Category Archives: Uncategorized
WHEN THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS FRIGHTFUL
When kids are stuck inside all day due to inclement weather, parents and au pairs will find a little creativity and preparation go a long way to prevent boredom. Whether it’s cold and blustery or raining and miserable, the following ideas for winter activities for children might inspire you:
Baking – the fun project that’s its own delicious reward! Baking together is an opportunity to learn about weights and measures and explore new foods. It involves math and science, culture and fun! If you have a stocked pantry or at least keep staples on hand, baking is a great way to keep children entertained. Deciding what to make can be a game in itself! With multiple children or family members involved, everyone can write their idea on a piece of paper and draw the winning recipe from a mixing bowl. You can even make homemade playdough which gives you something to look forward to later.
Arts and crafts – it’s a good idea to have items on hand: Origami paper, coloring books, sketchpads, colored pencils, paint brushes, etc., but recycled items make great crafts projects too. Try turning your egg carton into a caterpillar or paper napkins and tissue paper from old gifts into flowers. You can go online to sites like Pinterest to find projects to suit the age and interests of your children.
Imagination – pretend you are famous painters and create your own works of art! Read a book together or write a story together. You can illustrate your story after for children who enjoy this sort of thing. If you or your child has an interest in music, compose an original song, have a sing along, or learn to play something together. You can write it down or improvise as you go.
It’s easy to add an extra educational piece to these activities. Select a famous artist, musician, or author and do a little research project together to create a short bio. For example, if your child loves the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, you can pick any one of their Renaissance namesakes and share a few details about the time period, artistic style and famous works of the artist. Next draw anything related to the topics you discussed – even turtles!
Build forts! Reading or playing inside your own personal fortress is always a good time and a good chance to help children learn to enjoy peace and quiet.
Get moving – up for an adventure? Turn your house into outer space looking for aliens and avoiding stray asteroids! Want more of a challenge? Boom! The floor is lava and you have to navigate without touching it. Blast your favorite music and have an impromptu dance party. Show off your best moves. Maybe your child is in dance class and she can teach a class to show all she’s learning. Maybe an au pair has a dance background or a trendy or cultural dance to share from her home country. Anything loud and rowdy will help everyone avoid the doldrums from being cooped up in the house and provide great transitions into quieter activities once the kids burn off some energy.
A fantastic game for kids of all ages is the lights out dance party. The rules are simple; someone is “it” and controls the light switch. When the lights are off, everyone dances around whoops it up. When the lights switch on, you must stay still like a statue and silent. If the person that’s “it” doesn’t see anyone move, the lights go off and everyone dances again. This continues until someone is caught moving and must switch places with the person that was “it.” This game gets kids moving. You could easily turn music on and off instead of flicking a light switch – or combine the two!
After a few hours of play and activities, the kids may want to snuggle in with a cup of cocoa, watch a movie together or read stories quietly. I know it’s a struggle to limit kids “screen time” these days, but on a day when the weather has it in for outdoor fun, a couple episodes of a favorite show or a good movie can be so satisfying.
DRESSING WARMLY FOR WINTER WEATHER
Dress warmly for winter weather!
In our area it will be cold most of the winter and there could be snow, any time from now through March. If you have not already bought a coat, hat, gloves and boots, you will wish that you had.
It does snow in Philadelphia and the host parents do expect that you will be outside rolling in the white stuff with the kids. Because we don’t get as much snow as the Alps — we freak out a little here when it does snow. School will be canceled for only one inch of snow. The girls from Germany and Austria will laugh. The kids get soooo excited by this event they will want to stay outside and use every inch of snow in the yard to build a snowman.
There are a lot of great sales going on, look for coats and cold weather accessories. Some cheap options are: Ross, TJ Maxx, Marshalls, Burlington Coat Factory, WalMart and Kohl’s.An even more affordable option would be to go to a thrift shop. There are many in the area and you can often find a very warm jacket for a small price compared to buying one new.
Dress in Layers – Consider buying sweaters, lightweight jackets and long underwear. If you wear several layers, you can take off things to be comfortable. For example when it might be too warm for a heavy jacket, but too cold for just a sweater, you can combine different pieces of clothing.
Set a Good Example – it is the expectation of most host parents that you set the example for your kids and you wear a coat when it is cold outside. You should have a winter coat, hats, gloves, boots and scarves. Your kids will fight wearing a coat if you don’t wear one. Think of yourself as a celebrity and everyone wants to look like you — especially your kids.
Check the “Emergency Change of Clothes” – With young children, we often keep an emergency change of clothes in the car, diaper bag or at their school. If you haven’t already switched out the shorts and t-shirt for something warmer, this would be a good idea.
Get yourself some warm winter clothes now. Prepare for the snow!
HINTS TO OVERCOME HOMESICKNESS
Wrtten by an au pair Annika
Almost everyone experiences culture shock when they come to a completely new environment. Everything is different: the language, the food, and the people.
Here are my Top 5 Tips for Dealing with Homesickness
1. Make Friends – Don’t wait for other au pairs to reach out to you, reach out to them. There are other lots of new au pairs who are feeling the same way you are right now. Set a goal to reach out to a few of them each day. Some will respond and some will not. Don’t let that discourage you. No one will ever be mad at you for sending them a message to say hello or ask if they want to do something together. Make friends from various countries and you will also get a chance to practice your English skills together. Look at the cluster map and see who lives near you.
2. Stay in touch with your home country, but not too much. Skyping or talking on the phone every day with your family and/or friends back home normally makes homesickness worse. Try emailing instead and reduce the Skype and phone calls to once a week, until you feel stronger. It’s much harder seeing the faces and hearing the voices of those you miss.
3. Get out of the house (or your room specifically) – Go to cluster meetings, have coffee or movies with other au pairs, join a gym, go to the library, go for a walk, visit the mall, get a manicure, visit a museum. If someone invites you out, say “yes.” Also, don’t be afraid to do the inviting. If your host family invites you to do things with them, say “yes.” This will help you get to know each other and contribute to your overall happiness.
4. Realize that it definitely gets better – All au pairs experience homesickness and nearly all of them stay and have a successful year (some stay for two years.) So, it must get better, right? Once you get past the initial homesickness, most au pairs report how quickly the year goes by.
5. Make Plans – Create your own Au Pair Bucket List (places you want to go, new foods to try, new things to experience during your year in the U.S.) and start doing them now. Post on our cluster Facebook group to find others who may want to join you on your adventures. Try volunteering, there are so many opportunities in the area.
6. Tell your Host Family- they want to know how you are doing, and it helps to let them know.
EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR AU PAIRS
At Au Pair in America we offer monthly webinars for our au pairs. Why? These webinars, led by our Orientation Team, help au pairs learn about and manage life in America, and provide useful activities, insight and advice about children and child care. And au pairs can sign up for as many as they would like!
South African au pair Dezi shared with us why she enjoyed the webinars, why she recommends them to other au pairs, and her top three webinars!
Hey everyone! My name is Dezi Henning, and I am from South Africa and lived in Massachusetts for 18 months. I had some amazing experiences during my year and one of things that helped me with that was the webinars for au pairs. My friends from orientation, Jody, Joan and Sandee, are super cool and very helpful.
Why did I continue to join the webinars? The answer is pretty simple: I always learned something, and not just from them. The great thing is that you learn from the other au pairs too. I really encourage you to join the great webinars they offer so I will share my top three webinars with you!
3. 100 Activities You Can Do With School Age Children
Why? It is always helpful to have creative ideas for things to do with the kids, especially in summer. Again, other au pairs are on the webinar and share their own ideas as well.
2. Homesickness
For those times of the year when you really miss mommy, food or your room back home! Everyone gets some sort of homesickness at some point and it’s helpful to talk about it, especially with other au pairs. Even if you are not feeling homesick, you never know when you or a friend will need it!
1. It’s Up to You: Making the Most of Your Au Pair Year
This is an amazing webinar to help you make the best of your stay! Orientation Trainer Joan discusses managing your free time, your money and your circle of friends.
Click here to see the webinar calendar and find out what’s coming up for October, November and December. And all of the webinars Dezi mentioned will be available! Questions? Contact us at (800) 928-7247 or aupair.info@aifs.com.
MEMORIAL DAY – MONDAY MAY 25-2015
Memorial Day in United States
Memorial Day is observed on the last Monday of May. It was formerly known as Decoration Day and commemorates all men and women, who have died in military service for the United States. Many people visit cemeteries and memorials on Memorial Day and it is traditionally seen as the start of the summer season.
What do people do?
It is traditional to fly the flag of the United States at half mast from dawn until noon. Many people visit cemeteries and memorials, particularly to honor those who have died in military service. Many volunteers place an American flag on each grave in national cemeteries. Memorial Day is combined with Jefferson Davis’ Birthday in Mississippi.
Memorial Day has become less of an occasion of remembrance. Many people choose to hold picnics, sports events and family gatherings on this weekend. This day is traditionally seen as the start of the summer season for cultural events. For the fashion conscious, it is seen as acceptable to wear white clothing, particularly shoes from Memorial Day until Labor Day. However, fewer and fewer people follow this rule and many wear white clothing throughout the year.
Public life
Memorial Day is a federal holiday. All non-essential Government offices are closed, as are schools, businesses and other organizations. Most public transit systems do not run on their regular schedule. Many people see Memorial Day weekend as an opportunity to go on a short vacation or visit family or friends. This can cause some congestion on highways and at airports.
Background
Memorial Day started as an event to honor Union soldiers, who had died during the American Civil War. It was inspired by the way people in the Southern states honored their dead. After World War I, it was extended to include all men and women, who died in any war or military action.
Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day. The current name for this day did not come into use until after World War II. Decoration Day and then Memorial Day used to be held on May 30, regardless of the day of the week, on which it fell. In 1968, the Uniform Holidays Bill was passed as part of a move to use federal holidays to create three-day weekends. This meant that that, from 1971, Memorial Day holiday has been officially observed on the last Monday in May. However, it took a longer period for all American states to recognize the new date.
MOTHERS DAY – SUNDAY, MAY 10
Mother’s Day
Date When Celebrated : Second Sunday in May
Everybody has a mother and absolutely no one is more special than mom. Sure, dad is really important. And, grandparent’s too. But moms, well they are just the greatest. Often taken for granted, they are always our strongest supporter. You can’t do wrong in Mom’s eyes. When you are hurt, or not feeling well….there is no one else that can help you more than Mom. I saw this clearly recently as our son was in the emergency room. Sure, dad was an important presence. But, the look in my son’s eyes with his mom by his side was certain affirmation of mom’s comforting ways, and importance.
So go out and celebrate Mother’s Day. First and foremost, spend time with her. If you absolutely can not be there, take time for a long phone call. Flowers, cards, candy and gifts are all part of the day. But, mom wants some time with you far more than anything else.
Did you know? The first Mother’s Day was May 10, 1908 in Philadelphia
TAXES – TAXES – TAXES
The April 15th filing deadline is almost here
A federal U.S. tax return for income earned in 2014 should be filed with the IRS no later than April 15, 2015 .This should be submitted to the IRS along with payment for any taxes owed. (For example: on April 15th, 2015, tax returns are due for stipends (wages) earned between January 1, and December 31, 2014). If you do not file by the deadline of April 15, 2015 you may be subject to a penalty as well as interest on the tax owed.
GOING UNPLUGGED DURING WORKING HOURS
Au Pairs – Imagine for a moment that you went to the hospital and you were in the care of doctors and nurses. How would you feel if those doctors and nurses who were there to care for you were more interested in texting or using their personal computer than caring for you
Life as an au pair is a fine balance between employee and family member. You live with your host family and participate as a member of the family – but you also have clear responsibilities as a childcare provider. What message are you sending to the children when you would rather interact with your phone or computer than them?
Its also a safety concern when you are not paying enough attention to the children in your care. Accidents happen, but when an adult care giver is closeby and appropriately supervising the children – chances of major injury dramatically reduce. So Go UnPlugged!!v
Daylight Saving Time (United States) 2015 begins at 2:00 AM on Sunday, March 8
SPRING FORWARD
Turn your clocks FORWARD by one hour at 2:00 AM on Sunday March 8th