childcare

Letters of Recommendation: For a so-so au pair? (Poll)

by cv harquail January 20, 2010
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When your au pair is getting ready to leave you, either to end her year or to extend with a different family, it’s nice to write her a letter of recommendation. Unless, of course, you wouldn’t recommend her to anyone. When the topic of recommendation letters has come up before, you all have been of […]

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Tough Topic: When your au pair steals from you

by cv harquail January 19, 2010
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There are many topics that I have dreaded bringing up here, but I’m going to bring them up anyway with a little bit of warning… I’ll announce in the headline that it’s a “Tough Topic” and everyone will know to treat it gently. One of the painful tough topics is when you discover your au […]

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How Does Your Au Pair Grow?

by cv harquail January 17, 2010
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Truly one of the joys of being a host parent is watching your au pair blossom as a citizen of the world and as as a person. I look back in hindsight now and wish that for each of our au pairs, I had written them a note at the start of their year to […]

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Protect Your Au Pair’s Off-Duty Time

by cv harquail January 11, 2010
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Au Pairs work hard. When they are off duty, they need their downtime. But, if they’re good au pairs, your kids probably like them and enjoy spending time interacting with them. Kids don’t always know the difference between on-duty and off-duty, so it’s our job as host parents to help au pairs protect their downtime. […]

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This Time Last Year: January 2009

by cv harquail December 31, 2009
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No one is more surprised than me to see how much we’ve covered here on AuPairMom! I can’t believe the number of topics, posts, comments, concerns and wisdom that have appeared here so far– and we’re still going strong! Sometimes it’s hard to remember what we’ve discussed, so here’s a new feature: This Time Last […]

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O. M. G. My Au Pair is “Sexting”

by cv harquail December 29, 2009
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I can’t even figure out how to begin this post! Where do you start, when you find out that your au pair is sending lewd photos of herself from her/your cellphone, and downloading lewd photos of someone else onto her/your computer? We got this request for advice from a host mom who is, to put […]

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How to stay happy as a Lame Duck host parent

by cv harquail December 28, 2009
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There comes a time in your relationship with your au pair where your ability to influence her behavior vanishes- just vanishes. This usually happens as she is getting ready to leave, either to go back home or to go on to an extension with another family. [When this happens during rematch, it’s an entirely different […]

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Out Overnight: Okay, or Not? (Poll)

by cv harquail December 28, 2009
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On New Year’s Eve, we can expect that our off-duty au pairs may want to be out all night celebrating. And for one night a year (especially, when everyone else seems go be out celebrating) you might not have a problem with your au pair being gone overnight, even if she has to be on-duty […]

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Holiday Bonus, Tip, or End of Year Cash Gift? (Poll)

by cv harquail December 18, 2009
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I’ve been reluctant to bring this topic up again because last year the idea of giving your Au Pair a holiday cash gift or top really seemed to freak people out. Check the earlier posts before you go wild: Gift, Bonus or Tip: Call it what you want, but keep in mind…. How much should […]

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If you have a housecleaner, does s/he clean your Au Pair’s room?

by cv harquail December 14, 2009
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I admit, I was a little surprised to learn that some of us who pay to have our houses cleaned include the au pair’s room in the housecleaner’s duties. Probably it’s because I’m always trying to save money and have needed to have the housecleaner’s energy all on the main parts of the house, but […]

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