boyfriend back home

Could an Au Pair Bring Her Boyfriend With Her?

by cv harquail November 17, 2017
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Dear AuPairMom — I’m interested in being an Au Pair. I love children, I love traveling, I don’t mind going on journeys by myself and discovering new places, Au Pair seems like the perfect position for me to apply for. But (there is always a but), I am currently in a very serious relationship. We […]

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Can Au Pairs shorten their Extension, once begun?

by cv harquail February 5, 2012
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Do you know the official answer to this au pair’s query? And, if you were her LCC, what would you advise? Dear Au Pair Mom, I’m an extension Au Pair, living here in the USA since January of 2011 (13 months now). I wanted to know if there is a possibility to change the length […]

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Establishing Expectations when an Au Pair Has Guests

by cv harquail November 30, 2011

There’s something about hosting a friend of relative of your au pair that can mess with the fine balance between “part of the family”&  “childcare provider” and between “host mom” and “house elf/slave”. For lots of us, we forget to check our assumptions about how we should act towards other people’s guests, how much of […]

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When an Invasion of Privacy Threatens an Au Pair Relationship

by cv harquail December 9, 2010
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There’s a reason we have doors on our bedrooms, and it’s not to keep out the light or the noise when we’re trying to fall asleep– it’s to give us some privacy where we can completely relax, knowing that no one will see whatever it is we are doing. Sometimes I’ve felt like there is […]

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Is our Au Pair committed?: Verify, but trust.

by cv harquail September 17, 2010
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Dear AuPairMom, I’m hoping to get some input from your readers on a problem I have about trust and commitment to our family: Our AP (our second) has been with us for a few weeks. Last weekend, she traveled outside the country to see a male friend. (He’s in a country nearer to the US […]

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When your Au Pair confides in you … about something awful

by cv harquail June 11, 2010
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This is a heavy topic for a Friday. Apologies in advance. I’ve mentioned before that I believe that there are just as many young people who become au pairs to escape something as there are those who become au pairs to find something. Au Pairs who are escaping are fleeing from acute personal disappointments, painful […]

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