Au pair - can they screw up simple tasks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:new poster here

I'm actually very surprised that other posters have found it so easy to find reliable college students to take this type of job.

Do you live very close to a college? What type of rate do you pay? Does the college use your car, or their own to transport the kids to activities?
Have their been issues with schedules-for example if the college student's spring break is a different week than your kid's spring break? Or the fact that a lot of colleges end in early May, but elementary schools go through early-mid June...

Agreed. I live in an area that is mostly only accessible by car and not very close to any college. I have never had luck finding college students to babysit.

People suggesting this have not actually tried to hire a college student in the past decade. I went to GMU in the 90s and yes a lot of people I knew babysat as part time jobs but it was a semester by semester job and a lot of the time of was for moms who wanted a break from their kids vs going to work and a lot of times I know friends would flake and call in sick. Now people need someone reliable for an entire school year on a consistent schedule.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You need like two hours of care a day and want to have a stranger from a foreign country in your home for just THAT? Sort out the morning and hire a college kid for afternoons.

Even if you pay $50 an hour it will be cheaper than an Au pair.

[Anonymous]

This woman I know hired an au pair who had an affair with the husband. Then the au pair and husband set up some kind of murder for hire situation and the wife and this other guy ended up dead. The au pair has been charged. So in summary, don’t hire an au pair.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:new poster here

I'm actually very surprised that other posters have found it so easy to find reliable college students to take this type of job.

Do you live very close to a college? What type of rate do you pay? Does the college use your car, or their own to transport the kids to activities?
Have their been issues with schedules-for example if the college student's spring break is a different week than your kid's spring break? Or the fact that a lot of colleges end in early May, but elementary schools go through early-mid June...

Agreed. I live in an area that is mostly only accessible by car and not very close to any college. I have never had luck finding college students to babysit.

Then high school student. Even better. You’ll build up your roster of babysitters.

You could hire 3 different ones so there’s always a backup, and you would still save money over an au pair.

Unless you're actually paying these 3 different sitters, there's no guarantee they will be available as a backup.

[Anonymous]

We had au pairs for years when the kids were younger and had mostly great experiences. The drivers we had from Europe tended to be better than those from Mexico/Brazil, but that wasn’t universal.

Au pairs are great for hard-to-cover shifts. We couldn’t find anyone willing to do dropoff/pickup on a regular basis.

[Anonymous]

This sounds silly to have an aupair for two hours a day. An 8 and 11 year old can stay home by themselves if they are mature enough for a hour after school. It sounds like you are just looking for transportation. There are services for that.

[Anonymous]

We've had au pairs for years and have had mostly good experiences. One au pair had anxiety issues and we let her go early. Another two just had annoying personalities, but did their job and were responsible. We've also had a bunch of amazing experiences with au pairs who we now consider to be part of our family. Amazing young people who love our kids and we love them.

With an au pair, you can't consider that the agency has done any screening at all. You are the one interviewing an employee and housemate from a pretty random database of young people. You need to find a responsible person who you like. Then you need to build a trusting relationship and train them on the job. It's work, but so is finding and training a college student or nanny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This woman I know hired an au pair who had an affair with the husband. Then the au pair and husband set up some kind of murder for hire situation and the wife and this other guy ended up dead. The au pair has been charged. So in summary, don’t hire an au pair.

This sounds made up. If it's true, link the news article.

[Anonymous]

I have an after school college student nanny.

We pay $27/hour, guaranteed hours(even in the summer), PTO and sick days. Goes to a local college. She is a glorified UBER driver for the kids.

She gets paid more than most other part time jobs for that age group.

Was it hard to find someone, absolutely, but if you pay enough you will find someone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This sounds silly to have an aupair for two hours a day. An 8 and 11 year old can stay home by themselves if they are mature enough for a hour after school. It sounds like you are just looking for transportation. There are services for that.

No they can't. Do you have toddlers to think this? It's not even legal in many places.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This woman I know hired an au pair who had an affair with the husband. Then the au pair and husband set up some kind of murder for hire situation and the wife and this other guy ended up dead. The au pair has been charged. So in summary, don’t hire an au pair.

This sounds made up. If it's true, link the news article.

It's a Lifetime movie.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This woman I know hired an au pair who had an affair with the husband. Then the au pair and husband set up some kind of murder for hire situation and the wife and this other guy ended up dead. The au pair has been charged. So in summary, don’t hire an au pair.

This sounds made up. If it's true, link the news article.

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1159167.page

[Anonymous]

It’s 100% true. If you want the TLR of that thread:

Herndon, February 2023
Host mom and some other guy killed in the house. Strange 911 calls where host dad admitted to shooting guy who “stabbed his wife.” Au pair arrested in October 2023 for shooting guy. Still in jail, was having affair with host dad. It’s all really weird.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This woman I know hired an au pair who had an affair with the husband. Then the au pair and husband set up some kind of murder for hire situation and the wife and this other guy ended up dead. The au pair has been charged. So in summary, don’t hire an au pair.

This sounds made up. If it's true, link the news article.

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1159167.page

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have an after school college student nanny.

We pay $27/hour, guaranteed hours(even in the summer), PTO and sick days. Goes to a local college. She is a glorified UBER driver for the kids.

She gets paid more than most other part time jobs for that age group.

Was it hard to find someone, absolutely, but if you pay enough you will find someone.

PP is absolutely right. If you pay enough, you can find someone to do what you need. I wouldn't focus on "college students". These jobs are called "nanny managers" I believe.

[Anonymous]

Why no play dates? Yes an au pair can do those things. You pay for 45 hours a week though so I would definitely try and use more than 10 hours. Find someone that had at least 2 years of driving experience in their own country.