Tag Archives: nanny

New year, new childcare ideas!

Au pairs can be the perfect childcare solution: flexible, experienced, loving, and fun, and they also open a window to the world for your kids. Hosting an au pair means no scrambling for coverage for spring break or if someone gets sick, having another adult to drive to softball practice, and more love to go around! All this and more, and the cost is less than most other options!

Families in the Twin Cities are finding that having live-in care can answer many of their childcare needs. We have au pairs from all over the world. They come on a 12 month visa, live with host families, provide up to 45 of childcare each week. They can teach the children their own language, share international cuisine, add new customs to your holiday celebrations, and help with laundry and other child-related household chores.

For more information, just fill out the info form at Au Pair in America | World’s most trusted child care

Au Pairs and American Diets

As we all know, American diets can be a big change for au pairs. Many au pairs are afraid they will gain weight while they are here. Here are some tips from a host mother, who runs the realfoodrn blog (https://realfoodrn.com/)

In order to maintain a healthy weight while in the United States:

– don’t eat the sugary foods we have here – there is hidden sugar in almost everything we eat. Read the nutrition label on the packaging of any food to see how many grams of sugar it contains.

– don’t eat late at night – try to keep from eating for a couple of hours before bedtime, to give your body time to use the energy in what you’ve already eaten.

– don’t eat fast food – McDonald’s or Burger King may be convenient, but they put all kinds of extra, unnecessary additives in the food. Plus, it’s largely empty calories and unhealthly fat. Look at the calorie counts posted on the menu before you order.

– drink tons of water – the more water you drink, the better you will feel. Water helps you flush unneeded things out of your system.

– remain active – even if it’s cold outside, find a way to get some exercise. The Mall of America is about half a mile around, so if you go two times around each level, you just walked 3 miles. Edinborough Park in Edina is an indoor park with a big playground for kids. There are lots of other choices. Plus when it’s nice out, you can easily rent a bike and ride around the chain of lakes in Minneapolis, or you can go swimming in one of the many lakes around here.

– whenever possible structure meals like this: healthy meat, lots of veggies, healthy fat, spices (no breads, sugars, sauces, rice, etc) – try to make your meals as healthful as you can.

And this is from Jennifer: don’t worry so much about your weight as about your health. If you eat healthy food and keep active, you will feel great!

May Day in Minneapolis

If it’s the first Sunday in May, it’s time to celebrate May Day at Powderhorn Park! This festival has been going on for 44 years. Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre and the communities around Powderhorn Park put on an amazing show to welcome the warm weather.

May Day this year will happen on Sunday, May 6th. The day starts with a parade, beginning at noon, down Bloomington Ave. from 25th Street to 34th Street, and then into the park.

Once the paraders have all gotten there, they have a ceremony to welcome the sun – the HOBT tree of lifemain stage is on the west side of the lake, and boats carry the grand finale across the lake. It ceremony includes puppets as big as 10 feet high!

There is music and dancing for everyone, and vendors selling all kind of foods. The ceremony is free and everyone is welcome.

This celebration is one of the unique things that make the Twin Cities, and Minneapolis in particular, so special.

Come on down to Powderhorn Park and welcome our wonderful summer!

http://hobt.org/mayday/

Au pair extension program

Au pairs come on a 12 month, J-1 visa. If they complete the requirements for their first year, they can extend with the program for up to a second year. This can be great for families who want to have the continuity of two full years with the same person. No learning curve!

Au pairs can choose to change families for their second year, instead of staying with their first family. This is generally because they would like to experience another part of the US. Their host family writes a recommendation for them and their profiles become available to families seeking a new au pair.

Second year au pairs can work out very well for families. The au pair has already gotten through the worst of any homesickness, and she understands exactly what the job of an au pair in the US is. They have probably been driving in US traffic, and their English has improved. Some families really enjoy these benefits. The only drawback is that the au pair can’t extend again, so it’s not for families who are looking for two years with the same caregiver.

You can see mini-profiles of many of the au pairs interested in extending by going to http://www.aupairinamerica.com/aupairs/available_year2.asp

Severe Weather Awareness Month

April is Sever Weather Awareness Month and it’s important to be ready. Late spring is when we see a large number of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes, so here’s how to handle that.

A severe thunderstorm is one which may include any or all of the following: frequent lightning strikes, which can be extremely dangerous, high winds, hail, and heavy rain with street flooding.

A tornado is a specific kind of storm where winds and air pressure combine to create a funnel cloud. This spins around in a circle and creates crazy wind speed. Depending on the severity, trees can be knocked into houses, houses can be blown down, windows can shatter and strew broken glass everywhere.

IF a severe thunderstorm watch or a tornado watch is announced, that means  that conditions are right for bad weather to develop. Mainly just be aware of what’s going on outside at this point – maybe don’t get too far from shelter. I would turn the TV on or listen to the radio to see if there is anything near me.

If a severe thunderstorm warning or a tornado warning are announced, that means they have identified an actual storm in your area. Sirens will go off and they will definitely break into programming to give you information. If the warning is for a thunderstorm, keep everyone inside and away from windows – sometimes hail can break a window, or lightning can strike right through it.

If the warning is for a tornado, DROP EVERYTHING, Grab the kids and go to a safe part of the basement – away from windows, and also in a sturdy place – under the staircase can be perfect. Stay there until you hear that things are all clear – sometimes tornadoes can come in waves, so just because one has gone by doesn’t mean the danger is over. Try to keep the kids calm by singing or reading to them.

Families probably want to have things like a battery-powered radio, flashlights, and maybe a blanket ready in the basement in case of severe weather.

 

Why should I get an au pair?

Well, not everyone should, to be honest. Families that need someone to care for their kids while they are out of town on business, for example, may not find an au pair the best solution. Families that live in smaller homes that don’t have an extra bedroom would not be suitable. But for many families, the flexibility and cultural exchange of an au pair can be ideal.

Having an au pair means expanding your family’s boundaries. You develop a close relationship with someone from Thailand, or Brazil, or South Africa. You also are exposing your children to cultural ideas in a way that no other experience does – by having someone from another part of the world in their home, caring for them, making cookies from her home country. It’s invaluable in today’s world for children to grow up comfortable with people who might look a little different, might dress a little different, or might have an accent.

It’s also wonderful from a childcare perspective. Au pairs are carefully screened and experienced childcare providers. They can enrich your children’s education by introducing them to a new language and by planning activities based on each child’s interests and abilities.

Finally, within the federal guidelines there is a lot of flexibility. Au pairs can work up to 45 hours a week, up to 10 hours a day, up to 5 1/2 days a week. If your child gets sick, the au pair is there and you don’t need to miss a day of work. If your schedule is subject to changes, au pairs can be flexible too.

As I said in the beginning, live-in childcare is not for every family. But for many families, having an au pair is an experience that can’t be beat!

For more information and for current discounts, go to our website www.aupairinamerica.com.

I love to read month

Well, for the shortest month, February has a LOT of things going on for families., and I Love to Read Month is actually one of my favorites. There are few things I enjoy more than reading to kids and giving them some of my love for the written word.

Scholastic, the school book fair people, have a great website with all kinds of ideas of things to do to give your child a love of reading. Go to http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/top-teaching/2013/02/celebrate-joy-reading-all-month-long for the list.

Spending time together reading a book is time well spent. It not only helps the child learn to read, it conveys to them that reading is important, and that they themselves are important, because you are doing it with them. You can’t really read a book to a kids while checking emails or reading the paper (or reading blogs, even ones as valuable as this.) It expands their imagination, and increases their attention span. It creates a bond between the two of you, and by sharing books from your own childhood, or from another culture, it opens windows on all kinds of wonderful things.

What are you waiting for?

Black History Month

February has been known as Black History Month in the US since 1976, when it was recognized nationally for the first time as part of the US Bicentennial. The contributions of African-Americans are often left out of history books, and this is one way to focus more attention on them.

Children can learn about Black History Month at their own level. Little kids might just want to color a picture of Harriet Tubman or Frederick Douglass, or listen to someone read The Sneeches by Dr. Seuss, while older ones would gain a lot by learning about Jackie Robinson or the Civil Rights movement of the 1960’s. There have been movies made about certain aspects that would be great for the right ages, including 42, the Jackie Robinson Story (it does have some swearing in it,) or The Help. Even Hairspray can be educational for older kids.

The great website Family Education, http://tinyurl.com/2s5eu4, has a page with all kinds of activities for families to do together to learn more about Black Americans and Black History Month.

Valentine's Day

Hey – Valentine’s Day is just around the corner! Are you ready?

In the United States, kids almost always celebrate some form of Valentine’s Day. At my school, we are calling it Friendship Day, but it will be otherwise the same as it was waaaaay back when I was in elementary school: kids will bring little cards for each other, and they will be exchanged at a party toward the end of the day when most serious learning is done. Generally, children are expected to bring something for everyone if they bring anything, so no one gets hurt feelings. Even in preschools, this ritual is carried out.

You may have seen the boxes of Valentine’s cards in Target or Cub recently. They are inexpensive and easy, and they are what almost everyone will give out. Some of the kids will tape a mini-candy bar to the envelope to add that special touch. But if you have time, or if you don’t need 32 cards by Friday, think about handmade valentines. They can be so much more meaningful. If you feel like doing something personal but not for dozens of kids, think about making something special for the teacher.

Our Pinterest Valentine’s Day page http://www.pinterest.com/aupairinamerica/valentine-s-day/ has a TON of ideas on how to make this a truly special day.

Some background about Valentine’s Day: Valentine was a 3rd century Roman saint who died on February 14th. That is all that we know for sure. There have been many legends built up supporting him as the saint of courtly love, but none of them appear to be in any way factual. Feb. 14th is a feast day for Catholics, Anglicans, Lutherans, and Eastern Orthodox religions. However, in the US Valentine’s Day has very little to do with religion. It is a day for giving flowers and chocolate, and going out to a fancy dinner with the one you love. Lots of people get engaged on this day. But for kids, it’s usually about giving and getting cards and maybe some candy.

Try to inject the spirit of love and kindness into everything you do, every day, but particularly on Valentine’s Day!

Winter Olympics

The Olympics are almost here! When they changed it so the Winter Olympics and Summer Olympics would be staggered, so there would be one every two years instead of both every four, I didn’t like it, but now I really do. And with so many Minnesotans participating in the Sochi Olympics, it’s going to more exciting than ever.

My au pairs always go to a Gopher Women’s Hockey game every year, so they should recognize some of the names.

My aupairs at a U of M hockey game

My aupairs at a U of M hockey game

If you are looking for ways to make the Olympics more meaningful for your kids, Activity Village has some cool ideas: http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/winter-olympics

One of the reasons people get au pairs is to introduce their kids to other cultures, and this is a ready-made way to expand on that. Do they ice skate in Brazil? Ski in South Africa? Play hockey in Thailand? Now is the time to find out. You can have an atlas or a globe handy so you can show kids where the different countries are. You can devise your own ‘games’ and have each kid pick a country to represent (the au pair should probably represent her own country to avoid conflict.) Or you could explore Russian culture and cuisine, in keeping with the host country.

Whatever you do, you won’t be able to escape the Olympics this month, so you may as well enjoy it!