Friday, November 11, 2011

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.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

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.