holiday

Traditions with a Twist: A Holiday Game with your Au Pair, guest post by Cristina Sierra

by cv harquail December 12, 2014
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Long time contributor-under-a-nom-de-mom, Cristina Sierra shares this holiday idea: A “Mad” Twist on ‘T’was The Night Before Christmas’ Here’s a creative way to introduce your Au Pair to a US holiday tradition, namely the poem  “T’was the night before Christmas” – by making it his / her own. How? Easy – just add Mad Libs. By […]

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Taking Brand New Au Pairs on Vacation: Best Practices?

by cv harquail March 3, 2013

Host parents generally agree that taking an au pair on vacation right at the start of his/her au pair year is inviting trouble. Starting your au pair year in a vacation location, with host parents who are not rushing off to work and with host kids who are not heading off to school makes the […]

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Start By Following the Rules: Au Pair Asks About Hours, Holidays and Discipline

by cv harquail December 29, 2012
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97% of the time that something goes wrong between an au pair and a host family, it’s because one or both parties is not following the rules. Okay, maybe it’s not 97%. Maybe it’s just 95%. But in the vast majority of the problems we talk about here, someone isn’t following the rules. We got […]

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Holiday Gift Idea: The Gratitude Jar

by cv harquail December 14, 2011
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Another favorite, handmade memory gift is a Gratitude Jar. A Gratitude Jar is just a decorated jar, with slips of paper and a pen attached. Parents, au pairs and kids can use the jar to remind them to write down funny or sweet things that happen, and then put the slip in the jar, to […]

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Christmas Gift Ideas: From Au Pair to Host Family

by cv harquail December 1, 2011
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It’s time for little elves to get busy, making things to capture memories. Writes an LCC — I’m a counselor for a small group of au pairs and at our last meeting the question about Christmas gifts for host parents came up. They all want to give something meaningful, they understand that in most cases […]

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Christmas & Holidays with your Au Pair: Post round-up

by cv harquail November 25, 2011
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The Christmas & Holiday season is now officially upon us — just in time to work off that second slice of pumpkin pie. I think I’m finally figuring out how to do these seasonal celebrations — I’ve got the weekly countdown calendar planner out again. We’ve sent out party invitations and even bought cases of […]

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Holiday Cards: Do you include your Au Pair in the family photo? (Poll)

by cv harquail November 14, 2011
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Don’t you love getting holiday cards from friends, especially when the cards have a photo of their whole family? We have so many friends who live so far away that the only chance I get to see how their kids are growing is from the holiday card photos.  Plus, I love to put them on […]

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