Sports/driving

[Anonymous]

We’ve had au pairs all extend and good experiences the last 6 years. We have 4 children ages 12-7. I feel like we barely needs our au pair for child care now however she makes dinner and drives the kids to sports which is a lot of night time driving. This summer would need help driving to a few camps. Love the flexibility of having an au pair but wondering if anyone has had success just hiring someone to help for late - afternoon/evening driving for sports. My concern would be reliability/cost for an American. It seems teens these days have so many of their own activities. Adults have their own kids. Maybe retirees? A pro could be better driver, no one living in house, maybe less cost? Thoughts or experiences?

[Anonymous]

If you can afford an au pair I would keep doing that.
We do have an after school sitter, she’s a freshman at MC but she’s been with us for almost 2 years. She only works 8 days a month for us and they rotate based on my work schedule. She drives DD to different activities. We are very lucky to have her though, we pay well but finding reliable after school care is hard.

[Anonymous]

When you host an au pair for awhile and then look at transitioning out of hosting, it seems daunting. My motivation was complete host parent burn-out.
I reached out to other moms' of the other soccer team players. I emailed the class parents. I talked to coaches. There were many families carpooling together but because we were the family with the au pair, no one ever asked us if we wanted to carpool, etc.
We carpool now. I take turns driving other kids when I can and we make it work. I went onto NextDoor and found a few teenage babysitters or college students who were home for the summer. It's been easier than I thought to find sitters, it just isn't the same person every day.
It isn't as consistent as having one person to be there and responsible but it was amazing to have my house back to our family. I was motivated to find a solution that didn't include someone living in my home and the long laundry list of responsibilities that get added onto hosting. If those things don't bother you, than having an au pair is a good option for those years when your kid needs a driver more than a babysitter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We’ve had au pairs all extend and good experiences the last 6 years. We have 4 children ages 12-7. I feel like we barely needs our au pair for child care now however she makes dinner and drives the kids to sports which is a lot of night time driving. This summer would need help driving to a few camps. Love the flexibility of having an au pair but wondering if anyone has had success just hiring someone to help for late - afternoon/evening driving for sports. My concern would be reliability/cost for an American. It seems teens these days have so many of their own activities. Adults have their own kids. Maybe retirees? A pro could be better driver, no one living in house, maybe less cost? Thoughts or experiences?

Americans are reliable if you pay well. I paid our part time nanny $22/hr. I embraced the fact that I would be managing and piecing together care for the kids after school for awhile. The truth is, dealing with a bored, unhappy au pair who had a split schedule and wanted to work a second job during the day was much more difficult than finding someone to drive the kids home daily.