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!

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!

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.

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.