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[quote=Anonymous]I've had 2 German APs on the younger side (18 & 20).  An observation (not sure how scientific this is!):

Not that I'd look for a "broken home" specifically, but I will say that the AP whose parents were divorced (and therefore, money & parental time tighter), despite having never lived away from home, had played a more active role in household chores and it came more automatically to her to help out.  She also I think quite frankly she appreciated the AP stipend more in that it gave her independence to spend her own money in a way she hadn't been able to before.  I think this made her value the entire AP experience more.

When interviewing in the future - particularly with a younger AP - I would ask very specifically about what household chores they do around the house.  Do they do their own laundry?  Do they do any shopping? cleaning?  Even if you are not going to be requiring them to do much of this in your home, I think an appreciation for all that the host parents are doing (what it takes to organize food shopping, meals, cooking, etc.) is helpful and conducive to a "helping out" relationship versus a needing-to-be-specifically-assigned-each-and-every-task relationship.[/quote]

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