Tag Archives: Au Pair in America

Valentine's Meeting

In February, we had a Valentine’s meeting at my house which included sweet Valentine’s treats.   Since taxes are due in April, we also discussed the process of filing taxes for au pairs.  It is an easy process, but it doesn’t feel so easy when you are from a different country and haven’t done it before.

It was nice sitting around the table and chatting.  It is always a good chance for au pairs to exchange experiences and get feedback from others.  We also said good-bye to Jaque, who left our cluster in January.

Boston Au Pairs Go Snowtubing

For our cluster meeting this month, we joined 4 other Boston area au pair clusters for snowtubing at Nashoba Valley.   Approximately 50 au pairs hit the slopes in pleasant temperatures.

This month we said good-bye to Deborah and to Mayela, and we welcomed Vanessa and Jana.   We took some time in the lodge to connect before heading out and enjoyed refreshments.

For more photos, please visit Snowtubing 2014

Au Pair Holiday Party

Last week, we had our annual au pair holiday party.  We joined another cluster in Lexington and went to the Yantze River Restaurant in Lexington Center.

Au pairs ate from the plentiful buffet, did a yankee swap game and sang holiday songs in their language.     

We ended the meeting by caroling around the Lexington Center Christmas tree.

For more photos and some videos please visit Holiday Party

Au Pairs play laser tag

This month, we joined another Boston cluster and visited Lasercraze in Woburn for a heated game of laser tag.   Adrenaline was pumping as 2 teams of 20 pairs each competed against each other in this riveting game.  It is amazing to observe how competitive one can be!

We also enjoyed sitting together, having refreshments and talking about au pair business.

For more photos, please go to Lasertag.

October Cluster Meeting

For October, I had planned a fun host family and au pair picnic at Honey Pot Hill Orchard in Stow.  Unfortunately, that had to be cancelled due to rain.   We had the au pair meeting at my house instead.   In true fall fashion, we had apple cider donuts and apple cider.  We also had a good-bye cake, saying our official good-byes to Lilly, Ning and Allegra who are leaving our cluster the next month.

For more photos of this meeting, you can go to October 2013.

Boston Au Pairs visit Harvard University

This is one of my favorite regional events that we offer for our Boston area au pairs:  a Harvard University tour.   Counselor Patti Estabrook organized it this year and almost 100 au pairs showed up on a beautiful fall day.

Au pairs learned about student life and the diversity of one Americas oldest and most prestigious schools.  Tour guides provided 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?

For more photos, please visit Harvard Tour 2013.

Au Pair Breakfast

This month we congregated at my house for a breakfast in my backyard.  We had a beautiful day with warm temperatures.

September is always a big cluster meeting.  Many new au pairs have arrived over the summer and everybody is home now after traveling over the summer.  It always is a good chance for the new and more seasoned au pairs to intermingle and get to know each other.  Many phone numbers were exchanged!   Some au pairs also brought their host kids who had a good time playing with each other in the backyard.

It was time for our quarterly childcare focus talk.  This time we read and talked about  “A Memorandum from a Child” which discusses constructive ways to interact constructively with children.

For more photos, please go to September 2013 breakfast.

Au Pair Barbecue

For our cluster meeting this month we congregated in my backyard for a barbecue.   We had a nice big group of au pairs, lots to eat and many good conversations.

Summer is a big change-over time in the au pair world, so for many of my au pairs it was their last meeting and for some their first.   It was so nice to see how the more seasoned au pairs gave advice to the newer au pairs.  It is not easy leaving your family and friends in your home country.  My cluster meetings are an excellent opportunity for au pairs to establish a new social network.

For more photos, please go to July Barbecue.

Host Family Day at Gillette Stadium

Boston area community counselors held their annual host family day last weekend at Gillette stadium in Foxboro.  Host families and their au pairs were invited to a tailgating party before the soccer game.  We had a beautiful sunny day for it.

The annual host family day satisfies the State Department requirement for host families to attend an annual host family workshop.   It provides an opportunity for host families to connect to other families in the program and to discuss aspects of it.     For more photos please go to Host Family Day.

Boston area counselors with marketing director Blair Weinberg

Boston area counselors with marketing director Blair Weinberg

APIA Community Service Award

We are thrilled to announce the 2013 winners of our first Community Service Award competition.  We asked au pairs to tell us about their volunteer experience in the United States.  We identified state winners and 3 national winners, 15 in total.  All au pairs who submitted entries will receive a certificate to acknowledge their contribution to the community.  Winners will receive an Amazon gift card and an engraved award.

This is has been a great project and we hope to do it on an annual basis going forward. It’s such a good feeling to recognize the au pairs who really embrace the experience and give back to their communities, they are true ambassadors of their countries.  Read the winning entries on the website:

http://www.aupairinamerica.com/communityservice/2013_winners.asp