au pair

Choosing an Au Pair: Religion as an Au Pair selection criterion

by cv harquail July 28, 2009
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I’m A Believer. I believe that religion is something you should seriously consider when selecting an au pair. In my family’s experience, religion has been an important selection criterion — and also the source of some interesting relationship problems. Our experience Our family is of mixed religious traditions: I’m a christian with a lower case […]

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Tip: Teach your Au Pair about Vampires

by cv harquail October 31, 2008
vampire bill compton au pair aupair advice

Special Halloween Edition Every Host Mom should teach her au pair about vampires. No, I don’t mean the Bill Compton kind of vampire, I mean the bill ELECTRIC kind of vampire. [If you want to know more about Bill Compton, check these vids: "I’m Too Sexy…" (almost NSFW) or "Talking in Your Sleep." Apparently, these […]

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In Rematch Again? Why didn’t you call me?

by cv harquail October 16, 2008
call me for au pair advice

Just a quick, little story: I heard through the grapevine that the au pair we had briefly, who rematched with another family over “personality issues” is in rematch– again. This made me wonder, just as I wondered when this au pair was in rematch the first time: Why didn’t you call me? Yes, you, host-parent-in-rematch. […]

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Homesickness and your Au Pair: How you might help

by cv harquail October 15, 2008
homesick au pair needs help

Being an Au Pair’s host mom occasionally calls for you to help your au pair take care of herself, both physically and emotionally. You will find yourself needing to offer her ideas about how to distinguish between a cold and an allergy, how to find new friends, and almost certainly how to deal with homesickness. […]

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How Can You Get Your Au Pair to be (more of) a Self-Starter?

by cv harquail October 6, 2008

Moms- We’ve got another request for advice! Not so surprisingly, this request shares a theme with last week’s question, about how to get your au pair ‘out and about’ so that you can have some alone-ish time. I’ve taken the liberty of highlighting some of the passages to call your attention to them… What are […]

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Plan Ahead for the Holidays. How will your Au Pair celebrate with you?

by cv harquail October 1, 2008
preparingforxmas-3

I was just stunned to learn this morning that there are only 12 weeks until Christmas. 12 Weeks!!! While my Jewish friends have been celebrating their new year, I have been stumbling along oblivious to how quickly the fall has been flying by…. so thank goodness that blogger Tsh over at SimpleMom.com reminded me that […]

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Host Mom Advice Wanted: How to get more privacy and family time?

by cv harquail September 25, 2008
riot jane aupair n dog

Hi Host Moms (and Dads) — We just got this request from a host mom who’d like some suggestions. Here is her challenge: We are looking to have some space away from our au pair on her time off. I have heard of au pairs that go out with their friends, go out to eat […]

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When your Au Pair has a Fender-Bender — Who pays, and what, and how?

by cv harquail September 24, 2008
hound in drivers seat

I have dreaded writing about au pairs and car accidents, because fear of accidents is one of the scariest things about having children, and even scarier when you are entrusting your children to someone else’s driving. Even the best of au pairs can have car accidents. (Heck, even the best of drivers can have accidents!) […]

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Au Pairs: Still "low-cost" childcare?

by cv harquail September 15, 2008
woman empty wallet

One of the biggest selling points for having an au pair rather than other kinds of childcare is its relative cost.  For years, having an Au Pair was less expensive for me than employing a full time professional nanny, and (especially for people with more than one child) less expensive than using an out of […]

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When your Au Pair complains about working too many hours, but still less than 45… what can you do?

by cv harquail August 4, 2008
no whining cat

A Host mom/reader, Acicala, wrote in a comment/question last week that hit me right in the pit of my stomach, because this particular problem has been the source of nearly all the “APA” (AuPairAnxiety) that I have experienced as a host mom. The problem, in a nutshell, is when your Au Pair begins to complain […]

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