Rematch story

We just visited our third au pair Ulle from Estonia. She was our au pair ten years ago, and she was a rematch au pair. We had an au pair from Norway for a few months. Being that I am from Norway I thought it would be great to have a Norwegian au pair, someone I could speak Norwegian with and one that could help teach my daughter Norwegian.  However all she wanted to do was speak English to improve that language which makes sense, why come to America and speak Norwegian? I was fairly new to hosting au pairs at that time so I did not think it through, I did not ask all the right questions! The Norwegian au pair also expected more of a Hollywood lifestyle; standard of living in Norway is quite high so she expected something much better. Swimming pools, palm trees, skiing, etc.….Need less to say I did a poor job interviewing. This girl lasted three months in our home and then decided we were too boring and re matched with a family in Colorado that lived on the ski slopes and vacationed in the Caribbean.

Which brings me to our great au pair Ulle from Estonia. She came to us from a family in North Carolina where she did not feel comfortable; they never cleaned their house! Ulle stayed with us for nine months and we had a great time. She fit in well with our family and we have kept in touch all these years. She has come to visit us in Kansas City and now finally we had the opportunity to come and visit her.

Of all the ten au pairs we have hosted this is the only rematch story I have to tell. I learned my lesson of interviewing and the importance of asking all the right questions and also listening to what the au pairs were saying. Going into rematch is not always a bad thing. There is a family for every au pair and an au pair for every family. One family’s unhappiness can be another family’s jackpot!