Au Pair

Anyone ever think about using one?

Once in a while. I just don't know if I could have a "stranger" live with us.

Well, I have never had an au pair but I have had help but they do not live with me. An Au Pair situation is unique in that sometimes, they can be like another one of your kids in that they have needs, lol, but if you have a seperate place in your home- a third story or a finished terrace level, that makes it easier.

I prefer to have them go home! I don't want to be responsible for an au pair, have to provide transportation, a social life or they are miserable, etc. but everyone is different and I am sure people have had wonderful experiences with them, I just like to have my home back at the end of the day!

A couple of my clients have had them and my SIL was an au pair in Germany when she was a little younger. We've looked into it and the age range goes up to 26 years old...one we looked at was actually a pediatric nurse. We are considering it, and even a little interviewing but not scheduling anyone to arrive for another 7 months. So far we've also interviewed a kindergarten teacher as well. Still not sure though...

Hehehe.. I've seen too many Lifetime movies to ever get an au pair. LOL!

The whole visa sponsoring situation bothered us. What if the Au Pair disappears to live illegally in the country and stuff like that. Can I ask , why not get a nanny? Au Pairs can work only 40 hours even if they live with you correct? We had a nanny for around 1.5 years and had good experience. They are expensive.

December, lol on the Lifetime movies.

They can work 55 hours and the pay is close to 340/week if you include the program fees as well. and the time could be split, for example, she could work 2 hours in the morning and then 8 in the evening or even at night as a backup with the infant. I would not have to do the visa, the company would have to get all of that straight. If it didn't work out for either one of us, then we could ask to be rematched.
I would rather have a nanny but there is only one nanny service in my area and a close friend of mine had a bad experience there. They just didn't have a lot of people to choose from with varying schedules.
DH works around an hour away and I don't have any family close by so we are trying to figure out what to do about the "past 6 pm" time frame with the daycare. Daycare is actually much cheaper for one than an au pair but the time is only form 6-6 and with my job, sometimes its hard to get there by then.DH as well. hmm..

oh, and I am bilingual as well and have been having a hard time speaking Spanish a lot at home and teaching my DDs. One of my requirements was 4x week Spanish lessons for the girls. (Since I was also a Spanish teacher I have all the books, papers, games, material, etc!:happy:)

340/week is not bad at all. We paid 500/week for the nanny for 45 hours. This sounds like a good deal if you get the right fit. DH and I have 9-5 jobs and we have like 4-5 agencies in our city so we got a good nanny. We might look into Au Pair thing after our second child so that DS will always have a playmate while we are busy with the baby. Good Luck.

Au Pairs are very common here in the UK. I would want to make sure I got the right person though.

Well, lifetime movies aside, the help would be nice . . . I have a "nanny"--more like a babysitter--who stays with the kids while we work. And I must say she bugs me a lot from time to time (kind of like my DH, lol). If she lived with us, I'm thinking it would be that much worse! But it would be nice to have someone around at night with an infant . . .