Posted by Heike on May 10, 2013
Sunday, May 12th is Mother’s Day! I want to take this opportunity to thank all the Host Moms for all they do for their Au Pairs. I hope the day is extra special and that you each have time to enjoy the day with your families!
“Of all the rights of women, the greatest is to be a mother.” Zora Neale Hurston
MOTHER’S DAY AROUND THE WORLD
A special day in the honor of mothers, Mothers Day is celebrated in several countries around the world though on different dates. In a large number of countries including US, Mothers Day is celebrated on the second Sunday in the month of May, but in many other countries Mothers Day is celebrated in an entirely different time of the year. But what ever may be the date of Mother’s Day around the world, the spirit is the same everywhere. Everywhere in the world mothers are respected for their extreme devotion towards their kids. And on Mother’s Day children pay their humblest tribute to their mothers and thank them for giving them birth and providing them with the best of care and upbringing.
Posted by Heike on May 6, 2013
The Walk for Hunger which we offer to all cluster of the greater Boston area was a great event this year. Many of our aupairs went through the whole course of 20 miles started in Boston, then walked through Brookline, Newton, Cambridge and back to Boston. The weather was perfect despite some early morning chill.
Aurelie and Marie from France with Amy-Louise from South Africa right before the start of the Walk
Jackie from South Africa with her friend in the spirit to walk
Together with some aupairs at the 5 mile mark: Christin, Franzi, Isa from Germany with Amy from South Africa
Walk around the Chestnut Hill reservoir
Amy from South Africa and me halfway through
Tami, Lynn, Judith, Viktoria and Amy at the snack point after 12 miles.
Tami from Germany at the 12 miles mark
Shuttle back to Boston
Katja and Birgit from Germany arrived at the finish line after 5 hours and 24 minutes
Caroline and Lovisa from Sweden at the finish line after 6 hours
Many more aupairs finished the 20 miles and I am very proud of them as well as of so many who walked part of this course too.
To walk for a good cause and to have family and friends sponsoring them is an American tradition and new to many aupairs who come from so many different countries to experience the American way of live here in the US. With this walk our Aupairs raised more then we expected to help the hungry in Massachusetts.
Many more pix can be seen at : Walk for Hunger 2013
Posted by Heike on Apr 23, 2013
Now more then ever we will race, run or walk for a good cause.
Our Walk for Hunger is coming up. Please sign up at the Au Pair in America team at:
http://www.projectbread.org/site/TR/Walk/General?px=1531861&pg=personal&fr_id=1210
These two aupairs enjoyed the Walk for Hunger 2012
Posted by Heike on Apr 14, 2013
Check out the official web side for info on the Boston Marathon on April 15.
http://www.baa.org/races/boston-marathon/event-information.aspx
Here you can find more general info on the Boston Marathon:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Marathon
“Tortoise and Hare”, created by artist Nancy Schön and installed on May 19, 1993 by the Friends of Copley Square as a tribute to the runners who have participated in the Boston Marathon.
Who has not seen these creatures in downtown yet?
Posted by Heike on Apr 12, 2013
Today we met at Athan’s bakery in Brookline to talk about extension and aupair taxes. We had a great time to get to know a new aupair Aurelie from France who just arrived in Brookline yesterday. What a wonderful chance for her to find friends right away who live close to her.
Amy from South Africa, Aurelie from France and Dennisse from Mexico
We also could celebrate the third place of our snowman contest here today. Amy did a great job with her snowman with the Au Pair in America baseball cap. She got a ” I love Boston T-shirt” for her effort.
Amy with the picture of an excellent snowman build after the last snowstorm
Another aupair got her certificate of completion of her education part of the aupair program:
Caroline from Sweden got all her 6 credits which is the requirement to have during the one year as an aupair in the US.
Left to right:Tamy from Germany, Dennisse from Mexico, Amy from South Africa, Aurelie from France and Caroline from Sweden.
Posted by Heike on Apr 7, 2013
We met today in the Blue Hills in Milton to hike together up to an outlook to enjoy the view over the Boston skyline. Up on the hill we had a picnic together and talked about the outdoors and about plants who are not familiar to many aupairs who come from places where they don’t exist: Poison Ivy. Since none of them has leaves yet, they are hard to find but it’s best to know about them before the leaves are out. I guess everybody is now aware of the “leaves of three, let them be” in order to avoid rashes on themself and the children.
We celebrated the award of the snowman contest which we had after our Nemo blizzard: Lynn from Germany won the first prize and got a T-shirt : I Love Boston
We also celebrated Jia ’s award she got from AIFS for her volunteering at a Boston food pantry. She won the 2′nd prize in this national volunteering award competition.
Jia talked to the whole group about her experience with volunteering and encourage them to do this too since it is so rewarding for her.
Two new aupairs arrived last week in our cluster: Veronica from Colombia and Anja from Germany. Both of them were able to attend our meeting already and had a great chance to get in contact with many other aupairs on our hike.
Andrea and Ivonne from Mexico ,Kristine and Kim from Germany, Ceci from another cluster and Veronica from Colombia who just arrived in the US last week.
Anja from Germany who just arrived and Anika who will go home to Germany soon after being an aupair in the USA for one year.
Jennifer from Germany who just arrived in our cluster with a friend from Newton
Marie from France and Isabella from Germany who both arrived just a month ago.
More pictures of our cluster event at Hike in the Blue Hills 2013.
Posted by Heike on Mar 27, 2013
Easter is upon us! Easter Week began this past weekend with Palm Sunday and culminates in weekend commemorations of Good Friday, Easter Saturday, Easter Sunday, and in some countries Easter Monday. Around the world, different cultures, countries, communities, and sects have their own traditions to celebrate the Easter holiday.
As Catholics and Protestants gather in churches across the globe to commemorate the resurrection of Christ, people everywhere are celebrating in their own ways by eating chocolate bunnies, going on Easter egg hunts and flying kites.
Fun things to do with kids:
http://pinterest.com/aupairinamerica/hop-into-easter/
Posted by Heike on Mar 27, 2013
Miscellaneous Expenses
There are different ways to handle the little day to day expenses that come up. Things like when an au pair takes the kids out for ice cream or picks up a gallon of milk. Some families keep a cookie jar fund, a little cash that they set aside weekly or monthly for this kind of expenses. Here are some suggestions for avoiding problems with expenses.
Host Families
It’s important to be clear about how long this money should last and what types of expenses are approved.
Let the au pair know whether or not you expect receipts.
Au Pairs
Only spend the money on approved expenses.
If it is something you are not sure about, ask first.
Put your receipts in the cookie jar in place of the money to avoid any confusion.
Gas and Fare Cards
Host families are responsible for the au pair’s transportation costs:
to and from classes and cluster meetings
driving the kids
It is a good idea to figure out how much gas an au pair will use for these trips and either put gas in the car or give a gas allowance. If your au pair is riding to classes or cluster meetings with another au pair, you should offer to share the cost of gas.
Au pairs are responsible for their own transportation at all other times. You should replace the amount of gas used for personal use.
Posted by Heike on Mar 25, 2013
Passover 2013 begins at sundown on Monday, March 25th.
For more information on Passover please check the link below:
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/03/23/13-things-need-to-know-for-passover-2013/
Things to do with kids during passover: http://pinterest.com/ahappymamabear/celebrate-passover/
Posted by Heike on Mar 25, 2013
I can proudly announce that we have Jia Gao (Gloria) from China in our cluster who won the 2′nd prize at our nationwide community service competition. She volunteers in her free time in a food pantry to serve food to the people who live in her area and helps the food pantry with her computer skills as well.
Today we celebrated this together with some aupairs who could join our coffee meeting this morning. Lynn, Jana and Linda were present when Jia got her award.
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