overnight guests

Policies for Hosting Out-Of-Town Guests: Polls

by cv harquail January 25, 2014
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 Let’s get a sense of how many of us have which kinds of guidelines about out-of-town guests.     Take these polls, below  —- but EXCLUDE romantic relationships (e.g., boyfriend or girlfriend from back home) since these have been shown to have a separate dynamic. More on that in another post.   Please add details […]

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When Your Au Pair’s Parents Come to Visit

by cv harquail January 23, 2014
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Dear AuPair Mom–  We have a lovely, responsible Au Pair whose parents miss her dearly. They have decided to visit twice (twice!) during the year and want to stay with us in order to maximize their time with their daughter.  I’m apprehensive about the whole thing, because hosting parents is not the same as hosting […]

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Establishing Expectations when an Au Pair Has Guests

by cv harquail November 30, 2011

There’s something about hosting a friend of relative of your au pair that can mess with the fine balance between “part of the family”&  “childcare provider” and between “host mom” and “house elf/slave”. For lots of us, we forget to check our assumptions about how we should act towards other people’s guests, how much of […]

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

by cv harquail June 17, 2009
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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 […]

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Your House is Not a Youth Hostel

by cv harquail April 3, 2009
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Let me repeat that: Your house is not a youth hostel. It’s not a hotel. It’s not a pied a terre. Your house is your home, and if you choose to have friends of your au pair as overnight guests, there is a lot to think about. One blatant sign that a host mom and […]

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