Au Pair Chatter

A post by special guest blogger, Alex from Austria:

Countdown calender – Adventkalender

Tomorrow finally the Christmas countdown starts!
To make it sweeter, funnier and not that long for kids, we in Austria (guess so in Germany too) have an “Adventkalender.”  That is a calender with 24 little gifts (mostly sweets) and you can open one number every day till the 24th of December!

I always love that and my mom still buys one for me, so I want to share that tradition with my hostchild!

The easiest way is to go to the shop and buy a ready made one with small little chocolate treats, but of course it is more fun for the kids to get a homemade one! I did that this year and it was fun for me too!

• I bought some sweets and small presents like a pen, warm socks, a cd or a toy (–> go to dollar tree, you can find cute stuff there and just for $1 ) and wrapped them into paper.
• Then write the 24 numbers on the little gifts.
• You can also make a number 25, but we in Austria open our presents on the 24th.
• I pinned my packages on a big carton that we can hang the calender on the wall and decorated it!

I made a Christmas tree with all the packages under it and some stars, but you can make something else too. Maybe a snowman and the gifts all look like snowflakes or what about the crib with mary and the baby and the stars are the gifts.. Whatever you want! – be creative and make an awesome Adventkalender!

It is very easy and it does not take very long and I guess it is a really nice gift for my little girl!

Try it too, I bet the kids love it
Have fun and Frohe Weihnachten (Merry Christmas)
Alex

Here are a few pictures from our November Coffee Meeting. Click on the pictures to view them larger.

Having a car accident is a very upsetting, stressful situation. Being prepared and knowing what to do can make things a little bit easier. Make sure you know which host parent to call in case of an accident.

Make sure you have all the necessary documents in your car glove box. Read this post on What to Keep in the Car Glove Box for a detailed list.

If you have an accident: (from Edmunds.com)

1. Keep Safety First. Drivers involved in minor accidents with no serious injuries should move cars to the side of the road and out of the way of oncoming traffic. Leaving cars parked in the middle of the road or busy intersection can result in additional accidents and injuries. If a car cannot be moved, drivers and passengers should remain in the cars with seatbelts fastened for everyone’s safety until help arrives. Make sure to turn on hazard lights and set out cones, flares or warning triangles if possible.
2. Exchange Information. After the accident, exchange the following information: name, address, phone number, insurance company, policy number, driver license number and license plate number for the driver and the owner of each vehicle. If the driver’s name is different from the name of the insured, establish what the relationship is and take down the name and address for each individual. Also make a written description of each car, including year, make, model and color — and the exact location of the collision and how it happened. Finally, be polite but don’t tell the other drivers or the police that the accident was your fault, even if you think it was.
3. Photograph and Document the Accident. Use your camera to document the damage to all the vehicles. Keep in mind that you want your photos to show the overall context of the accident so that you can make your case to a claims adjuster. If there were witnesses, try to get their contact information; they may be able to help you if the other drivers dispute your version of what happened.

On Sunday, 11/6 we had a great cluster meeting at The Castle Laser Tag in Bowie, MD. It was the first time most of the au pairs had played laser tag. Before the laser tag, there were a few very competitive games of air hockey too. My au pairs surprised me with some cupcakes and a card to celebrate my birthday, which was two days earlier.

Click here to read more Fire Safety Tips on PBS Kids

Here are some fire safety tips from PBSKids.org. Go over these fire safety tips with your children.

Be Smart

1. Don’t touch matches. Stay away from lighters and candles, too.
2. Don’t touch radiators or heaters. Ask a grown-up to turn a heater on or off for you. Don’t stand too close to a fireplace or wood stove, either.
3. Don’t play with electrical cords. And don’t stick anything into an electrical socket.
4. Don’t play around in the kitchen. If you want to cook something, be sure to check with a grown-up first.
5. Don’t put anything over a lamp. Things thrown over a lamp (like blankets or clothing) could catch fire.

Two important reasons to make your car a phone-free zone:

1. Safety – There is no text message that is worth risking lives.
2. It’s the Law – Please read the details below about changes (effective October 1 to the Maryland law to increase enforcement and the penalty (fine & points against your license) for breaking the law.

From Washingtonpost.com:
Sending and reading text messages behind the wheel has been illegal in Maryland for more than a year, but under the existing law, it was a secondary offense. That meant police had to find another reason to pull a driver over in order to issue a texting citation.

The state legislature changed texting to a primary offense this year. Drivers who are using the Global Positioning System function in their mobile devices or who are sending a text message to the emergency 911 system are exempted from prosecution.

Under the new law, those caught texting can be fined $70 and receive one point toward suspension of a driver’s license. But if the action is judged to have caused an accident, the fine increases to $110 and the number of points to three.

Sending and reading text messages while driving is a primary offense in the District and a secondary office in Virginia. It is a primary offense in 30 other states and a secondary offense in Iowa and Nebraska.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that 20 percent of crashes that resulted in injury in 2009 involved distracted driving. NHTSA said 995 fatal crashes that year involved cellphone distraction. Sixteen percent of all drivers younger than 20 who were involved in fatal crashes were reported to have been distracted.

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In this 90 second video people share stories about how a simple decision to read or send a text message while driving had deadly consequences.

I urge all au pairs and host families to watch this video and discuss. This is one simple decision and commitment that can make us all safer on the roads.

From the MVA website:
Beginning October 2011, the knowledge test you must pass to get a non-commercial Class C learner’s permit will be based on information in the new Maryland Driver’s Manual. The new Manual includes basic knowledge on driver safety for new drivers, including: traffic laws of this State; highway signs regulating, warning & directing traffic; and safe driving practices.  The improved graphics, full-color design, and brief paragraphs provide an easy read of only 39 pages – packed with core driver safety facts.

I have updated the links (on the column to the right) to include the New Driver’s Handbook in English, Spanish and an audio version. Paper copies are available in MVA offices.

There is now one booklet instead of two. The yellow booklet that contains the information on who needs a driver’s license and who does not, which I have given out to be kept in the car, will probably not be available after September.

What to keep in the car for proof now?
I have obtained a copy of the Maryland Law regarding International Drivers. The information is copied directly from a booklet which all police officers have in their squad car. The idea is that it shows them where to look up the law and once they compare your paper to that section of their booklet, they should realize that au pairs are allowed to drive on their country license (for up to one year.) Sometimes, they will still choose to write you the ticket for not having a Maryland license. If that happens, don’t worry. You can go to court and the judge should drop the ticket, as long as you are in your first year and have a valid license from your home country in your possession.

I have uploaded this document on Google Docs. You may access it HERE and print a copy for each car the au pair drives.

On Saturday,  September 17 we had an au pair soccer match on the National Mall in DC.  Our team represented Maryland and we played against a team of au pairs from Virginia.  We cheered for our team and they played hard.  I think we represented Maryland au pairs very well, even though we did not win.  Lots of people stopped, watched and took pictures.  After the soccer match, we toured the U.S. Capitol.

Click on the images to view them larger.  Click here to see even more pictures from this event in our Cluster Photobucket Album.

With school back in session and many new au pairs who have recently arrived, I wanted to remind everyone about what to do in different situations with school buses. If you have questions, please ask myself or your host parents.

The rules regarding stopping for school buses are:

• It is against the law to pass a stopped school bus while its lights are flashing and its’ stop arm is extended.
• On undivided roadways, with no physical barrier or median, vehicles must stop on both sides of the roadway.
• Yellow flashing lights indicate that the bus is preparing to load or unload children. Motorists should slow down and prepare to stop their vehicles.
• Red flashing lights and extended stop arms indicate that the bus has stopped, and children are getting on or off. Motorists approaching from either direction must wait until the red lights stop flashing before proceeding.

Police, who observe a motorist failing to stop and remained stopped for a school bus, can issue the violator a citation which carries a $570.00 fine and 3 points. Drivers failing to stop for pedestrians in a crosswalk can be issued a citation for $80.00, and drivers failing to exercise due caution when encountering children can be issued a citation for $70.00.

Almost everyone experiences culture shock when they come to a completely new environment. Everything is different: the language, the food, and the people.  If you are feeling homesick or house-bound, call an au pair in your cluster and invite her to go for coffee, she understands exactly how you feel.

Photo by:  Shimelle Laine (Flickr)