Angela's Au Pair in America Blog

We had a great time this past Saturday in New Haven as we toured Yale University with our fellow Connecticut Au Pairs. Many stayed to enjoy the Yale-Brown Football game.

Annika, Julia, Balungile & Maria

Thanks to all who participated in our Brooklyn Bridge walk! While it was a bit crowded, the weather was beautiful and great pictures were taken by all.

1. Be prepared. Before you put the kids in the car, make sure you have items that they may need easily on hand or within reach. For babies, plan for snacks before you depart as eating in the car may not be the best practice due to your limited ability to react to choking or spills. For older kids, put snacks and drinks so that they are accessible and toys within easy reach. In all cases, make sure that any heavier items such as video games or larger books have a place to be stored such as in the seatback pockets so that they won’t become potential projectiles in the event of a crash.

2. Make them wait. As unpleasant as it can be, tell the kids that you cannot help because you are driving and that they will need to wait until you can pull over or until you get to your destination. You may have to listen to a tantrum, but at least the child is restrained in a seat and cannot hurt anyone.

3. Keep your eyes forward. Resist the urge to reach back or take your eyes off the road even when you’re stopped. It only takes a second for an accident to occur.

4. Pull over. If you cannot deal with screaming and need to tend to your child immediately, pull over to a safe spot. It’s safer to get off the highway and go into a gas station, than move to the side of the road where you could face other hazards such as the possibility of getting struck by another vehicle.

5. Use your mirrors. If your children are in rear-facing car seats, attach a mirror to the head restraint to be able to monitor them. For me, I felt comfortable knowing I could still monitor the kids if there was something wrong without turning around.

6. Set the ground rules. Educate children on car safety. Tell them that parents need to pay attention to the road, so that everyone is safe. If they know you can’t and won’t react then they won’t expect it.

7. Distract the children. When I have whining little ones in the car, I try to distract by engaging them in a song or game outside of the car. Children’s music in the CD player or on satellite radio is a nice addition. Pointing out school buses, fire trucks, and traffic lights always seems to work for us and soon they forget what was bothering them in the first place.

8. Stay off the phone. For the safety of yourself and your host children (and others on the road), do not use the cell phone to talk or text. You’re carrying precious cargo and your job is to transport them safely. IT IS AGAINST THE LAW TO USE THE CELL PHONE WHILE YOU ARE DRIVING! If you need to make a call, pull over to a safe place.

Distracted Driving – Driving with Kids in the Car

Driving with kids in the car can be particularly distracting especially if there is crying, whining, or some other issue that warrants attention. Usually it’s either a dropped toy, needing a tissue, drink, or snack, that distracts us.

It is hard to ignore children who want attention, but when you are driving you need to remain focused on DRIVING!

Health- Avoid the ER and save some money.  There is an additional ER deductible for visits not deemed “emergencies”.  **Note there are several plans with differing deductibles.  Visit http://aupairinamerica.com/resources/life_in_the_us/insurance_3.asp for full details. If you are not feeling well, but it is not an emergency try to visit a local walk-in health care clinic. There are several clinics in our area including those located inside the Southbury CVS, and Walgreens. There is also an urgent care clinic in Southbury and one near Newtown in Monroe. Please contact me if you need to see a healthcare professional and have trouble finding a clinic near you.

In September our cluster took an early autumn walk at Bent of the River Audubon Center in Southbury. We ended our hike with picnic snack of doughnuts and cider – a perfect treat for a fall day!

Wow!  Can you believe it?  Most of the school kids around the country are heading back to school over the next couple of weeks!  At this time of year the schedule changes for many host families and au pairs.  It would be a good idea to send a note to your host families reminding them to sit down and talk through any changes to the au pair’s schedule and duties.

• Many au pairs have never experienced a school busing system; make sure they understand how it works and what to do
• Make sure au pairs know the car line rules
• If driving the children, new au pairs should know how much time it takes to get to the school and the directions
• Pack a healthy lunch, ask your host families to review what that is… an au pair once packed a can of tuna
• School children come home with lots of notes and letters, designate a place in the house for this important information so no-one misses it
• Au pairs and host families should discuss what is expected of the au pair regarding homework.

S’mores – The quintessential summer treat!  The origin of S’mores dates back to the 1920’s and is believed to have been created by the Campfire Girls.

How to make S’mores:

Ingredients for one s’more:

• Chocolate candy bar, ex. Hershey’s or Dairy Milk
• Honey Graham Crackers
• Marshmallows

Instructions:

• Break off a square of graham cracker
• Add a piece of chocolate
• Toast a large marshmallow over the campfire
• Put the hot marshmallow on the chocolate
• Top it with another graham cracker so it makes a sandwich
• Enjoy!

Note: You can also make S’mores in the microwave. Just put all the ingredients together as described above and pop them into the microwave on high for 15 to 20 seconds.

Babies like to watch and listen, so narrate your day, talk to the baby all day long.  Make sure the baby can see what the surroundings; they also like to look at pictures. Look at a photo album with them, or read a picture book together.