This December, our au pair cluster joined four other clusters to celebrate the holiday season. Over 100 au pairs enjoyed the festivities.
We enjoyed traditional American holiday food as well as international dishes that the au pairs supplied. Santa came to visit and spread a lot of joy. Au pairs brought gifts end participated in a fun yankee swap game.
For more photos, go to au pair holiday party
This month, we had a nice big group for our cluster meeting at Sacco’s Bowl Haven in Somerville. We first had some yummy dinner and then enjoyed some candlepin bowling.
For more photos, go to bowling.
Host families!
There is a great way to acknowledge your au pair: entering her into our Au Pair of the Year contest. The spirit of cultural exchange, community connectedness and exceptional childcare are just some of the qualities we look for in our Au Pair of the Year. This is one of our favorite projects of the year, we get to read incredible stories and experiences that highlight our au pairs and their achievements on the program. The requirements are basic:
Winners Receive:
Check out the website we have put together with all the details of the competition. We want as many nominations as possible!
http://www.aupairinamerica.com/aupair_of_the_year/index.asp
In October, this witch invited her au pairs to a Halloween gathering at her house. Unfortunately, all of her au pairs had not gone costume shopping yet. 🙁 We still had a good time, though.
Au pairs enjoyed Halloween foods and drinks as well as each other’s company. We welcomed Nike and Lena to our cluster and said good-bye to Fernanda, who will go back to Brazil. For more photos go to Halloween.
On a beautiful Saturday in September, host families from my cluster and three other clusters met for our annual host family picnic at Honeypot Hill Orchard in Stow, MA. Counselors provided apple cider, water, and apple cider donuts. Children had a chance to decorate cookies and participate in craft activities.
This meeting satisfies the State Department requirement to offer an annual host family workshop. Families had a chance to connect with each other and look at handouts related to being a host family, provided by counselors. This event also provided a cultural experience for our au pairs.
For more photos, go to host family picnic 2015
Our cluster meeting in September was a barbecue at my house. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate and we had the meeting inside. Still, we had a good time. The turnout was great now that everybody is done traveling and the summer au pairs have arrived. We welcomed Pim, Paula, Basia, Lara, Naemi and Fernanda to our cluster. It was nice to see the new au pairs starting to make connections.
At this meeting we also discussed childcare issues such as how to approach difficult behaviors. For more photos please visit September 2015
Our cluster meeting in August was an outing to McGolf in Dedham. It was a small meeting as many au pairs are vacationing in the summer, either by themselves or with their host families.
We welcomed Karina and Natalie from Germany to our cluster and said
good-bye to Kongfang.
After our round of minigolf, we enjoyed some ice cream and chatted a bit more.
For more photos of our meeting, go to minigolf.
On a beautiful evening in July, we met in Davis Square, Somerville and enjoyed ice cream together. We welcomed Aline and Beatrice and said good-bye to Miriam and Debora. Summer is always a time of lots of good-byes and hellos, and it is important to acknowledge those milestones.
On a nice sunny Saturday In June, we met at the South Bridge in Concord. 4 au pairs canoed to the North Bridge and met me and other au pairs for a picnic.
We said good-bye to Justine who will leave us in August and to Chiara who is extending with another family in July.
Meeting at this historic site is another way to offer culturally meaningful experiences to my au pairs who come from all over the world.
For more photos of our meeting, go to canoeing 2015.
In May, we gathered at my apartment for a breakfast meeting. Those au pairs that have little children were welcome to bring them along, so we had a few little guests that got everybody’s attention.
This month we said good-bye to Agata and Djamila who are finished with their year in June. We had a lively discussion about different au pair matters. We also had our quarterly childcare/safety meeting and talked about summer safety.
For more photos, go to May Breakfast
