Tag Archives: au pair in new orleans

Valentine’s Day in the USA!

NOLValentine'sValentine’s day is celebrated in the United States every year on February 14th. There are many stories and legends behind who the real St. Valentine was, but most scholars agree that he was a martyr who was killed by Roman soldiers because he was marrying people in secret at a time when marriage was outlawed.  Later in the Middle Ages, a great writer named Geoffrey Chaucer wrote a poem as a present to King Richard II, who was going to be married soon. In it, he mentioned St. Valentine, and over time, the idea of Valentine’s Day became associated with the idea of love.
During the Victorian times (in the 1800s), Valentine’s Day became extremely popular! Men and women spent a lot of time making beautiful Valentine’s cards with ribbon, fancy paper and even lace. In those days, people were very reserved and they did not often say what they were feeling. Valentine’s day gave them a way to express their feelings to someone they were in love with anonymously.  The sender would remain a mystery until they could speak more freely.
In the last few decades, Valentine’s day has changed a lot! Today we still exchange cards, but many people buy ready-made cards instead. We also give flowers or chocolates as a gift to remind people of our friendship and love for them. Most Valentine’s gifts and cards make use of the colors red and pink, and are decorated with images of hearts or roses. Another common symbol of love on this day is Cupid, the Roman god of love. He is usually shown as a little angel with a bow and arrow. According to legend, anyone who is struck by his arrows will fall in love.
Here are some links with ideas about how you can celebrate and have fun with your host children.
 
Click here for Valentine’s Day Cards, coloring pages, recipes, crafts, games and puzzles: http://www.dltk-holidays.com/valentines/
Check out our Au Pair in America Pinterest page for Valentine’s Day for more ideas: https://www.pinterest.com/aupairinamerica/valentines-day/

Holiday Tips for Au Pairs and Host Families

FLEXIBILITY

Holidays are a lot of fun but they also require much planning, communicating, visiting, and accommodating other family members’ schedules, all of which may cause quite a bit of stress for your host parents. Try to be as helpful and flexible as possible to help your host family have a truly enjoyable time.

 

Childcare

More childcare duties will be required when children are out of school. Have a plan for the time when they put aside their Xmas toys and look for other amusement. Check out APIA website http://www.aupairinamerica.com/resources/activities/index.asp to get ideas on how to keep your host kids happily occupied.

 

Driving

Traffic tends to be heavier around the holidays.  My best advice is to leave earlier than normal and take your time.  Be the “bigger person” and allow that one last car to slip in ahead of you.  It may avoid an accident.  Remember au pairs can be asked to pay up to $500 of the deductible for an accident.

 

Healthy eating

Is your house filled with treats, and goodies that are tempting you? It is the season, and you are here for a cultural exchange, so try some of the traditional sweets your host family is offering, but it is a good idea to downsize your portions – how much you eat is as important as what you eat.

 

 

Tips for Host Families

 

Scheduling

Letting your au pair know her schedule in advance is important at any time but especially during holidays. For most au pairs these will be the only Xmas & New Year holidays in the States. Host families are asked to make an effort to follow the spirit of APIA program, which is cultural exchange, and both include AP in their celebrations and also give AP some time to experience and enjoy them with her friends.

 

Childcare

Please let your au pair know exactly what your expectations are regarding childcare. Is she supposed to let the kids be so they can enjoy unstructured time with visiting family members? Or is she supposed to keep them occupied so you can enjoy a quiet conversation with your brother and sister-in-law? Will grandparents take an active role in caring for the kids or should au pair get them ready for bedtime and read them a good night story?

 

Safety

If there is an alarm system for the house, be sure that the au pair is listed with the alarm company as a legitimate user of the alarm. Also, the au pair must know the appropriate security code in case of a false alarm.

 

TLC

If holidays can be stressful for host families, they can be doubly so for au pairs. Please keep in mind that your au pair is in a foreign country, away from her family, friends, and familiar circumstances at the time when we all celebrate family and togetherness! Please make sure to give your au pair some Tender Loving Care that you’d like your daughter to receive were she to be an au pair far away from home.

 

 

Welcoming New Friends

NOLJuneclustermeet

Summer months are the busiest arrival times for au pairs. Hundreds of APIA au pairs from many different countries arrive in Tarrytown, NY for a three-day orientation (and an introductory tour of NYC!!) before fanning out across the USA to join their host families for a fun and exciting year together.

For our Louisiana cluster it’s a busy time too – welcoming new friends, getting to know host families, sharing au pair advice, planning great times together.

NOLJune2014cluster

NOLSarahMelisaOld friends, Sarah from France and Melisa from Costa Rica.

NOLAliciaDorisNew arrivals, Alicia and Doris, both from France.

NOLKasiaAnali

Seasoned au pair, Kasia from Poland and a newbie, Anali from Peru.

Au Pairs Meet Local Parents at Baby and Child Expo

On Saturday, July 7, 2012 au pairs participated in Baby and Child Expo organized by La Leche League of Jefferson. Grouped around the Au Pair in America display in the center court of Lakeview Mall in Metairie, au pairs were happy to chat with visiting families. They talked about Au Pair in America program, different options of care, program rules, cost, and the wonderful experience of sharing the culture of their respective countries with host families.

NOLBabyExpoJuly2012

Creative Outdoor Play

Outdoor play is more than merely supervising children – it is an interactive learning experience with endless possibilities, and is essential to a child’s development.

Researchers have found movement to be crucial to children’s development and are concerned with the amount of inactive time children spend watching television, playing video games or working with computers. An excellent resource on this topic is Jane Healy’s book Endangered Minds. It is shown that children need to have large amounts of unstructured playtime in order to develop well- rounded personalities, to build self-esteem and self-confidence, develop healthy social skills by participating in group activities, and to stimulate their intellectual development.

Playing outdoors allows children the physical freedom that is not always possible indoors. The more children move, the more they learn, and children can play outdoors year-round with appropriate clothing.

Children of all ages need to explore the outdoor environment and learn from their experiences. Children are able to learn about the four basic elements of nature — air, fire, earth and water.

They can find places to pretend they are whoever they want to be, such as a firefighter a super-hero or an animal.

There are places for creativity, such as drawing on the sidewalk with chalk or painting the driveway with water. Children can look for something heavy or light, something smooth or rough, something bright or dark, something man-made or natural, something huge or tiny, the possibilities are endless.

Creative outdoor play takes what is already on this earth and uses it in a way which is unique to a child: digging in the dirt or sand, making ditches and rivers where toy boats can float, or creating roads for toy trucks and cars. It means giving children the freedom for exploration and discovery. Children grow by daring, risking, failing, redoing and succeeding. Help children grow mentally and physically by playing outdoors whenever possible, giving them the opportunity to learn from the world around them.