Here are a few ideas to help deal with homesickness:
Make Friends- reach out to other aupairs and to your counselor. There is someone who has been through what you are going through now and will be glad to help you. You are not alone!
Stay in touch with home- but not too much. Too much contact with your friends and family at home actually will make it worse.
Get out of the home and your room- Exercise- get fresh air. Go out with anyone who invites you out.
Accept that it will get better- and that is the truth.
Make Plans- Go to a cluster meeting, make a coffee or movie date.

Aupairs in our cluster are looking ahead to the Fall. With schools opening it is time to plan activities for the kids as well as for the aupairs! We will be taking part in CPR certification, as well as attending our own and joint cluster events, as well as preparing for the holidays and continuing to greet incoming aupairs.

There are many sites for aupairs to see in the DC area. We have already visited the Capitol and had a tour. Coming up will be many others around the holidays, throughout next spring and into the summertime.

Slice up the following fruits to make a salad. Top with a little plain or Greek yogurt!

one banana, one apple, one peeled orange or tangerine, some berries, grapes or melon balls. Mix and enjoy!

Behavioral charts are useful to help children improve their behavior. A sticker or star is added to the chart whenever the children exhibits positive behavior. They work well with chronic problems likes completing chores, homework, etc. If several stars or stickers are earned, then there can be a reward- not toys or food, but a favorite activity like going to the park.

Focus on one behavior per chart.

Aupairs might ask their host moms if she has a favorite recipe and bake with the kids today. If not, have a look at this one:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/best-chocolate-chip-cookies/

Everyday is a good day for aupairs to read to their children, even older ones. Make a special effort to go to our libraries in Alexandria and the children’s librarian will help you pick out good books for your kids. The website for our library system is found through a link on our blog.

I f your children are in school, this day is the day to honor their teachers. Help your children make cards  for their teachers. http://pinterest.com/lacey_pentland/kids-teacher-appreciation/

May Day is a holiday similar to Labor Day in the US. It welcomes Spring, and was especially popular in medieval England. Children would celebrate by dancing around a Maypole.

The first box of 8 crayons was introduced in 1903. Since then over 100 billion crayons have been produced and there are now 120 colors available. Here is a fun project to reuse and recycle old bits of broken crayons and make them into rainbow crayons. It is also a good day to demonstrate to your host children how recycling works:

1 kitchen knife ( only the aupair handles this)

10 used crayons (or more)

several mini baking tins

Chop the crayons into pea-size pieces; keep the colors separate

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees

Fill the baking pan with crayon pieces. Bake 15-20 minutes until the crayon bits have just melted.

Remove the shapes after they have cooled. If they stick, put the in the freezer for an hour and try to remove again. .