Twin Cities Au Pair in America Blog

This was originally posted by Cindy Garruba, the Long Island CC

After the decorations are put away, the celebrations are over, the New Year has begun: and the post holiday winter blues are starting to hit you and your host family. What can you do to get through the long cold winter months happily?

1. Get outside every day with the kids, bundle up and play outside. Go to the park, take a walk, ride bikes; we have been having an unusually warm winter, so enjoy it! If it snows, build a snowman, go sledding, have fun outside!
2. Stay on routine with the kids; get up on time, have breakfast, get to the bus stop on time. Make sure homework is done and everyone gets to their activities on time. Bedtime routines are important, make sure everyone gets enough sleep and that includes YOU!
3. Register for your classes, and get ready to start learning something new.
4. Call a friend and meet for coffee and conversation if you feel housebound.
5. Set up a play date with another au pair and her host children (similar ages) and enjoy a day together.
6. Join a gym with another au pair.
7. Use the library in your town. Sign the kids up for free programs (talk to host parents about the programs.) Join the English conversation group, improve your English and meet people.
8. Prepare a Global Awareness presentation for one of your host kids’ classes. Talk to your counselor for ideas.
9. Volunteer at a local hospital, school, animal shelter, food bank if you have extra time on your hands and need to do something. Doing for others is always an answer for the blues!
10. (From Jennifer) Go to the Conservatory at Como Zoo for a brief visit to warm weather, flowers, and other growing things.

I know it’s kind of a contradiction, but Au Pair in America held a Peace Day competition for our au pairs to submit art or poetry on the subject of the International Day of Peace. You can see all submissions on our Global Awareness page at http://www.globalawareness.com/

Global Awareness is our educational program, where au pairs go to schools, Boy or Girl Scout meetings, birthday parties, etc. and share aspects of their culture. They can teach a traditional song, talk about holiday customs, maybe even share a recipe. If you would like to have an au pair visit your school or other youth event, contact me!

Halloween is a great time to share the United States culture with your au pair. Even preschoolers can paint a pumpkin (use washable tempera paint and clean up quickly) and older kids can carve pumpkins with guidance. Costumes provide lots of topics or conversation. And of course Trick-or-Treating is fun for everyone! Talk to your au pair about similar customs in her home country. She may have some great ideas – Mexican au pairs can share traditions around the Dia de los Muertos, for example.

This is a link to an experienced host mom’s blog, describing how she evaluates the driving skills of prospective au pairs.

http://aupairmom.com/5-ways-to-assess-an-au-pairs-driving-skill-when-choosing-an-au-pair/2010/11/04/celiaharquail/

Sometimes, especially with younger children, cries of boredom are really calls for companionship and attention—their friends may be away on vacation and without the structure of school they may find it difficult to keep occupied during long summer days. Prolonged intervals where the kids have nothing to do can be stressful . When bored, children often become whiny, cranky and demanding. Calendar-of-the-season-300×216

Here are a few easy tips to help au pairs and host parents combat summer boredom and help kids develop the internal resources that are important for developing creative, resource and time management skills:

Put a weekly calendar together so as not to overwhelm yourself with planning entertainment for an entire summer, just take it one week at a time—day trips, arts and craft activities, play-dates, reading time, nature hikes, picnics, bike rides, a trip to the movie theatre etc. This way kids will have something to look forward to during down time. A calendar also helps with getting kids prepared for what comes next.
Ask: “If you could do anything, what would you like to do?” Try and encourage your children to generate their own ideas for activities—they are more apt to have fun when they thought it up on their own! Reinforcing that children use their imaginations will also help them develop a sense of resourcefulness and get them in the habit of making their own choices about how they will spend their time.
Keep an “art box” handy full of supplies: scissors, fabric, felt, glue, paints and brushes, stickers, paper, markers, canvass, needle and thread, beads, yarn, picture magazines etc. Rummaging through a box of art supplies can ignite the imagination and occupy children for long periods of time. They could even begin an entrepreneurial enterprise and sell their wares at the end of the summer.
Inspire them to play with water. Water is very calming and soothing for children and they can while away many hours playing and keeping cool. Get them to wash the car, hose off the deck, or run through a sprinkler. Spend time together at the beach or pool

(Thanks to Jan Peedin, Annapolis Community Counselor, for the great posting!)

Parenting Magazine has released a list of the top 10 areas to raise a family, and Minneapolis/St. Paul came in 4th! They mention our great outdoor activities, cultural scene, sports environment and fabulous schools. No surprise – this is a great place for families!

These originally appeared in Ann Landers column, but they are still good today!

If you open it, close it.
If you turn it on, turn it off.
If you unlock it, lock it up.
If you break it, admit it.
If you can’t fix it, call someone who can.
If you borrow it, return it.
If you value it, take care of it.
If you make a mess, clean it up.
If you move it, put it back.
If it belongs to someone else, get permission to use it.
If you don’t know how to operate it, leave it alone.
If it’s none of your business, don’t ask questions.

Anything else you would include? Comments welcome!

This is from the book “Nevers,” by Dr. Mardy Grothe. They seemed appropriate for everyone, maybe expecially for au pairs and host families:

1) “Never dare to judge until you have heard the other side.” –Euripides, 5th century B.C.
2) “Never promise more than you can perform.” –Publilius Syrus, 1st century B.C.
3) “Never dull your shine for somebody else.” –Tyra Banks
4) “Never let go of the fiery sadness called desire.” –Patti Smith
5) “Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit.”–Wilma Rudolph
6) “Never let the fear of striking out get in your way.” –”Babe” Ruth
7) “Never cut what you can untie.”–Joseph Joubert
“Never offer your heart to someone who eats hearts.” –Alice Walker
9) “Never let your sense of morals keep you from doing what is right.” –Isaac Asimov
10) “Do you wish men to speak well of you? Then never speak well of yourself.”–Blaise Pascal

The conclusion? Never underestimate the power of a neverism to improve your life.

National Geographic just picked the Twin Cities as the 4th best summer vacation destination in the world! Our long, cold winters make us all want to celebrate 0ur lovely summers!

Go to:

http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/best-trips-summer-2011-photos/#/best-summer-trips-minneapolis-minnesota_34537_600×450.jpg to see the write-up!