Au Pair Chatter

Now that the weather is getting nice, it is likely you will be spending more time outdoors with the children. Playing in the back yard, at the playground or walking on nature trails are great ways to get fresh air and exercise.

What are ticks? – Ticks are small mites that attach themselves to skin and suck blood. Click HERE to see examples of ticks.

Where are ticks commonly found? – Ticks are normally found in areas with trees, bushes or tall grass. This includes back yards, parks, nature areas and most places you would be spending time with the children outdoors in the nice weather.

What needs to be done? - When you return home from areas where ticks might live, carefully check the children (their skin and scalp) for ticks.

Most ticks do not carry diseases, and most tick bites do not cause serious health problems. But it is important to remove a tick as soon as you find it. Removing the tick completely may help you avoid diseases such as Lyme Disease that the tick may pass on during feeding, or a skin infection where it bit you.

Click HERE for Instructions on Removing a tick from WebMD.com.

On Sunday, November 7, we had a lot of fun for a good cause.  Thirteen au pairs from our cluster worked together to make 393 servings of snack mix for the DC Central Kitchen.  The only reason they stopped there was we ran out of cereal and pretzels.  So, I bought some more cereal on my way home and my kids and I used up the rest of the ingredients to make another 77 servings. 

That gave us a grand total of…

470 servings of snack mix!

The snack mix is being donated to the DC Central Kitchen for a program called Healthy Returns.  Healthy Returns brings healthy meals and snacks to agencies serving low-income children and at-risk youth throughout the Washington DC area. To find out more about the program visit the DC Central Kitchen website.

Special thanks to Holy Trinity Episcopal Church for allowing us to use their parish hall for the event.

Here are some more photos:

I had au pairs from France, Guatemala, Sweden, Costa Rica, Thailand, Brazil & Germany all show up and work together for this worthy cause. One au pair just arrived from orientation three days ago and another au pair will finish her extension year in two weeks and au pairs at all different stages of their au pair experience in between.  I was very proud of these ladies!

Update: Sandra and I made a trip to the DC Central Kitchen to drop off the boxes of snack mixes. Here are a couple photos from that.

Photo by D Sharon Pruitt

It is great to see the world through the eyes of children.  There are simple things in day to day life that can be a thrill for young children.  Below are a few ideas to get you started thinking.  Try to take time for them to marvel at the world and see new things.

• A car wash (the drive through kind or a bucket and a water hose in the driveway at home)
• Parking on the street near a construction site to watch the big trucks
• Feeding ducks bread at the park
• Collecting leaves, pinecones and rocks
• Driving across a bridge where they can see the water
• Driving past a place where you can see animals
• Any place that has something out of the ordinary, like a fountain or sculpture

For the past several years my cluster has participated in the City of Bowie International Festival.  It is a wonderful event that brings people from all over the area who want to sample a variety of cultures from around the globe.  We provide free children’s activities.  Last year my au pairs had over 700 children visit our booth!!!

We are hoping for a sunny day on Saturday, so we will have lots of excited children stopping by for the activities we have planned.

Depending on when you stop by, you might join us to do one of the following:

• writing your name in Thai or Chinese
• coloring plastic butterflies
• learning the colors in various languages
• map games
• flag games
• making beaded bracelets
• making tissue paper flowers
• getting your hand painted with the flag of Germany or South Africa

Here are a couple of photos from last year’s event

International Festival 2008

International Festival 2008

The City of Bowie International Festival will be held on Saturday, October 3, 2009, 11 am-5pm at Allen Pond Park, Northview Drive, Bowie, MD 20716.