Yearly Archives: 2017

It’s the last day of the year!

Happy New Year!!

The last day of the year is a good time to think about how to make the next year better. You and the children can choose simple “New Year Resolutions.” Or create a keepsake of the year that is ending by making a time capsule or a scrapbook of memories. Include what are cool, slang words, popular activities, clothes, games, names of popular songs or games, and a picture of the hottest toy. If you are making a time capsule, put a date on it and decide when they will open it – in a year, 5 or even 10. Don’t forget to include a photo of you and the children!

Tomorrow, the first day of the New Year, is a federal holiday. In some communities there are New Year celebrations and some families visit each other for New Year’s Day brunch.

Merry Christmas!

Every family and culture has their own Christmas traditions. Try some of these ideas with the children:

Art Activities

  • On a BIG piece of paper draw a fireplace and a mantle. Make a paper stocking (two halves stapled together) decorate with glue and glitter, write the children’s names on them and “hang” them on your fireplace mural. Use catalogs to cut out toys to put in the stockings.
  • Cut out a tree from green construction paper. Decorate your tree with colored ornaments, glue and glitter. Pieces of ribbon or wrapping paper.

Books to Read

  • Cranberry Christmas by Wende and Harry Devlin
  • It’s Really Christmas by Lillian Hoban
  • The Christmas Doll by Wendy Parker
  • ABC Christmas by Ida DeLage
  • Santa Claus Forever by Carolyn Haywood
  • A Forest Christmas by Mayling Mack Holm
  • The Christmas Party by Adrienne Adams

A Fingerplay for Fun

    Five Little Bells
    Five little bells hanging in a row
    (Hold up 5 fingers)
    The first one said, “Ring me slow.”
    (Move thumb slowly)
    The second one said, “Ring me fast.”
    (Wiggle index finger)
    The third one said, “Ring me last.”
    (Move middle finger)
    The fourth one said, “I’m like a chime.”
    (Move ring finger.)
    And the fifth one said, “Ring us all. It’s Christmastime!”
    (Wiggle all 5 fingers)

It’s international language week!

With two weeks or more of school vacation coming up, it’s a great time to teach your children a few words, or even a song in your native language! If the children can read you could write the words for objects around the house and post them (door, window, sink, closet, etc.). Children of any age can learn to respond or speak in other languages. Older children might have fun learning how to say “Hello” or “Happy Holidays” in lots of languages.

Check out the Kids Culture Corner for some language lessons. Children who are old enough to read and spell can make up their own “language” using code. Here’s an easy way to do it:

Paper plate code:

  • Use a small Paper Plate for the top wheel of your code maker. Along the edge of the plate, use scissors to cut out a small square.
  • On the back of the plate, draw an arrow pointing toward the cut-out hole. Decorate the arrow and the rest of the plate with markers or crayons if you wish.
  • Around the outside, back edge of a larger plate; write alphabet letters (and numerals if you like).
  • Use a brad to fasten the small plate face down onto the larger plate.
  • Point the arrow toward the A. In the box opening write another letter or symbol to stand for the A. You could use the alphabet in reverse (A means Z), or you could choose a different symbol or a picture for each letter. When every letter and numeral has a code, you’re ready to write secret messages! Make sure the person you send the message to has a code-breaker!

Need some ideas?

Looking for ideas for what to get your au pair for the holidays?

Check out the latest APIA Pinterest board:

http://pinterest.com/aupairinamerica/gift-ideas-for-au-pairs-from-host-families/

And here are some ideas for au pairs to get for their host families:

http://pinterest.com/aupairinamerica/gift-ideas-for-host-parents-from-au-pairs/

Avoiding Homesickness this Holiday Season

Homesickness can be a problem during the holidays, even if it hasn’t been at any other time of the year. Au pairs often miss their friends and family, familiar places and their own traditions and customs. The holiday activities in the United States seem, and may actually be, different just at a time when an au pair would welcome something familiar. 

It is common for au pairs’ emotions to be close to the surface during the holidays. Her highs are higher, her lows are lower. The enormity of what she has done–actually living in another country (which is an amazing thing when you think about it!)–hits her and throws her into a self-protective mode.

Host parents can help her through this unfamiliar territory by talking to her about what your specific family activities will be (gifts, meals, visitors, religious services, in-home traditions, or none of these, as the case may be.) In the spirit of cultural exchange, ask her if she has any favorite holiday traditions or foods that you might be able to incorporate into your family’s celebration of the season. Let her know what you will be doing, when you will be doing it, and what she can expect. Talk to her about what has to be accomplished and get her involved and interested. Don’t expect her to just “know” what needs to be done. Give her some clear, agreed upon assignments. Make her feel a part of things. And, let her know her contribution is needed and appreciated.

Photo: Sheila Sund (Flickr)

5 Thanksgiving Tips for Au Pairs & Host Parents

Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November each year. Even though a few other countries also celebrate Thanksgiving, it’s still considered a uniquely American holiday, one that the au pairs look forward to experiencing. You can learn more about it here.

“I really enjoyed Thanksgiving with my host family. It was as I imagined! So much food to try. Everyone got dressed up and shared what they were thankful for. It was so warm and special. The next day we began to prepare for Christmas. It was magical.” Selina from Germany

Below you will find some tips to help you have a terrific Thanksgiving experience.

 

Host Parents

1.  Please plan to include your au pair in your Thanksgiving celebration, if at all possible. Thanksgiving with an au pair offers an opportunity to consider the relevance of the history and meaning of Thanksgiving as you compare the hospitality offered by the Native Americans to the recently arrived Pilgrims and the hospitality you offer your au pair.

2.  If you are traveling or will not be able to invite your au pair to join you for Thanksgiving, give her plenty of notice and help her make alternate plans. You don’t want to leave your au pair alone over the holiday.

Au Pairs

3.  If you are invited to attend dinner, please let your family know within 5 days of the invitation, whether you are planning to attend. It is considered rude in America to accept the invitation for dinner and then change your mind later in the month. Please be thoughtful.

4.  Make sure to discuss time off during this holiday weekend. Many host families work the Friday after Thanksgiving so do not assume you have this day off or the entire weekend. Talk to your host family, BEFORE you make any plans.

5.  If your host family is unable to include you in their Thanksgiving plans, please let me know if you have trouble making other plans. You may be able to join a friend and their host family for the holiday dinner.

Bonus Tip for the Kids

If you are looking for a fun recipe to make with your au pair, check out these turkey cupcakes. Find more fun activities and recipes on the Au Pair in America Fall Holidays pinboard.

Photo: Tim Sackton (Flickr)

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 Virginia 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. We also have a cluster snow tubing trip coming up in the new year, you want to be prepared to join in the fun and stay warm.

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!

Halloween safety tips

Have a safe and fun Halloween! 

  1. Make sure to inspect the children’s Trick Or Treat candy to make sure everything is in a sealed wrapper and appears safe.
  2. Small children should not eat hard candy because of chocking.
  3. Children should be supervised when they go Trick-or-Treating.  Many parents will come home early from work on the day to go with their children.  Check with Host Parents about this.

 

Halloween Safety Tips for Drivers

Halloween is a wonderful holiday, but because of increased foot traffic and that Trick-or-Treaters are out at night, the potential for automobile related accidents with young pedestrians increases four times on this night according to a CDC (Center for Disease Control) study.

Streets are literally crawling with all sorts of witches, ghosts, goblins, vampires and all other sorts of costumed people. This makes for added responsibility for drivers to make sure that they drive safer than normal.

In many areas, people drive their kids into subdivisions and let them out to walk from house to house. Usually the parent follows behind in the car. This can cause traffic jams in small areas and much confusion as kids dart between cars on the streets going from house to house. A driver is already distracted because they are trying to keep an eye on their own kids and usually aren’t paying attention to much else.

Children and adults tend to be preoccupied and may not pay as much attention to safety as they should. They may not see your vehicle or just assume that you see them automatically. Stay on the defensive and you shouldn’t have a problem while driving on Halloween night

* Don’t use a cell phone or other electronic device while driving on Halloween night. You shouldn’t be doing this anyway, the rate of cell phone related auto accidents has jumped dramatically since the use of cell phones and texting has risen so high. Some states have already made laws concerning this and others are working on it.

Make sure your child carries a flashlight, glow stick or has reflective tape on their costume to make them more visible to cars. Left them know if they carry a flash light to never shine itin the eyes of a driver. This can cause blindness on the drivers part temporarily and they may not see your child.

Drive below the posted speed limit in residential areas during trick-or-treating hours. This will allow you time to break if you see a child dart in front of you.
   
   
   
   
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It’s national pizza month!

Pizza is easy and fun to make and can be a nutritious meal for the children. Buy ready made pizza dough (in the refrigerated or freezer section at the supermarket) or a ready-made crust (in the bread department). Buy shredded mozzarella cheese and a jar of pizza sauce. If you want meat on the pizza you can cook a small amount of ground beef in a pan until it is brown. If you would like vegetables, sauté some sliced peppers, onions or mushrooms in a little bit of oil. You and the children can then make the pizza. First the dough or crust goes on a cookie sheet or pizza pan if you have one. Then spread the sauce, add the other toppings, and last of all, sprinkle the cheese. Bake as directed for the crust. Be careful, as the oven must be very hot to make a nice crusty pizza.