughtfully. Both pieces of Tim Gunn’s advice to fashionistas apply to au pairs & host families. In general, I am black handbag = black shoes kind of person. […]

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Sad Host Mom: How to break the bad news about her visa

by cv harquail February 20, 2010
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Parents, we got this email from an active commenter, who doesn’t really have a “problem” we can fix — but she does need us a little bit. Can you share any wisdom that might make this hard situation a little easier for her and her Au Pair? We love our au pair. She came to […]

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Best Practices for asking your Au Pair to work Overtime

by cv harquail February 19, 2010
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Based on the overwhelming response to the post from NJ Dad wanting to know more about common practices when folks ask their au pairs to work overtime, I thought it would be a good idea to summarize the key findings. Just to be clear– nobody is recommending that you expect your AP to work over […]

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Au Pair Asks: Host Dad is Mean to Child

by cv harquail February 16, 2010
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Although this blog is not really for au pairs, there are times when other host parents are the best folks to offer advice to an au pair. This particular situation is a tough one, since the problem concerns how the Host Dad treats his son, and how (or even whether) the Host Mom and the […]

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Our Au Pair is not the cheerful girl we expected. Now what?

by cv harquail February 15, 2010
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We’re 1 month into our first au pair and not sure if it’s going to be ok or not. Just to clarify we’re based outside the US so our au pair has not come to us through an agency, in fact she is American. We have 3 kids, all under 6 and there is no […]

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Extra Hours: What’s fair pay when you break this taboo?

by cv harquail February 13, 2010
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Many parents find that 45 hours a week is not enough childcare. Either you have an emergency late night at work, a kid home sick, a snow day, or a bookclub meeting. Some parents have work + commute combos that mean they’re away from home 10 hours a day, m-f, even if they stagger their […]

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Can an Au Pair be happy without driving privileges?

by cv harquail February 11, 2010
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[[This question popped up in a different comment thread, and I’ve pulled it out for its own page & conversation, seeing as how this is an issue for many of us. I’ll eventually re-post the comments already made, but here is a start:]] My husband and I are expecting our first au pair in May. […]

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Au Pairs and Your American Politics

by cv harquail February 11, 2010
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If you ever come to over to my house, our politics are pretty clear. Right there at the front door, you can wipe your feet on George Bush. Our George Bush doormat is an endless source of amusement for canvassers from Greenpeace, The Sierra Club, Amnesty International, and others. It seems like the only person […]

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You’re right, he’s wrong. This is a problem.

by cv harquail February 8, 2010
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Most of the time when I get an email for us at AuPairMom, I do my best to hold back. I usually want to let you all take charge of an issue, so I restrain myself from sharing my opinion first. But in this case …. well, you can tell from the post title, can’t […]

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Is Snooping in your Au Pair’s room ever okay?

by cv harquail February 6, 2010
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I got an email from “Undercover Host Mom” — she is struggling with this dilemma: Although we have a strict and absolute non-smoking policy, and discussed this before we matched with our au pair, I have come to wonder whether she is smoking in our car and maybe even in the house. (It’s hard to […]

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