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
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.
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.
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.
We had a lovely afternoon at Nahant Beach last Saturday. The weather was just perfect! Summer is usually a time when a lot of my au pairs are traveling, but we still had a fairly big group.
This cluster meeting gave my new arrivals the chance to meet other au pairs from my group. A couple of them had just arrived 2 days ago. It was a nice mixture of new and more seasoned au pairs. A lot of connections were made and phone numbers exchanged.
Welcome all newcomers!
For more photos of our meeting, please go to August 2013.
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.
The big group
Bettina's au pair group
For our June meeting, we met two other au pair groups at the North Bridge in Concord for a picnic. The weather was beautiful and we enjoyed cookies, fruit, lemonade and a good-bye cake. We said good-bye to Carmen, Linda, Victoria, Julia, Natalie and Sophie who will be returning to their home country over the summer. It was nice to acknowledge their accomplishments and for them to share their experience with other au pairs.
After the picnic, we headed to the South Bridge to rent canoes. Au Pairs went in groups of 3 or 4 and enjoyed their trip on the Concord River.
For more photos, please visit June 2013.
This month we joined another cluster for a self-defense class with “Not Me” (www.not-me.org) . We gathered at Panera Bread in Lexington. Au pairs learned that healthy boundary setting is the first step toward defending yourself. Presenters Erik, Lisa and Melissa talked about their own experiences with boundary setting and talked au pairs through situations they might encounter. It was helpful to hear the signals we give to others unknowingly that indicate if we are an easy target or not.
We also discussed summer safety with children of different ages. This is an important component of the au pair program that aims at providing safe, quality childcare to our host families.
After the class, we said good-bye to Natalia who finishes her year next month and will go back to Costa Rica. We also said good-bye to Dennis who is moving to another Boston cluster. Good luck with your future endeavors!
For more photos, please go to Self-Defense
This month I led a yoga class for my au pair group at Together in Motion in East Arlington. We had a good time together and enjoyed some food and drink with chit-chat after the class.
For more photos go to Yoga Meeting
The breakfast crew
Due to popular demand, our April cluster meeting took place at my house for breakfast. My au pairs seem to really enjoy sitting around the table and talk. At this time of the year there is a lot of talk about the end of the au pair year. Au Pairs who arrived over the summer months are now making plans to travel before they leave and to make flight arrangements for their trip home. There are always very mixed feelings about going back, and it’s nice to acknowledge those. We said good-bye to Tatjana who will leave us at the end of the month.
For more photos from our breakfast visit Breakfast photos
