Author Archives: Christine Connally

Mother’s Day – Chore Card

May 10, 2014

Kids can pledge to lend Mom or Dad a hand around the house with this flowery card.

house-helper-card-craft-photo-260-FF0500ALM4A02

Materials
  • 8 1/2- by 11-inch sheet of heavyweight paper
  • Construction paper or card stock
  • Glue
  • Con-tact paper, optional

Instructions
  1. Chore Card Fold in half an 8 1/2- by 11-inch sheet of heavyweight paper so that the shorter ends match up.
  2. Cut a flowerpot shape from colored construction paper or card stock and glue it to the lower portion of the card face. Attach only the bottom and side edges and leave the top unglued.
  3. Cut out a bunch of colored flowers and thick green stems and then glue the stem tops to the backs of the blossoms.
  4. Once the glue dries, print a different chore (such as “fold the laundry” or “walk the dog”) on the back of each stem.
  5. Inscribe the inside of the card with the words “Pick a flower and you will see the jobs you’ll pick this week for me” and sign it. All that’s left to do is to “plant” the flowers in the pot and present the card.
Tips:
Laminate the card and flowers with Con-tact paper to make them longer-lasting.

Global Awareness

Au Pair in America au pairs are so creative and contribute so much to their host families and to cultural exchange.  Here’s what our own Christina Moser contributed:

Christina tells us about Austrian Christmas

I’m going to tell you about the traditions around Christmastime in my family back home in the south of Austria.

Since I was a child I lovd christmas and the time before and of course the time after unil New Years Eve. My family and me we have a lot of different traditions during the most reflective time of the year.

Well, the December 1st is always a pretty big deal in my family. Everyone is very excided because we LOVE christmas. It’s the time of the year that makes our whole family come together from all over the world. So on Dec 1st we open the first window on our Advent calender. We have a handcrafted one, my mom made 20 years ago, so when I had my first Christmas.Christina Moser, 1

The whole Christmas time for my family starts at the first sunday of advent. My family and I we light the first candle at our Advent wreath. We sit together and each of us plays something of on of our Instruments (e.g. my brother plays on his styrian akkordeon and I play my guitar) and my parents read a typical christmas story. Since my brother and I were little we hold on to that family tradition.Christina Moser,pic2[1]

And before the first sunday of advent where we light the first candle. My brother, my mom and me we start to bake our tratitional  christmas cookies. Most of the recepies we have from my granma and my grandgranma. Of course I love to share my traditions with my hostfamily here in the US and so I brought my most favourite cookie recipe and baked and decorated the cookies with my girls.

December 5th is the day of the Krampus. As you will read in the text below, he comes with the Saint Nikolaus on December 6th to the houses of the kids. Well, but what is a Krampus? Duning the christmastime those creatures try to scare away bad ghosts and after christmas they try to scare away the winter. So this tradition may seem a litte bit very strong, because very often during the the Krampus runs though some cities some people like it to get hit by them. Don’t ask me why they like it. I’ve actually never been to one of them, because I’m very, very scared of them, even if I’m already 20. I’ve always been and will ever be.
And that’s the definiton of Krampus on wikipedia:
Krampus is represented as a beast-like creature, generally demonic in appearance. The creature has roots in Germanic folklore; however, its influence has spread far beyond German borders. Traditionally young men dress up as the Krampus in Austria, southern Bavaria, South Tyrol, northern Friuli, Hungary, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic and Croatia during the first week of December, particularly on the evening of 5 December (the eve of Saint Nicholas day on many church calendars), and roam the streets frightening children with rusty chains and bells. Krampus is featured on holiday greeting cards called Krampuskarten. There are many names for Krampus, as well as many regional variations in portrayal and celebration.Christina Moser, 4,jpg[1] On December 6th Saint Nikolaus comes to houses in Austria. Kids get a visit from him and his companion the Krampus. For those kids, who were good in the last year, they will get a bag full of apples, nuts, tangerine, chocolate and little toys and he knows everything. Before a kid gets his bag, he or she can compose a poem about him (there are tons of them, even songs) and he tells you what you did right and what you did wrong in the last year (e.g. you are very good in school, just try not to fight as much as you do with you sister as you did in the last year).
The Krampus is a beast-like creature that always comes togehter with the Nikolaus. It will never hurt any kid, it’s just there to frighten the very bad kids. With his scary face and the bells around his waist he is very frightening and very loud. The picture you see is the Nikolaus and the Krampus visiting my little cousin Manuel last year at his house.
This link is to a song about him, that is very popular in Austria.

An now we are on December 24th, the so called “Heilige Abend”. My whole family comes together, my parents, my brother, my uncle and his family and my granparents with my grandgranma. As I am a skilled cook, my dad and I cook the Christmas meal, usually four courses , together. I always contains a Carpaccio, seafood for second, like Spaghetti with shrimp as second, somthing fancy, like duck á l orange, like we had last year or any kind of cream for dessert, last year we had Limecream. We prepare as much as we can for the later evening. At around 5 o’clock we meet my grandparents at church to celebrate the holly mass together. Back at home my dad and I continue to cook and when my uncle’s family arrive, we all celebrate Christmas Eve together. That’s the difference between Austria and the USA. We celebrate and open our presens on the 24th, so Christmas Eve. So before we open the presents the Christkind brought us, we call it “Bescherung”, we listen to christmas poems and stories the adults read to us and play on our instruments and sing together. Then we lighten the candles on the tree with the holy light from Jerusalem, which my dad and my brother always pick up at a location in the city on christmas day, which is the 24th in Austia.
So I told you we don’t have Santa Clause. We have the Christkind. It is said that it comes in through the window and leaves presents around the Christmas tree while the children are out of the room and it looks like an angel, but it’s actually Jesus Christ Baby.
The picture you see is Christmas at my house back in Austria.Christina Moser pic7[1]

December 25th is reserved for my friends. We always spend Christmas day together. Mostly we are on the mountains skying or do whaterever we are up to.
New Years Eve, I always used to spend with my family first and then go to my best friends house. We usually dress up and meet our friends in the city and then go back home to my place where we shoot fireworks together with my family.
Jannuary 6th, Epiphany, the day of the three Magi, Caspar, Melchio and Balthazar who brought gold, rankincense and myrrh to Jesus Christ on his crib. This tradition combines collecting donations for the the third world by goning from house to house and sing dressed up as the three Magi and helping he local church as well. So mostly kids in my area do that. In german it’s called “Sternsingen”. It is like a huge charity project from all austrian churches togehter. So there are different groups of kids, every group has an adult with them. My grandma always went with my group. I went singing for about 5 years. We didn’t went exactly on Jan 6th, but on the days around. So we went from house to house and sing our song at each house. After we’ve finished the song we usually get a donation and sometimes we get a treat as well. I loved it, becuse I could hang out with my two cousins. We’ve always been in the same group. And after the last day of all groups we had a huge meeting, when we were told how much we collected and everybody was so happy that we could helped so much by doing things we love, singing and hanging around with family and friends.  On this picture you see me and my cousins, 8 years ago, wearing our costumes before we started to the first house. Christina Moser,pic11[1]

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

2061311475_eb88137853Thanksgiving dates back to the first European settlers in North America. After hardship, illness and hard work the Pilgrims celebrated a successful harvest that they shared with their Native American friends. This national holiday is a day to feast and give thanks.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

NOLturkeyTHANKSGIVING falls on the fourth Thursday of November. It is as a legal holiday in the United States and commemorates the feast held at Plymouth in 1621 by the Pilgrim colonists and members of the Wampanoag people. The feast was held to honor God and give him thanks for harvest and health.

Thanksgiving has religious and cultural origins but is also celebrated in a secular fashion.

The most common dishes on a Thanksgiving table are: TURKEY, sweet potato casserole, collard greens, squash, cornbread stuffing, cranberry sauce and in New Orleans – shrimp and grits.

During a traditional ceremony at the White House, the president of the United States “pardons the turkey” which means the bird can spend the rest of its days back on the farm rather than on a Thanksgiving table.

The day after Thanksgiving, on BLACK FRIDAY people rush to the stores to buy highly discounted merchandise. Black Friday is considered the beginning of the Christmas shopping season.

Thanksgiving Fun For Kids

Here are some activities you can do with the children to celebrate Thanksgiving.  Click here to find crafts, coloring sheets, spelling worksheets, math puzzles,  nametags and more.

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/thanksgiving/

http://www.parenting.com/gallery/thanksgiving-crafts-ideas

Chanukkah Begins November 27 at Sundown

ChanukahWe have host families from a wide variety of backgrounds and faiths.  Some celebrate Christmas, some Chanukkah, some Kwanzaa and some celebrate more than one of those or none of the above.  That is something that makes America special, we can all be different, but still one united together.

I wanted to give a brief overview of Chanukkah and some of the customs you might observe.  Something important to note is that Chanukkah is not the Jewish equivalent of Christmas.  From a religious standpoint, it is a relatively minor holiday.  So, the amount of emphasis put on Chanukkah and how it is celebrated will vary from one family to the next.

You may see Chanukkah spelled in a variety of ways: Chanuka, Hanukkah, Hanukka and more. Part of the reason for this confusion may be due to the fact there is no exact English translation of the Hebrew word for Chanukkah.

If your host family celebrates Chanukkah and you don’t, I would encourage you to take part and experience the customs of another religion.  This can be a great opportunity for culture sharing.  The same is true, if you are a host family and your au pair celebrates a different holiday than you.

Here is a simple explanation from Judaism 101:

Chanukkah is the festival of lights, commemorating the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem after a successful revolt against the Seleucid Greeks. As part of the rededication, the victorious Jews needed to light the Temple’s menorah (candelabrum), but they had only enough oil to last one day and it would take eight days to prepare more oil. Miraculously, the one-day supply of oil lasted for eight days. The miracle of the oil is commemorated with this eight-day candle lighting holiday.

Chanukkah begins between Thanksgiving and Christmas. About half of the time, it overlaps with Christmas, but there are many years when Chanukkah ends long before Christmas. In 2002, for example, Chanukkah began on Thanksgiving and ended in the first week of December, but that is unusual.

Almost all Jews light candles with their families for at least some nights of the holiday, so people like to be at home during this holiday. Although almost nobody takes off from work or school for this holiday, many may not want to work nights or travel during the holiday so they can light candles with the family, and accommodations should be made for this.

Here are some links for more info and children’s activities:

Daylight Savings Time Ends This Weekend


Daylight Saving Time
During DST, clocks are turned forward an hour, effectively moving an hour of daylight from the morning to the evening.  Today, approximately 70 countries worldwide utilize Daylight Saving Time in at least some portion of the country.  If you don’t come from one of those countries, I am guessing that the idea may seem strange.

Spring Forward, Fall Back
Most of the United States begins Daylight Saving Time at 2:00 a.m. on the second Sunday in March and reverts to standard time on the first Sunday in November. In the U.S., each time zone switches at a different time.

What do I do?
Enjoy an extra hour of sleep. In the fall, we get back the hour that we lost in the spring.  Although, the official change occurs at 2 am, you can turn your clock back one hour before you go to bed on Saturday night.

A Safety Reminder
Many fire departments encourage people to change the batteries in their smoke detectors when they change their clocks because Daylight Saving Time provides a convenient reminder. “A working smoke detector more than doubles a person’s chances of surviving a home fire,” says William McNabb of the Troy Fire Department in Michigan. More than 90 percent of homes in the United States have smoke detectors, but one-third are estimated to have dead or missing batteries.
Information from webexhibits.org

Education matters

Education Matters

We are very proud of the ongoing training we offer our au pairs which provides further educational guidance on a wide range of topics. Our orientation trainers take great care to research and prepare the topics presented via Webinars to our au pairs once placed in the home of a host family.   Here is the list of what we have coming up:

October 15

8 pm               Nutrition. Good eating for you and your kids

9 pm               It’s Up to You. Making the most of your Au Pair year

10 pm             Activities to do with Preschoolers

October 29

11 am             Language Development: Birth and beyond

12 noon         Tantrums are no fun for anyone. Help, my kids are fighting again!

1 pm               American holidays: what they are, activities and getting through the holiday blues

November  11

8 pm               Managing play with more than one child

9 pm               Repatriation

10 pm             Feeling Sad or Stressed: Tips for gaining balance in your life

November 26

11 am             Help! My kids are fighting again

12 noon          Activities for School Age Kids

1 pm              Homesickness. Making it through

December 5

8 pm               Activities to do with Preschoolers

December 6

9 pm               Successfully communicating with your host family

December 9

10 am             Homework: Finding the right strategy for your child

December 15

9 pm               Homesickness. Making it through

10 pm             Toilet Training 101

December 17

8 pm               Tantrums are no fun for anyone