Au Pair for Part-Time Work?

[Anonymous]

As a single mom (by choice) of 1 and a HS teacher, my au pair worked the full 45 hours a week she was allowed (7am-4pm.) I gave her a calendar for the year of my days off so she knew ahead of time which days she would not work and could make plans. No car, but unlimited metro pass (20 minutes from home) and bus pass (2 minutes from home.) We are within walking distance (15 minutes)of a large mall. I encouraged her to go out with my toddler every day and explore. She did. I speak her native language moderately, so she never felt alone or far from home. She was active her church. (I'm not religious but she was.) My daughter and I had a wonderful experience with our au pair. I am sorry you all sound so miserable with yours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Au pairs are not a monolith, but in my experience I’ve never heard one complain about too few hours. Many Au pairs complain about working over say 30 hours, though.

An Au pair would certainly be able to do the tasks you want, but… are you sure you want to go this route? Au pairs are A LOT of work. Even if you get an independent, self-sufficient, mature Au pair, you will still have to deal with:

Having an adult roommate
Including Au pair in meals, birthdays, holidays, vacations
Providing a car / insurance / cell phone
Learning her food preferences, shopping for her, preparing meals for her

And that’s best case scenario. You will likely have to deal with: homesickness, romantic breakups, car accidents, drinking, etc etc. It’s a lot of work.

I’ve never understood these complaints about having an au pair. Do parents not realize that they will deal with all these things for their own kids? Au pairs are human.

Au pairs are cheap child care and, for a lot of lot of lazy Americans, cheap maids. They have a late teens/early 20's young women and think they will be thinking like someone in their 40's!

Except it’s not actually cheap when you factor it all in. The advantage of an au pair is they can work a split schedule and most of them don’t work 45 hours per week. Nannie’s don’t want a split schedule sand they understandably want max hours.

Nannies are also paid considerably more as ND don't have to live with their employer. Having live-in help is a perk for you

[Anonymous]

The issue your Nanny/housekeeper quit is b/c you thought you’d get a whole package for cheap a$$ salary; gotta pay to play!!! Now you’re trying to get an AP (the most common legalized human trafficking)if you can’t afford or don’t want to watch over your own children something’s fundamentally wrong with you. Simply be SAHM and get your game together.

[Anonymous]

To the poster above 🏹

I'm sorry that you are poor and resent folks who have domestic help. Perhaps you should have gone to graduate school or into a more lucrative field. I would advise therapy (that is if you have health insurance).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The issue your Nanny/housekeeper quit is b/c you thought you’d get a whole package for cheap a$$ salary; gotta pay to play!!! Now you’re trying to get an AP (the most common legalized human trafficking)if you can’t afford or don’t want to watch over your own children something’s fundamentally wrong with you. Simply be SAHM and get your game together.

You sound dumb. “Legalized human trafficking”? Human trafficking is illegal and in any event, involves the use of force, fraud, etc. to compel someone to do something against their will. Au pairs are adults who voluntarily sign up for the program and are free to leave at any time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The issue your Nanny/housekeeper quit is b/c you thought you’d get a whole package for cheap a$$ salary; gotta pay to play!!! Now you’re trying to get an AP (the most common legalized human trafficking)if you can’t afford or don’t want to watch over your own children something’s fundamentally wrong with you. Simply be SAHM and get your game together.

You sound dumb. “Legalized human trafficking”? Human trafficking is illegal and in any event, involves the use of force, fraud, etc. to compel someone to do something against their will. Au pairs are adults who voluntarily sign up for the program and are free to leave at any time.

This poster is an au pair with ZERO comprehension of parenting or adulting. APs like you ruin it for the good ones because excellent families like ours leave the program to avoid nightmares like you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The issue your Nanny/housekeeper quit is b/c you thought you’d get a whole package for cheap a$$ salary; gotta pay to play!!! Now you’re trying to get an AP (the most common legalized human trafficking)if you can’t afford or don’t want to watch over your own children something’s fundamentally wrong with you. Simply be SAHM and get your game together.

You sound dumb. “Legalized human trafficking”? Human trafficking is illegal and in any event, involves the use of force, fraud, etc. to compel someone to do something against their will. Au pairs are adults who voluntarily sign up for the program and are free to leave at any time.

This poster is an au pair with ZERO comprehension of parenting or adulting. APs like you ruin it for the good ones because excellent families like ours leave the program to avoid nightmares like you.

PP- to be clear, referencing the poster who claimed legalized human trafficking.

[Anonymous]

If your children are at least kindergarten age there's an EduCare program that is an au pair that works fewer hours and gets paid a lower stipend each week.

[Anonymous]

We did this with au pairs for many years and it worked great for both sides. We only really needed help getting the children ready for school and shuttling them around, as well as occasional evening babysitting. The au pairs had a relatively light schedule and had most days after about 9 am free for whatever they wanted to do, sightseeing, museums, working out, etc., before helping out with pick up in the late afternoon But we have enough space in our house that everyone wasn’t on top of each other all the time, which I think made it easier.

[Anonymous]

If you have ample room for them to stay in a private area, you have the ideal setup. Most au pairs only work part time during the school year. You can also use them at night for babysitting during the school year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your children are at least kindergarten age there's an EduCare program that is an au pair that works fewer hours and gets paid a lower stipend each week.

OP here - who runs the " EduCare program " please ?
I can't find anything online

[Anonymous]

I believe au pair in American had this program. We didn’t use it but it is an option. The issue is you get reduced hours year round so plan for your kids to be in camp during the whole summer.