Choosing an Au Pair

Someone Else in Your House: Getting comfortable with the idea of an Au Pair

by cv harquail September 16, 2010
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Probably the most common obstacle for any family considering an au pair vs. other kinds of childcare is the idea of having some other adult live in your house with you. People imagine that they’ll lose their privacy, feel crowded, feel constantly observed, never have time to themselves, and grow weary from no time ‘off’. […]

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Should we match with a friend of our current Au Pair?

by cv harquail September 13, 2010
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Birds of a feather flock together, and often great au pairs have wonderful people as friends. When you have a terrific au pair whom you wish you could replicate, sometimes matching with his or her friend seems like the next best thing. Or is it? Host Mom Sandy D. asks: We are finishing up our […]

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Why is a good Manny so hard to find?

by cv harquail June 14, 2010
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I can’t believe that I’m over forty, married, and writing a blog post about how to find a good man. Sure, I have some experience in this department– I actually found my self a very nice man (DHD) — but unfortunately I don’t have exactly the right experience to help out those of you who […]

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My Host Mom Fantasy: An inexpensive, convenient, accurate personality test for Au Pair candidates

by cv harquail May 20, 2010
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I know, my fantasies are not quite as exciting as perhaps they should be. < sigh > If there were a reasonably accurate, easy to administer, online test that you could give an au pair candidate, a test that that would tell you a little bit more about her or his personality, would you be […]

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Realizing you aren’t ready to be Au Pair host parents? And you have an Au Pair?

by cv harquail May 12, 2010
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If we only knew then what we know now… being an Au Pair Host Parent would be really easy. Okay, easier. As our au pair parenting experiences unfold, we learn a lot about what works and what doesn’t, what we can change and what we can’t, how we can accommodate to an au pair and […]

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Are you really ready to be a Host Parent? The Host Parent Readiness Test

by cv harquail May 11, 2010
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We spend a lot of time on this blog sharing ideas about how to figure out whether an au pair candidate is actually ready to do the job, live in another family, and explore an new culture and country. But, we haven’t spent much time sharing ideas about preparing *ourselves” for becoming host parents. We […]

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Getting an Au Pair: What really motivated you?

by cv harquail May 10, 2010
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Let’s cut through the b.s. of the lovely agency brochures, the glowing endorsements on agency blogs, and the romanticized picture of a delightful young person shepherding our kids across the park to the playground. Why do we really have au pairs as child caregivers? Why are we opening up our homes, and sometimes even our […]

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Choosing an Au Pair: Sexual Orientation as a consideration

by cv harquail May 5, 2010
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When we are looking for au pair candidates who might be a good fit with our family, we have criteria (e.g., must drive, can’t smoke, likes dogs) that are non-negotiable. We have preferences that direct us to candidates with characteristics we think we’d like in an au pair (e.g., is musically talented, family-oriented, German). And […]

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What really motivates them to become Au Pairs?

by cv harquail May 3, 2010
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Very few au pairs come to the US because they want to take care of kids. They can do this in their home countries, with a lot less drama and zero homesickness. While many (let’s hope, most) au pairs like kids, and think they will enjoy caring for kids for a year, this is usually […]

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Choosing an Au Pair: How much does the home country matter?

by cv harquail April 29, 2010
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Host parents are often asked why they’ve chosen an au pair from a particular country, and whether an au pair’s home country matters. How do you answer that question, without sounding like you’re stereotyping too much? When it comes to having preferences for countries, we feel very comfortable prioritizing home countries based on language— if […]

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