aupair

Does Your Extension Au Pair Deserve a Raise?

by cv harquail January 24, 2013
i love raise.jpg

The experience of a happy au pair year is its own reward. And extending this positive experience is a great way to turn this reward into a bonus. When an au pair and a host family extend their contract with each other for an additional 6, 9, or 12 months, everybody gets a bonus. The […]

80 comments Read the full article →

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. […]

6 comments Read the full article →

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!) […]

1 comment Read the full article →

Advice: Increase your Au Pair’s gas allowance

by cv harquail June 12, 2008

The price of gas has gone up by more that $1 in the last year. That price increase hurts everyone, and it especially pains an Au Pair, since it eats up more of her already modest weekly pocket money. It has gotten much more expensive for your Au Pair to use the car for her […]

1 comment Read the full article →

The “Before You Leave Home” E-mail

by cv harquail June 12, 2008
email-heart-candy.jpg

If I were an Au Pair, I think I’d be more excited (and perhaps less worried) about leaving home for a year if I knew that my host family was excited to be welcoming me into their home. But, how would I know? I haven’t talked to them since we matched! That’s why, around 4 […]

4 comments Read the full article →

Your Au Pair’s Room: Advice

by cv harquail June 3, 2008

Picture yourself in this room. Imagine that you’ve just spent 8 hours with energetic kids, talking in your second language, driving on unfamiliar streets on the wrong side of the road. Wouldn’t it be lovely if you could walk upstairs, open the door, and step into a room like this? It doesn’t have to be […]

3 comments Read the full article →

Phases of the AP Year

by cv harquail June 2, 2008
4-seasons-fairies.jpg

To everything, there is a season.…. this was true of your relationships with your college boyfriends, and it’s true of your relationships with APs. Every AP relationship follows a predictable pattern– the anxiety of selection, the celebration of finding someone, the anticipation of her arrival, the chaos of orientation, the ease of the cruising time, […]

7 comments Read the full article →