Aupair sewing pillow cases for the Million Pillow case challenge

For our monthly meeting this month we sewed pillow cases which we will donate to Operation Break Through a local children's charity. The girls had fun learning how to sew, we all learned something. The pillow cases turned out beautiful they will make some kids very happy. American Patch Work and Quilting magazine have a million pillow case challenge where they record all the pillow cases being made around the country. Harper's Quilt Shop in Overland Park was gracious to let us use their sewing machines and their expertise in how to sew pillow cases. It was a great meeting.

What do Police officers, ER doctors and Artists have in common?

            They all need flexible, reliable childcare. Aupair Care provides live in childcare for Kansas City families. Hosting an aupair is an enriching experience for your children and your family. An aupair is a foreign person between the ages of 18-27 that comes to live with you for one year and in exchange for room and board and a weekly stipend they care for your children up to 45 hours per week. The schedule is flexible so you set the hours. No more driving to three different schools and day care centers, no more panic mornings trying to figure out what to do about child care when one child gets sick. The aupair lives with you and is an extra set of hands to help.

            As the area director for Aupair Care in Kansas City and also a host mom I know first hand the value of hosting an aupair. I am also a photographer and my work takes me on the road a few weeks a year, my husband works in sales and is on the road a lot. We have no family in town so it seemed like a natural choice to choose live in childcare from Aupair Care when our first daughter was born 9 years ago. Since then we have had nine aupairs from five different countries and they are all still very much a part of our family. My daughters have “big” sisters all over the world.

            Currently there are 2o families with Aupair Care in the Kansas City area. The families come from many different professions, but what they all have in common is a need for flexible, affordable and reliable childcare. The cost remains the same if you have one child or 6 children. When you break down the cost per week it is only about $340 per week. The cultural exchange aspect is also wonderful, maybe your child attends the French emersion school and you want them to learn more French on their free time, hire a French Aupair. You have always been interested in the Eastern Culture, hire an aupair from Thailand and learn more about their culture, maybe you have some very active boys, hire a male aupair, yes there are male aupairs and they are becoming very popular.

            On Dec 11, 2011 the local Kansas City Aupairs with Aupair Care will team up with Harper’s quilt shop in Overland Parkand sew pillow cases which we will donate to Operation Breakthrough.

            Hosting an aupair is not only great for its great value in child care but also in the great enrichment and life long memories it brings to the family. I can say from a personal experience I have gained so much from hosting an aupair and so have my children.

Best Aupair meeting ever

We had our annual Halloween party this last weekend and had the best turn out of wonderfully dressed aupairs ever! 20 of 22 aupairs showed up and we had a costume contest, the winner got a $25 gift card to Target and the runner up a huge piece of Norwegian chocolate. We took lots of photos and thanksfully the weather cooperated so we could be outside. Enjoy the photos.

What is Room and Board

I often get the question what exactly is room and board. The Aupairs receive their weekly stipend of $197.75 and room and board. So Room is, they get their own private room with a door on it and this is their private space. Kids should not be allowed in the aupair room unless the aupair invites them in and everyone should always knock before entering the aupairs room. It is her/his private place. Board is,  any food and drink the aupair consumes. You may list certain foods as off limits to the aupair, maybe you have  certain items that are expensive or hard to get and alcohol should always be off limits unless you offer your aupair a drink and then of course that is your business.

But the aupair should have access to everyday foods and if the aupair eats yogurt and you don't, it would be nice to buy some yogurt for the aupair. Basic foods should be provided for your aupair. Aupairs should no be going hungry. It is important to discuss food likes and dislikes in the interviewing process because it makes it much easier when all parties are more or less on the same food page. If you eat meat everday and your aupair is a veggan you may run into some problems.

Good-Bye parties for your Aupair

The time has come, the year is over and it flew by. You are going to miss your aupair, she has become a part of the family and you know it will be tearful good bye. But you also know that now you have a new family member and your life has been enriched. Families do good byes in different ways. I always ask what the aupair wants, sometimes they want a big party and other times just a quiet dinner either with their host family or including some close friends. We have done it all from big blow out back yard parties that went until 4 in the morning to a quiet dinner out at the aupairs favorite restaurant. Whatever you do, make sure you do something to mark the end of your year together. The Aupair has taken care of  your most precious possession your children. Honor her and thank her.

Tips for a succesful year

Whether you have just arrived, or are in your extension year, it's good to remember some basics for having a good au pair experience. Communication is the basis for any good relationship. You should feel free to tell your host family how you're feeling and ask questions about anything you don't understand. It's not always easy to have an honest conversation, but it is important! Equally important is mutual respect. Don't forget that your host family has trusted you with their most precious possessions: their children. But also don't forget to treat their home, car and other possessions with respect. At the end of your stay your room should look much like it did when you arrived. Your host family should also respect you and understand how difficult it can be, coming from another country and culture. (If they forget - remember to use a little of that communication!) If you ever feel there are difficulties arising that you can't handle by
yourself, please call me. I'm here to help!

Fun things for the kids to do with the Aupair

My kids had some friends over for a play date today and my lovely aupair had a full plate! What to do with five kids? Have a lemonade stand. The kids spent the morning getting signs ready and making lemonade, then they set up a table on our front walk way and started selling. They had so much fun, they learn about money, they learn to interact with people and it keeps them busy for hours. The aupair was in the background watching over them and helping where needed. A great day for all!

Fresh baby

I photographed a super fresh baby yesterday, only three days old. I love fresh babies, and he was such a good model kept his eyes open and truly posed for the camera. Ah how one forgets these first weeks of newborns! Congrats to my friends Jon and Megan on their baby boy and letting me be the first to introduce him to the super stardom of being a photo model!

Do as I say not as I do

These are important words for Aupairs and Host parents to know. We as host parents set our aupairs to a higher standard than ourselves. We will place the kids in front of the television on a Saturday so we can get some things done around the house, this does not mean that the Aupair can do the same during the work week. A Host parent may leave the kids at home sleeping while they run out a quick errand, the aupair may not. The host parent may drink a glass of wine or two and drive home, the aupair may not...and the list goes on and on. As host parents having an aupair live with you is foreshadowing of having teenagers.  They watch us and see how we do things so it is only natural that they repeat the things we do. Again communication is key to any relationship, so the next time the aupair comes to you and says "but you do it why can't I...", make sure you have a good response ready. Mine is Do as I say and not as I do.

Ten Questions I Wish I Asked my Child Care Provider

Ten Questions I Wish I Asked my Child Care Provider

Interviewing potential child care providers can be a daunting task. AuPairCare, an au pair matching agency, interviews thousands of international au pair applicants each year to assure they represent only the highest quality child care providers. Regardless of what type of child care provider you are seeking, AuPairCare recommends you consider the following questions, which go beyond basic child care experience, when interviewing applicants who will be taking care of your children.

1.     Are you trained in either CPR or First Aid?

2.     What is your discipline philosophy?

3.     Do you have a high school diploma and plans to continue your education?

4.     Do you have a valid driver’s license, and how much driving experience do you have?

5.     Can you offer flexible child care hours, including nights and weekends?

6.     Do you have any other obligations such as a part time job or children of your own that might impact your availability?

7.     Tell me what you love most about taking care of children? What is the hardest part?

8.     What is your favorite food? What type of meals do you prepare for kids?

9.     Do you have your own health insurance?

10.  Why should we let you care for our children?

“Parents need to have a complete picture of their child care provider’s experience, child care philosophy and personality before hiring,” said Heidi Woehl, vice president of AuPairCare. “It’s important that you are 100% confident in your child care provider’s ability and that your child enjoys spending time with your provider.  At AuPairCare we screen each au pair on a number of factors – including educational background, medical and psychological stability, criminal record, and child care references before accepting them into our program. Au pairs also receive accident and travel insurance, training in CPR and First Aid, and constant support by local staff. Most of all, we make sure each au pair has a sincere interest in caring for children.”

Ten tips for culturally aware children

Ten Tips for Culturally Aware Children

Many children start to show an interest in different cultures at a young age, whether  through ethnic food, friends at school, unique clothes, or hearing a foreign language spoken for the first time. Here are 10 ways to encourage your child’s curiosity and teach them about a variety of cultures in fun and interactive ways. 

1.     Read bedtime stories that take place in another country or include some foreign words, so you can practice pronunciation.

2.     Host an international au pair. You can use matching agencies like AuPairCare, which have au pairs from more than 40 countries.

3.     Enroll your child in a cultural dance or martial arts class, such as Bollywood, Flamenco or Capoeira.

4.     Enroll your child in foreign language classes for kids, such as Lango. 

5.     Plan art activities for your child based on different cultures such as Japanese calligraphy, Chinese paper cut outs, and Puerto Rican Ponce Carnival Masks.

6.     Cook and try new foods inspired by other cultures with your children, or enroll them in cooking classes like Cooking Up Culture.

7.     Plan a heritage party for your children and their friends, and encourage each child to bring food and games from their family’s heritage.

8.     Watch family-friendly movies that take place in another country.

9.     Listen to popular music from different cultures while in the car, or teach your kids a simple song in a foreign language.

10.  Attend local festivals and parades that celebrate different cultures such as Cinco de Mayo, Carnival, Chinese New Year, and Bastille Day.

“Children are little sponges, taking in the world around them with eagle eyes and curious minds,” said Heidi Woehl, vice president of AuPairCare and a mother of five. “This curiosity is a great thing and should be cultivated through as many avenues as possible, in an effort to raise a globally and culturally aware next generation.”

Aupair care promotion for June

Promotion Code: SUMMER$59

Offer: $59 application

Dates: June 3 through June 30, 2011

Click here to see the JUNE PROMO email!

Tell your friends and family. For every new family you as a host family or aupair sign up, you will receive  $400

Todays Amish Harvest

We get CSA shares from fruitflhills, an Amish family in Trenton, MO. The produce is amazing!
http://fruitfulhills.com/
Trying to live a simple healthy way in the midst of our Urban lifestyle

The role of the Area Director

What exactly does the area director do? Aupair Care has 200 + area directors around the country and our job is to be there for the host families and au pairs. I think the area director is a great resource for families and aupairs and I believe Aupair Care has some of the best area directors in the business hence the A+ rating the company has from the Better Business Bureau. I love my job, I get to meet interesting host families that live all across the city, from Gardner, to Leavenworth to Parkville. I cover the whole Metro. I enjoy getting out of my comfort zone of my Mid Town Urban life. I also very much enjoy all the au pairs, they come from all over the world. It is fascinating to meet other cultures and hear other languages. It can be tricky sometimes when doing a mediation with a family and aupair because there are cultural differences, but there in lies the challenge that I enjoy, especially when everything works out. It comes down to communication. We all need to communicate. If host family and au pair have trouble communicating then contact your area director. We are the neutral ones and we are here to help you. That is what I find is a huge benefit of having an aupair over a local nanny, there is support from a third party. The Area Director is in it with you, at least that is how I see it.

Expectations

We all have expectations going into our au pair/ host family relationship and the key to a successful year is communicating these expectations. We cannot assume that either party knows what we are thinking, feeling or wanting. We spend a few weeks or months communicating over Skype and email so we should have a fairly good idea of each others personalities but meeting in person and living under the same roof brings up many new things and if we do not communicate with each other small things become enormous and hard to deal with. We has a host family need to provide good guidelines in a written format to the au pair of what the hours are and what we expect of the au pair. When they have time off and when they are expected to work for us, what kind of chores we would like them to do around the house and no this does not include cleaning your whole house, au pairs are not a maid service. But they can help around the house, kids laundry, clean up dishes, light vacuuming, pick up kids rooms, etc
Au pairs need to ask questions and communicate back to the host family what their expectations are, can they use the car for social purposes, will the family provide a gym membership, who pays for the gas in the car, extra vacation time, all these things are perks but we all need to talk to each other and understand where each side is coming from.

When we had our first au pair ten years ago we were very green! I made a lot of mistakes, i did not have a schedule written out for her, I did not have all the essentials in her room, radio, CD player, TV I just thought I would wing it, it would all be okay. I quickly learned she was unhappy and she wanted to leave, not because she did not like us but because we were not prepared. Thankfully our area director then helped out and made us communicate and see things from both sides. We ended up having a wonderful year together. So I cannot stress how important COMMUNICATING is

What to do in case of a Tornado

Now that we are in the midst of Tornado season and we saw the devastation a tornado can do in Joplin, MO. We need to discuss with our Au Pairs what to do in case the sirens go off and there is a tornado watch. Tornados are really a Midwest phenomenon, it is what put Kansas on the map with the story of the Wizard of Oz. Have a plan for your family as to what you do in case of a tornado warning, make sure your Au pair understands what is expected of her and tell her what to do if you the host parents are not home. Tornados can strike at any time of day, but luckily they give us a little time to prepare so it is important to go over your families procedures before the storm hits. If you do not have a basement to go to then explain what is the safest place in your house, Usually a bathroom away from windows. Make sure your au pair always has her cell phone within reach. Stay safe
Tornado safty
http://www.tornadoproject.com/safety/safety.htm

Living a Simple yet Urban lifestyle is it possible?

As our lives get busier, two working parents, two kids , two dogs and a nanny how do we maintain the simple life in this urban environment? It is important to me to feed my family healthy food and for my children to know where their food comes from. It does not come from a box pre-packaged and pre-made. It is easier than you think to keep a simple life and not really that much more expensive. I make my own bread, it is cheaper and tastier than store bought bread and it makes the house smell good. We buy local milk from the Shatto company, the best milk ever, comes in glass bottles which you recycle at the store. And we just got our first order of produce from Fruitful Hills, a local Amish family that provides food for the Urban dwellers. I believe it is possible to live a more simple life in the midst of our hectic Urban lifestyle. All these things help teach the next generation to maybe slow down a little and enjoy the little things in life in the midst of iphone,ipads and ipods!

How to deal with homesickness

We have all encountered a bout of being homesick one time or another. Aupairs often feel a bit of homesickness the first weeks after arriving in America. The best solution to prevent homesickness is keeping busy in the first few weeks. As an aupair get out and make friends, reach out to other aupairs in your area, spend time with your host family and really get to know them, try to limit your conversations with family and friends at home. It is difficult to get to know your life in America when all you think about is what you left behind. Immerse yourself in the American culture as much as possible, that is why you came to America to learn something new and be away from home.
As a host family look for the signs of homesickness. Include your aupair as much as possible, eat dinner together, talk and learn about your aupairs culture and family and friends. Communicating and getting to know each other will help both the aupair and host family to limit homesickness and make for a successful year.

Should you take your Au Pair on vacation

To take your aupair on vacation or not, I get that question often. I think it is up to each family to decide whether they want their aupair along on a family vacation. It can be a big help having the aupair along allowing you some adult time and you know your kids are safe since they are with their regular babysitter. But there are times when you just want some family time and don't need the aupair along. It really is a personal choice for each family and a question of finances. If you bring the aupair along and she is working then it is reasonable that you pay for their trip. Having her share a room with the kids is very common. It can be a nice treat for the aupair to come along. We would bring our aupair along when we first started with the aupair program 9 years ago, but now we tend to leave the aupair home. We enjoy spending time with our kids while vacationing, though I must admit that on this last vacation having had some help would have been nice, an evening out would have been great.

Great class for your Child and Au Pair

If you are looking for something fun for your au pair and child to do together sign up for a Kinder Music class. Both my children have taken classes and loved it. Kinder Music with Joy is a great resource. They offer classes in Overland Park,KS and Brookside, MO  Here is a link to their website
http://www.kindermusikwithjoy.net/
This is a great way for your aupair to learn English by singing with your child. Music has no language barriers and is a great way for your child and Aupair to bond.

How to find the great Au Pair

   I am currently searching for my ninth Au pair. You would think after having done the process so many times you get better at it and it becomes easy. I am always overwhelmed at the process. But I have developed a system that seems to work pretty well for me, 7 out of 8  of my au pairs have been great! I start the process by looking at pictures, if the profile photo appeals to me I save it in my favorites. I skim what they have to say but really the photo is what determines whether you end up in my favorite box or not. After looking through photos for a few days going back over them many times i determine who to interview. I read through the essay and get a feel for the persons family life and their enthusiasm for kids. With my current Aupair I only interviewed her and no one else. I was sold on her photos and our first Skype conversation. You can tell a lot by talking via Skype.

    I remember when I started with the aupair care service the process was not on the internet, you recieved three profiles by fed ex , that the office in San Francisco picked for you. You would read through terrible hand writing and horrible second generation copied photos. If you did not like what they sent you would have to wait another week to get the next batch. Thinking back on it I can't believe how easy it has become now. The fact that you can view over 100 profiles and narrow down at your own will who you like and save them so you remember who you liked  is amazing!

   So back to my current search, I have used my same process of photo elimination and only one person stood out. We are in the process of interviewing and she seems like a winner. Let's see if the photo process worked this time too. Stay tuned.

Our wonderful Au Pair Sabrina one of the best!

Sharing traditions

Maluh's birthday cake

Maluh and the kids

Sharing traditions and customs is one of my favorite things about having an aupair. They can share their customs with us and we can share ours with them and this way we make the world a little smaller. A tradition at our house is to celebrate birthdays with cake in bed for the birthday person. The person who's birthday it is wakes up early in anticipation of cake and gifts in bed. With my girls the celebration usually starts at 6am because they are so excited. Last year we shared this tradition with our Brazilian Aupair Maluh. She had taken in part in everyone's cake in bed celebrations. She was a die hard and would not miss them. I remember once she came home at 5am on my daughters birthday (it was a Saturday) after a long night on the town. She lay down on the couch in the living room to wait because she did not want to miss the cake in bed event. So when her birthday came around of course she too got the cake and gifts in bed. Tomorrow is her birthday and we will think of her and maybe have a little cake in bed.

Top Ten Reasons to Host an Au Pair

Top Ten Reasons for Hosting an Au Pair

10. Pay less for quality childcare – no matter the number of children  

9.  Sick child? Snow day? In-service day?  The au pair is there! 

8.  Children receive individualized attention        

                      

  7.  Save time on your commute!

  6.  Learn and share cultures

    

  5.  Experience a less stressful morning routine!   

  4. Enjoy the flexibility- Use the hours as you need them.

 3.  Create lasting memories and relationships.

 2.  Spend quality time with your children!

         

And

the number one reason to host an au pair is…

1.  IT IS THE NEXT BEST THING TO YOU BEING THERE!

                               

A+ Rating from BBB!

http://www.aupaircare.com/

Good Bye party for your Aupair

I get this question from time to time what to do for the Aupair when they leave. Some families go out for a special dinner and some have a party. I have always thrown a party for my aupairs when they leave. Most of mine have left during the summer so it is an easy time to do a backyard barbeque. There are times when you have two aupairs over lap and throwing a party is a good way to welcome one as you say good bye to the other. Our parties have ranged from just a few close friends to a big Brazilian blow out that lasted until 4 in the morning. Whatever you decide to do, doing something special for a person that has been a part of your family for a year and taken care of your children is important.

On that note here are a few photos of some of our area aupairs that are leaving now. They have spent a successful year in Kansas City and they have been wonderful aupairs. Two of them will now be returning to Germany.Bon Voyage and thanks for being great aupairs.

Male aupairs

I came across a new movie the other day that is about a Norwegian aupair and takes place in Kansas, what are the odds. Here is the link check it out
http://aupairkansasmovie.wordpress.com/
This brings up the point of male aupairs, since the aupair in this movie is a male. I often get a look of surprise from people when I tell them that there are male aupairs. I think it is great that men are taking an active role in child rearing and what a great way to do it at an earlier age. And no not all male aupairs are gay. There are not many male aupairs but the ones that do make the choice to become an aupair have a great year and as a rule have less issues than their female counterparts. We look forward to welcoming our first male aupair to Kansas city ( it has been a long time since we had one) this summer. Male aupairs are particularly popular in families with active boys, a male au pair will not mind spending hours in the backyard playing soccer, they tend to bond more easily with the children and the family and there is far less drama. Very few male aupairs leave the program. A male aupair may not be the best fit for all families but is something for families to consider.
I have no idea what this movie "Aupair Kansas" will be like but check it out if you have time. It will show in Kansas City on Saturday April 9th at 7:45pm at the AMC in the power and light district.

Infant Specilized Aupairs

I was in the New York airport the other day and saw a girl with a blue Aupair Care bag on her shoulder looking very lost. I walked up to her and introduced myself as an Aupair Care area director and asked if I could help her. She looked at me in amazement and asked if I was her area director, thinking I had come all the way to New York to help her out. I said I worked for the company in Kansas City but I noticed her Infant specilized tote bag from Aupair Care so I offered my help. She was headed to Washington DC to be an aupair, taking care of new born twins. I was also headed to DC so we chatted and I helped her with her bags. She was from Spain and I hope she will have a great year in America.

Lost in Translation

I cannot stress enough how important communication is. It is especially important when we are dealing with other cultures and languages. Having had many aupairs myself and also being the Area Director for Aupaircare in Kansas City I value communication and patience. I now see how wars get started, people misunderstand each other, they do not communicate properly and everything builds up and suddenly we have distrust and people get uncomfortable. This can all be avoided by communicating and when dealing with a foreign language we need patience. I have seen many a match (Aupair and Host family) almost fall apart and the main reason one or both parties felt misunderstood. We as host families get busy and we forget that our aupair is not a native English speaker and we assume things, we assume they understood what we meant but they did not. Put things in writing if needed and then go over it later to make sure everything was understood. Be patient. As an aupair ask if you do not understand something, also put it in writing, have another aupair help you explain if their English is better. There is never a stupid question! Better to ask and clarify than wonder. And host families really need to be patient, especially the first few weeks of an aupair's arrival. Everything is new to them, the culture, the language, the food and expectations. Even when we have native English speakers we need to communicate with each other. Never assume the other party knows what you mean. One of my South African aupairs was getting directions from her host mom and the host mom told her to turn right at the traffic light. Well the aupair had no idea what a traffic light was because in South Africa they are called Robots. She kept searching for this traffic light wondering when to turn and she got lost. So never make assumptions and always ask when you do not understand.

Pregnancy predictor (Just for fun)

I just got home from my mom's playgroup ( we are a group of working women that have children and we have had a playgroup going for 9 years!) and one of our moms is pregnant so we decided to do the pencil pregnancy test. Check it out here http://pencilpregnancytest.com/ It was amazingly accurate with its predictions. We then had fun predicting what our grand children would be by testing our girls. Who knows how true this test is but give it a try and have a good laugh, we were all amazed at its accuracy!

Cultural Tip

From time to time I come across some cultural differences that need to be pointed out and they are not the obvious. So I will post them here. They are important for Aupairs and Host families because they are usually topics we do not like to talk about. So today's topic is "where does the toilet paper go after you have used it?" In America the answer is obvious...the toilet right? But in South American countries the toilet paper goes in the waste basket in the bathroom. The reason may be that the plumbing there is not as good as here, maybe that is just what they are used to, who knows but the first time it happens you kind of wonder. I now know this little piece of information and it is okay, each culture has different things that we do. Now I know what to do when I go to Brazil and they will not look at me strangely because i threw the toilet paper in the toilet.

Our Au Pair Experience (Part2)

As I mentioned we have had 8 Aupairs so far and I am not sure we are done yet. I feel there is more of the world we need to explore through our au pairs. We have had Denmark, then Norway (which did not work out so well, but that is another story), Estonia, Four from Brazil one of which stayed two years and our current girl is from Germany. They have all been great and we are in touch with all of them still. It is fun to watch where they end up and what they do with their lives. My girls view them all as big sisters from around the world. This year we have had the pleasure of having two of our previous Aupairs visit which was great. Leticia from Brazil was here and we had not seen her for five years. She now works in Brazil helping to save the rain forest which is amazing. Andrea, also from Brazil came for a visit, she was with us three years ago. She is now an aupair again in California.

Our First Au Pair Gitte

Our first Au Pair was wonderful, though we had a rocky start! We were new to the Au Pair thing and we just had our first baby so we were not the best host parents in the beginning. I had not thought of all the things that would be nice for the Aupair to have in her room, a radio/CD player ( this was pre ipods) a TV, plenty of storage place for her things...So the Aupair was a little upset with us the first few weeks. Thanks to our wonderful area director at the time we worked it out. The Area director came over and talked with us and talked with the Aupair and we all realized we were not communicating our expectations of each other very well. After the Area director left we sat down and had a good conversation I took the Aupair to Target for a shopping trip and after that all was great. She was a wonderful Aupair and great with our baby. She cooked some great dishes and baked up a storm. She cleaned from time to time... but the best thing about her was we could trust her with our baby and she was a great addition to our extended family. Gitte is all grown up now and she is married and has had her first baby.

Our Au pair Experience (Part 1)

Having an au pair has been a great experience for us.  I grew up with au pairs starting when I was born until I was a teenager. We had 11 different girls  as I was growing up. Now that I am an adult I have also had many au pairs, we have had 8 girls to date. The difference between the au pairs  I grew up with and the au pairs my daughters are growing up with is that all of the au pairs I had as a child were all Norwegian. Back then there was no agency and there were no strict visa regulations. We brought Norwegian girls with us to be au pairs for a year. My family is from Norway and we lived in many places around the world and we hired au pairs in Norway and brought them with us to the country we were living in, Moscow, Washington DC and Vienna were our three main places where we lived. The greatest difference between having au pairs then and now is that there was no agency and no support for either the aupair or the family. I remember as a child some of the girls we had were not so good, they were homesick, or drank on the job or brought their boyfriends over while they were working and once we brought them to our family we were in a sense stuck with each other. We also had great girls during those years that I remember fondly and some of whom I am still in touch with.

So when my daughter was born I knew that having an au pair was the natural choice for us. It is flexible, enriching and an affordable option for childcare. I also wanted to bring an aupair over from Norway and carry on the tradition of my childhood. But I quickly found out that we live in a different world now with far more regulations and you cannot just hire someone in another country and bring them to America. My mother contacted an Au pair agency in Norway  (because I still had my heart set on a Norwegian girl)  and she found the partner company to Aupaircare. So when my daughter was born I contacted the San Fransisco office and the process of finding an aupair started. I met with my area director and she did our home interview and got us started on the process of finding an au pair. She was a wonderful area director and made me feel so comfortable with the whole process and I knew she would be there to help us through the year. So this is how our family came about hiring an aupair and adding to our new and extended family from around the world. And our first au pair was not Norwegian but we got a wonderful Danish girl.

Child care that fits you

Having an Aupair  is flexible, affordable, and a great cultural exchange experience for your family.