Rhode Island au pairs celebrated St. Patrick’s Day at their Sunday Evening Cluster Meeting on March 17th. It was a festive event – with au pairs dressed in green and wearing their beautiful St. Patrick’s Day tiaras and accessories! Dinner consisted of the traditional St. Patrick’s Day entree of Corned Beef and Cabbage, Irish Soda Bread, and Green “Beer”, with a festive St. Paddy’s Day cake and cookies for dessert.

Announcements included a formal introduction of our newest arrival– Elin from Sweden, acknowledgement of Tatiana’s upcoming birthday on April 6, and a “heads up” regarding an invitation that will be going out to all au pairs and host families to a large regional “Host Family Day” event (New England Revs Soccer Game and Tailgate Party) which will be held on June 2 at Patriots Place in Foxboro.

After the Blizzard of 2013 cancelled our original February cluster meeting, we were finally able to celebrate a belated Valentine’s Day and Chinese New Year on Sunday night, February 17. The desserts were enjoyed by all, and the fortune cookies seemed to be a big hit!

Pizza Night/Tax Questions and Answers

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Taxes aren’t much fun, but the U.S. government requires that they be paid by everyone who earns money in the U.S., even au pairs. At our January meeting, we enjoyed pizza together and reviewed tax information (the pizza helped to make the tax discussion a little less painful:-) Au pairs had access to 2012 tax forms and had an opportunity to ask questions about who should file a tax return and how a return is to be filed. Tax information, instructions and forms can be accessed by clicking on the link to the right of this page entitled “Au Pairs – Tax Information”. The deadline for filing tax returns in the U.S. is April 15. If an au pair has earned enough money during 2012 to owe taxes (it will depend upon her arrival date), she can file her tax return any time between now and April 15.

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