Gift from AP to child

[Anonymous]

I am going to Australia to be an au pair. I leave the 26th get their the 28th. Would a small gift for the kid and the parents be okay or is that weird?? Any ideas on how to adjust to a living with a new family as a first time au pair?

[Anonymous]

All of our au pairs have brought a small gift for the kids, either a t-shirt or small toy from their country. I think it is a nice gesture.

[Anonymous]

Very thoughtful. I'd love a toy from Australia that we could not get here.

[Anonymous]

Both of our APs have done this and it's lovely. Small toy and candy from your country would be great. You could casually ask the host parents what the kids are into while Skyping.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All of our au pairs have brought a small gift for the kids, either a t-shirt or small toy from their country. I think it is a nice gesture.

Do you have a gift for her? OP, if you start off giving them gifts, they will expect you to give them gifts all the time.

[Anonymous]

We have hosted 7 APs. All brought small gifts. We had gift baskets waiting for all too. I totally disagree with the pp who said not to give a gift or the AP will expect more. It's absolutely standard for HFs to have welcome baskets for APs. I actually think it would be weird not to.

OP, there is a good thread on aupairmom.com about possible gifts for APs to bring. Enjoy your year!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All of our au pairs have brought a small gift for the kids, either a t-shirt or small toy from their country. I think it is a nice gesture.

Do you have a gift for her? OP, if you start off giving them gifts, they will expect you to give them gifts all the time.

Yes actually. All the APs I've had and all the APs I've know of have brought little gifts upon the arrival and have received welcome baskets from their host parents. It's practically standard.

[Anonymous]

-Set boundaries.

-Speak up if you're uncomfortable/don't agree with something.

-Do your best.

-Learn to say "no" or "this isn't part of our agreement" if HP ask you to do something you're not supposed to do

-Have fun and make friends.

-Don't feel obligated at all to spend your off time with the family. Perhaps set a time for once a week (or more if you want to) to have "family time" with them.

-Schedule bi-monthly meetings (or more at first) to discuss how things are going from both ends.

-Update us on how it goes!