homesickness

Helping an Au Pair with Depression – without Rematch

by cv harquail May 11, 2015
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It’s more than homesickness. It’s more than a bad day, or a bad mood. It’s depression, and it’s a serious disorder. Is there anything a host parent can do to help? HostMomInParadise writes: I am a host mom in transition. My au pair had been here 8 months and left suddenly, stopping work abruptly and […]

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Beware the Homesick Au Pair: Screen it out, or wait it out?

by cv harquail October 28, 2014
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Homesickness is completely predictable Homesickness is something that every au pair should anticipate, and that every au pair should make a commitment to work through. If you’re signing up to spend a year in another country, in another family, then you are committing to working through any homesickness that occurs between month 1 and month […]

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Getting Back On The Right Foot When You Start Out Wrong

by cv harquail February 8, 2014
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Experienced Host Parents know that when your au pair arrives, you get him or her in action right away. Right Away! Even though it’s tempting to let him/her sleep in, or to show her around your wonderful town, or to wait until his English is better before you start giving instructions on ‘how to do […]

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Can This Relationship Be Saved?: Au Pair Seems to be Giving Up

by cv harquail February 11, 2013

Waaa waaa waaa waaa…… Sometimes I hear stories about au pairs and their complaints and I want to say: “Dude, grow UP.” “No one forced you to become an au pair. No one forced you to pick this particular family. No one’s making you do anything out of the ordinary. No one’s skimping on your […]

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Lonely Au Pair Plans Early Departure – Do we approve?

by cv harquail December 3, 2011

Hi there AuPairMom, I was hoping you may be able to give me some advice. I am a 22 year old UK girl working as a AuPair in Germany. I have been here for just over 3 months. When I first arrived I found it difficult but was soon used to the job. The family […]

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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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When Troubles Back Home Cause Distress

by cv harquail March 30, 2010
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A large number of au pairs, perhaps even a majority, become au pairs in the US as a way to escape something at home. They may be escaping a bleak economic outlook, a scarcity of jobs post-high school, intense political strife, or an unsafe environment. Many au pairs are escaping bad family situations, including their […]

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Our Au Pair is not the cheerful girl we expected. Now what?

by cv harquail February 15, 2010
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We’re 1 month into our first au pair and not sure if it’s going to be ok or not. Just to clarify we’re based outside the US so our au pair has not come to us through an agency, in fact she is American. We have 3 kids, all under 6 and there is no […]

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The Boyfriend-Back-Home: Always bad news?

by cv harquail September 1, 2009
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We got an interesting request for advice from a host mom who just found out that her incoming au pair has gotten a BBH — a Boyfriend-Back-Home. This mom is concerned because her first au pair – host mom experience was marred by her au pair’s devotion to the BBH over her commitment to the […]

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Homesickness and your Au Pair: How you might help

by cv harquail October 15, 2008
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Being an Au Pair’s host mom occasionally calls for you to help your au pair take care of herself, both physically and emotionally. You will find yourself needing to offer her ideas about how to distinguish between a cold and an allergy, how to find new friends, and almost certainly how to deal with homesickness. […]

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