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.

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.”

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.

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!