Pictures with Santa
Last weekend, some of my Boston area colleagues and I threw a holiday party for our au pairs. Between us and all attending au pairs, we had an amazing selection of international dishes.
Our party was packed with fun activities: a visit from Santa, a yankee swap game and caroling in many languages.
Yankee Swap
Feliz Navidad!
For more photos of our holiday party, please visit Au Pair Holiday Party 2012
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!
Last week, our au pair group met for flatbread pizza and bowling at Sacco’s Bowl Haven in Davis Square, Somerville. We had a few new arrivals: Magda, Estelle, Bee and Asia, who were formally introduced to the group. They enjoyed meeting and connecting with our more seasoned au pairs.
The flatbread pizza was amazing, and we shared many laughs while candlepin bowling. Again, it was nice to observe the comraderie among a group of young women who are going through the same experience.
During dinner, I handed out information about winter driving which we discussed. The most important job of an au pair is to keep the children and herself safe. That is why we have these quarterly discussions regarding safety. I encouraged au pairs to go home and talk with their host families about the handout.
For more photos of our bowling adventure go to Bowling.
Ah, what a nice day we had on Sunday to be outside for pumpkin carving! As you can see above, my au pairs were very creative in carving patterns into their pumpkins. While they carved, they happily chatted about their lives and seemed to enjoy each other’s company.
Most au pairs know about Halloween but do not celebrate it in their countries. They are usually very excited to experience this American holiday and at Au Pair in America we promote this kind of cultural exchange. On Sunday they got the Halloween treatment which included a noise-sensitive howling ghost, bats, spiders, snakes, cockroaches as well as food offerings that might creep the faint at heart out: a witches brew that contained a bloody hand, bloody (hot dog) fingers, crawling cracker/pretzel stick critters, chicken eyeballs, bat wings, as well as Halloween cut out cookies and a creepy critter cake.
We said good-bye to Adisah and Emma who are leaving us in November. They received their education certificate, a small good-bye gift and an acknowledgement for their achievements. They shared their experience with and gave advice to the other au pairs. We welcomed Juliette, Alice, and Natalie whose first meeting this was.
For more photos of our meeting please visit Pumpkin Carving.
This year, 8 Boston area counselors organized the annual host family picnic at Carver Hill Orchard in Stow, MA. This event gives host families and au pairs the opportunity to meet other families and au pairs in the program. It also satisfies the State Department requirement to offer a host family workshop at least once per year. We offered handouts and discussions about topics related to the host family-au pair relationship, such as the adaptation process.
On a beautiful fall day, host families and au pairs enjoyed apple and pumpkin picking, mingling with each other as well as freshly baked cider donuts, apple cider and hayrides provided by Au Pair in America. The children had a choice of different art tables, which included fall coloring sheets and stencils, wood cut fall stamps as well as apple prints.
Not only do events like these bring people together, but it also provides an opportunity for our host families to share this New England tradition of going out into the apple orchard in the fall with their au pairs, many of who just arrived over the summer.
For more photos of the picnic, go to Host Family Picnic 2012 and Host Family Picnic – 2012
For a slideshow of the event, please visit Host Family Picnic slideshow
Over 80 Boston area au pairs attended the Harvard tour, our September Regional Event. On a beautiful September day, they came to Cambridge to learn about student life and the diversity of one Americas oldest and most prestigious schools.
Tour guides provided them with historical facts and stories. Did you know that the statue of John Harvard (which by the way is not John Harvard, but a student who was asked to model, in the absence of any known pictures of John) is the 3rd most photographed statue in the country? Want to guess what the top two are? Needless to say the day was full of interesting facts and sights of Harvard!
For more photos, go to Harvard Tour 2012
This month our monthly meeting was a breakfast at my house. It must have been my biggest meeting ever! 19 of my au pairs attended, and since many of them take care of children during the day, some of them even brought their children. As you can see, it was a crowd! Fortunately we had a nice day and could sit out in the backyard, and the kids had the chance to run around and play.
With many new au pairs arriving over the summer, this meeting was a chance for the new arrivals to meet each other and the more seasoned au pairs in the group. We said good-bye to Ramata who will go back to France and to Karolina who is going back to Poland. Both of them gave advice to the new au pairs on how to have a successful au pair year.
This month we also had our required child care & safety discussion. As per State Department regulations, we need to offer this at least once every three months. We discussed discipline and au pairs were able to bring in their own experiences and listen to what others had to contribute.
For more photos from this meeting, go to Au Pair Breakfast.
Our August meeting took place at McGolf in Dedham for a nice round of mini golfing. We had a smaller group, as August is a big month for transitions and vacations in the au pair world. The afternoon was beautiful and we had a fun game.
The group consisted mostly of newly arrived au pairs. It was nice to watch them make new connections and starting to build their life here in the US. They also had the chance to talk to an au pair who has been here for a while and who can be a good resource for them as they are adapting.
ice cream after the game!
for more pictures of our meeting, please go to mini golf.
July Barbecue
Our July meeting was nice and relaxed. We had a small group, as many au pairs are either in transition, traveling or staying outside the Boston area with their host families. Au pairs brought things to grill, while I provided side dishes and something to drink.
While sitting around the table, we said good-bye to Alexandra and Tracey who will be going home soon. We also had a chance to welcome Jaqueline who just joined us from another au pair cluster.
Canoeing group
Our June cluster meeting last weekend in historic Concord was so much fun! It was such a beautiful summer day. We joined two other clusters and over 30 au pairs participated. We met at the South Bridge in Concord to rent canoes and kayaks. Au pairs then rowed to the Old North Bridge where counselors welcomed them for a picnic.
The German crew
At the historic Old Manse, we gathered for our meeting. At first, we held our childcare/safety meeting that we are required per State Department to have once every three months. We talked about summer safety, which included sun exposure related safety, water safety rules and wearing the right protective gear for biking, skateboarding and rollerblading.
We then broke off into our individual clusters. Our group said good-bye to Stella, Cirstin and Sina, who are at the end of their au pair year and are going home to Germany soon. They had a lot of advice for the newer arrivals. We welcomed Camilla from Brazil who attended her first meeting.
Enjoying cake, cookies and some fruit
Bettina's group
For more photos of this meeting, please visit Canoeing 2012.
This month I gathered my au pairs at Together in Motion in East Arlington and taught a yoga class for them. It was a very unusual class, as there was lots of talking and giggling involved. We had a great time together and gathered afterwards in the lobby to enjoy some refreshments.
We said good-bye to Ant and Hongmei who will leave in June after being au pairs for two years. What an accomplishment! Congratulations! We also welcomed German au pair Lara who arrived this month.
For more photos from our meeting go to Au Pair Yoga
