guidelines

Help Your Au Pair Evaluate Potential Playdates

by cv harquail April 8, 2010
_116_264484011_25fefe1df0.jpg

I firmly believe that working on your au pair relationship makes you a better parent, directly and indirectly. Any time you have to stop and reflect on your parenting principles and your priorities for your kid(s), you have the opportunity to become more mindful about what you’re up to with your family. Here’s one of […]

30 comments Read the full article →

Moms & Au Pairs: Can I hold us to different tv rules?

by cv harquail February 4, 2010
201002041921.jpg

I’m a believer that different members of a family have different privileges and responsibilities, depending on their roles and their ages. Parents have more privileges than do children, and employers have more privileges than do employees. The rules that we follow can be different, as long as they are fair. Nobody, and I mean nobody, […]

86 comments Read the full article →

Why Safety Rules Matter

by cv harquail January 30, 2010
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

I get a lot of crap from people about the safety rules at our house. Apparently we’re a little strict. Probably our most prominent safety rules have to do with driving. For example, I don’t use my cellphone when I drive. I just don’t. I’m that person who waits ’till she gets where she’s going, […]

36 comments Read the full article →

O. M. G. My Au Pair is “Sexting”

by cv harquail December 29, 2009
200912291557.jpg

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 […]

20 comments Read the full article →

Out Overnight: Okay, or Not? (Poll)

by cv harquail December 28, 2009
_1144_3171504983_4cfa70013c.jpg

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 […]

56 comments Read the full article →

R.T.F.M. Making sure your Au Pair Reads the Family Manual

by cv harquail September 17, 2009
200909161524.jpg

Long before there was OMG, ROTFLMAO and WTF, there was RTFM. R ead T he F (your favorite F word here. We use “family”) M anual We put a lot of work into those family manuals and handbooks, and we expect them to be useful to our Au Pairs. However, before the Au Pairs find […]

75 comments Read the full article →

Gossip Girls: When your AP tells stories, what can you do?

by cv harquail August 18, 2009
Thumbnail image for Gossip Girls: When your AP tells stories, what can you do? u said what about me cartoon.png

Researchers in my field of organizational behavior&theory have found that gossip in organizations provides some useful functions, like lubricating relationships, creating interpersonal bonds, allowing people to express their fears, and perhaps most important, offering people an informal way to make sense of what’s going on around them. While it may be that gossip at work […]

29 comments Read the full article →

Feeding my kids too much fast food… Now what?

by cv harquail June 21, 2009
200906211707.jpg

What is it about Au Pairs and fast food? Maybe because it’s so ‘American’, or because fast food outlets are ubiquitous, or because they are always warm, dry and welcoming public places, fast food emporiums seem to capture the attention of many an au pair. Au pairs seem to spend a lot of time at […]

22 comments Read the full article →

Your Au Pair’s Guests: A few guidelines….

by cv harquail June 17, 2009
visitr1.jpg

I just love reading all these posts nodding my head knowing I am not alone in my feelings! One topic that I think may have been covered lightly is Out of Town Guests. Our Au Pair is having A TON of guests! She has her Step Father coming, a single girlfriend, a married couple, her […]

25 comments Read the full article →

Should you share your au pair?

by cv harquail May 14, 2009
_3241_2787032287_3e3f592017.jpg

Good friends share with each other… tips about shoe sales, complaints about PTA events, and the whipped cream on their Frappucinos (yes, really. Ask Jenny.) But, as a good friend, should you share your au pair? (Note that it’s against the guidelines of most agencies for your au pair to work for anyone but you. […]

26 comments Read the full article →