Tag Archives: au pairs

Social Distancing: 5 Online Adventures for Kids

March 18, 2020 – 5:38 am

Reading, playing, and doing art projects are always great ways to entertain children and keep them physically active and learning. It’s a good idea to limit screen time. But, in this time of social distancing, technology can play an important role in allowing kids to see and connect with the world outside of their homes. Many online resources are popping up to create those opportunities.

Here are five to get you started:

- Cincinnati Zoo Home Safari (daily at 3pm EST). Resources available here.
- Visit Disneyland & Disney World with these online virtual rides.
- Mo Willems (author of the Pigeon kids books) Lunch Doodles (weekdays at 1pm EST). Each doodle has a printable activity page. The arrow on the right side takes you to the previous day’s doodle video/activity.
- Here is a list of 33 National Parks you can tour online. Maybe start with a virtual tour of Yellowstone National Park.
- Storytime from Space features astronauts reading stories from space.

And if kids have questions about the coronavirus, Live Science has created an ultimate kids’ guide to the new coronavirus that has lots of information and is appropriate for school-aged kids.

Handling Expenses

February 15, 2017 – 2:22 pm

Host parents often ask for suggestions on how best to handle common expenses that occur as au pairs are caring for the children.

Miscellaneous Expenses

There are different ways to handle the little day to day expenses that come up. Things like when an au pair takes the kids out for ice cream or picks up a gallon of milk. Some families keep a cookie jar fund, a little cash that they set aside weekly or monthly for these types of expenses. Others give their au pair a prepaid debit card for this purpose. Below are some suggestions for avoiding problems with expenses.

Host Families

It’s important to be clear about how long this money should last and what types of expenses are approved.
Let the au pair know whether or not you expect receipts.

Au Pairs

Only spend the money on approved expenses.
If it is something you are not sure about, ask first.
Put your receipts in the cookie jar in place of the money to avoid any confusion.

Gas and Fare Cards

Host families are responsible for the au pair’s transportation costs: to and from classes, cluster meetings and when driving the kids.

It is a good idea to figure out how much gas an au pair will use for these trips and either put gas in the car or give a gas allowance. If your au pair is riding to classes or cluster meetings with another au pair, you should offer to share the cost of gas.

Au pairs are responsible for their own transportation at all other times. You should replace the amount of gas used for personal use.

Photo: Andrea Travillian

Managing Homesickness

August 18, 2016 – 3:51 pm

It is completely normal to feel homesick sometimes when we are far from home. Homesickness comes from feeling disconnected from familiar people, places and routines. It is an emotion you have to learn how to cope with while you are here. It is an emotion that passes with time. Here are some tips to help you when you feel homesick:

Be a tourist, get to know where you live, visit the local sights and explore just as you would if on vacation. Start a list of favorite places. Ask other au pairs and your host family for their favorites too!
Try new foods, even if they don’t look good, finding new favorite nibbles is a great way to enjoy a new country. You might squirm at the thought of trying a Maryland crab, but you might find that you love it!
Take a break from skype. If you are skyping for hours every day, it is not helping you. Find a balance between ties at home and building new relationships here. Try keeping connected via email or whatsapp and skype just once or twice a week.
Focus on your new social media networking with other au pairs and American friends. You don’t need to know what everyone is doing at home every minute. Be part of the experience here!
Plan a trip with a friend, a day trip or a weekend, get excited about doing something new with a new friend and before you know it you will be excited and chatting about the trip instead of talking about what you are missing at home.
Go to the cluster meetings, This will definitely help you. You’ll meet others au pairs, try new things, eat good food,
Send some small gifts back home. Sending gifts gives you something to do, makes you go out, and is a way of sharing your experience, it makes you feel good. Don’t feel like you need to find those gifts right away! Sometimes the fun is in the searching!
Make a Bucket List. This is a list of what you hope to do and see during your year as an au pair. Places you want to visit, foods you’d like to try, things you’d like to do! Keep it on the wall and you will enjoying checking off each thing on the list as you do it.
Not everything has to change. If you loved jogging at home, do it here. There are some habits you love that you can keep. Ask your host family or me for ideas of places you can enjoy things you loved to do at home!
Create a routine. Having a routine will help you feel at home and settle into life here. Get up in the morning, even on your days off! Set a regular bedtime, too. You need your rest also!
Do not stay home. Have a plan to go out and about! Join a gym, go to the movies every Tuesday night, take a dance class. Go to the gym, the park, a coffee shop, a walk, volunteer somewhere! Staying home alone will not help homesickness, it makes the isolation worse. I do not want you to be unhappy. Don’t have a buddy for the weekend yet? Post to the group, text another au pair. Reach out an invite someone!
Ask me for help in finding au pair friends who have been there! I can connect you with other au pairs who was also homesick, there’s nothing better than talking to someone who has been in your shoes.
Create a blog or album on Facebook of your adventures! It will give you something to work on when you have quiet time alone and as your year progresses you will be able to see what an amazing experience you are having. You’ll have a collection of memories to review! Remember not to share personal info about the host family or any pictures of them (this includes those adorable kids). You can set the album and blog to private if you don’t want to share it with others.
Most importantly, talk to someone, if you feel sad or homesick, talk to your host family, call me, or a friend. Sharing helps you. Being part of a cluster enables us to help and support each other.

A little inspiration from a former au pair… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3IBmRWGnwA

Have a great year, this is your dream, make the most of it!