Anonymous
02/23/2024 17:19
Subject: Au pair & major house cleaning
Anonymous wrote:You should separate the jobs and hire a full time cleaner/house manager.
Hiring a house manager is the best money spent. She does all the cleaning and laundry each week. She also oversees house maintenance so we never need to burn a PTO day to stay home and wait for a repairman. She takes the cars in for service/inspections. She does the weekly grocery shopping and a bit of basic meal prep (makes sure meat is defrosted and chops veggies) but doesn't actually cook, which is what we wanted.
She does nothing involving the kids other than their laundry (only what is in their hampers & towels placed in the correct location & their bedding if they strip their beds that morning). No rides, no overseeing when home from school, etc. But this works for our family because our youngest is 15 and next youngest is 17, so he gives her a ride when needed.
They should be able to make their own beds at that age
Anonymous
02/23/2024 13:34
Subject: Au pair & major house cleaning
You should separate the jobs and hire a full time cleaner/house manager.
Hiring a house manager is the best money spent. She does all the cleaning and laundry each week. She also oversees house maintenance so we never need to burn a PTO day to stay home and wait for a repairman. She takes the cars in for service/inspections. She does the weekly grocery shopping and a bit of basic meal prep (makes sure meat is defrosted and chops veggies) but doesn't actually cook, which is what we wanted.
She does nothing involving the kids other than their laundry (only what is in their hampers & towels placed in the correct location & their bedding if they strip their beds that morning). No rides, no overseeing when home from school, etc. But this works for our family because our youngest is 15 and next youngest is 17, so he gives her a ride when needed.
Hiring a house manager is the best money spent. She does all the cleaning and laundry each week. She also oversees house maintenance so we never need to burn a PTO day to stay home and wait for a repairman. She takes the cars in for service/inspections. She does the weekly grocery shopping and a bit of basic meal prep (makes sure meat is defrosted and chops veggies) but doesn't actually cook, which is what we wanted.
She does nothing involving the kids other than their laundry (only what is in their hampers & towels placed in the correct location & their bedding if they strip their beds that morning). No rides, no overseeing when home from school, etc. But this works for our family because our youngest is 15 and next youngest is 17, so he gives her a ride when needed.
Anonymous
02/23/2024 13:27
Subject: Au pair & major house cleaning
This isn't difficult -- you need to get a cleaning service.
Anonymous
02/23/2024 13:26
Subject: Au pair & major house cleaning
1) It's against State Dept rules to ask au pairs to do any chores not related to children.
2) Helping an au pair adjust to living in an unfamiliar country while learning your family dynamics is one the most challenging aspect of the program. They're young adults without a lot of life experience who're promised the moon by the agency. The reality is once they land and meet other au pairs, they'll soon compare notes and will want to be out if working conditions in your home is not as nice as their friends'.
3) I started using a house cleaning service AFTER being in the au pair program because the majority of the au pairs are not that tidy or know how to clean. In general they create more mess. But we've been lucky in that all of them have been very good with our kids.
2) Helping an au pair adjust to living in an unfamiliar country while learning your family dynamics is one the most challenging aspect of the program. They're young adults without a lot of life experience who're promised the moon by the agency. The reality is once they land and meet other au pairs, they'll soon compare notes and will want to be out if working conditions in your home is not as nice as their friends'.
3) I started using a house cleaning service AFTER being in the au pair program because the majority of the au pairs are not that tidy or know how to clean. In general they create more mess. But we've been lucky in that all of them have been very good with our kids.
Anonymous
02/23/2024 13:15
Subject: Au pair & major house cleaning
Your AP will re-match and report you to the agency if you ask her to do house cleaning. Get an AP if you're ready to manage a young adult and teach them everything you need them to do regarding AP-related responsibilities, AND get a housekeeper to do the cleaning.
Anonymous
02/19/2024 15:53
Subject: Re:Au pair & major house cleaning
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:OP sounds like she feels entitled to a full on servant.
So what? She's creating a job for someone. No one is required to take it.
To the naysayers: I've had two wonderful nanny/housekeepers. The kids were in school fulltime so she did household chores during the day. Not sure why you think a person can't do both childcare and cleaning. I'm as SAHP now and I can competently do both.
In the United States?? For what pay??
Anonymous
02/19/2024 15:51
Subject: Au pair & major house cleaning
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:What you're describing is similar to the role of a "domestic helpers" in Hong Kong or Singapore but it doesn't exist here (and arguably shouldn't exist there). It's total drudgery and no one wants to do it. If you're very lucky, some nannies are happy to pitch in with cleaning up after meals and maybe kids laundry but they're not cleaning the full house, nor should they if they're trying to do a good job caring for small children.
Do you really need daily cleaning? Have someone come 2-3 times a week and then hire a separate nanny who is focused on caring for your kids.
Why shouldn’t these roles exist? They are awesome.
How much are you willing to pay? For a guaranteed $1000.00/day, I would do it but only one day a week for 8 hours only and you would like not be allowed to interact/interfere in any way.
Anonymous
02/17/2024 16:22
Subject: Au pair & major house cleaning
Anonymous wrote:These are different skill sets. You want someone who knows how to clean well to focus on cleaning your house. You want someone who is good with kids to focus on your kids. Rarely do you get someone good at both.
This. Get an au pair if you like the idea and hire a separate cleaner once or twice a week.
Anonymous
02/17/2024 16:19
Subject: Au pair & major house cleaning
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:What you're describing is similar to the role of a "domestic helpers" in Hong Kong or Singapore but it doesn't exist here (and arguably shouldn't exist there). It's total drudgery and no one wants to do it. If you're very lucky, some nannies are happy to pitch in with cleaning up after meals and maybe kids laundry but they're not cleaning the full house, nor should they if they're trying to do a good job caring for small children.
Do you really need daily cleaning? Have someone come 2-3 times a week and then hire a separate nanny who is focused on caring for your kids.
Why shouldn’t these roles exist? They are awesome.
Yeah, because they’re practically slaves. These rolls in those countries pay nothing and these women are exploited and overworked.
I commented up thread that both can be done, but one of the roles will be the priority over the other. If she wants a stellar house cleaner then she might not have a stellar nanny. It just depends on what her priorities are.
Anonymous
02/17/2024 16:16
Subject: Au pair & major house cleaning
Anonymous wrote:What you're describing is similar to the role of a "domestic helpers" in Hong Kong or Singapore but it doesn't exist here (and arguably shouldn't exist there). It's total drudgery and no one wants to do it. If you're very lucky, some nannies are happy to pitch in with cleaning up after meals and maybe kids laundry but they're not cleaning the full house, nor should they if they're trying to do a good job caring for small children.
Do you really need daily cleaning? Have someone come 2-3 times a week and then hire a separate nanny who is focused on caring for your kids.
Why shouldn’t these roles exist? They are awesome.
Anonymous
02/17/2024 15:55
Subject: Au pair & major house cleaning
Get a housekeeper and an au pair.
Anonymous
02/17/2024 15:51
Subject: Re:Au pair & major house cleaning
Anonymous wrote:OP sounds like she feels entitled to a full on servant.
So what? She's creating a job for someone. No one is required to take it.
To the naysayers: I've had two wonderful nanny/housekeepers. The kids were in school fulltime so she did household chores during the day. Not sure why you think a person can't do both childcare and cleaning. I'm as SAHP now and I can competently do both.
Anonymous
02/17/2024 15:30
Subject: Au pair & major house cleaning
Aren’t au pairs limited to the terms of their visa? I came to the US on a student visa and I had strict restrictions on employment. I couldn’t just get any job like my American classmates. You could be getting her into trouble, not to mention that she’s not a maid.
Anonymous
02/17/2024 10:53
Subject: Re:Au pair & major house cleaning
OP sounds like she feels entitled to a full on servant.
Anonymous
02/17/2024 10:42
Subject: Au pair & major house cleaning
Why not just get a house cleaner for 1-2x a week and pay the nanny for light tasks? This is what I did as a nanny 15 years ago. I unloaded/loaded dishwasher, a few loads of laundry a week, swept the downstairs space 1x a day, sanitized kitchen surface areas, took out trash and recycling as needed, etc. The cleaners came every week and did the dusting, mopping, bathrooms, and other heavier stuff. I was paid well.akd no issues.