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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Some of my AP friends are looking to go home (I am not), mostly due to the fact that their HF have become extremely paranoid since the ban and so now on top of having to stay home with the kids and parents all day, some families are prohibiting them from leaving the house at all under any circumstances during their free time, plenty of APs have also seen their trip home or their family's visit cancelled and so for quite a lot the idea of having to potentially live here longer but between 4 walls and going home to their family and friends and have freedom of movement, is something to consider.

I don't blame them. For Au Pairs who have 1/2/3 months left,  what's the point of being here if they are stuck at home and can't enjoy the US for potentially the remainer of their stay?

[b]I love my host family[/b], so I have no interest in leaving them to go home but I can see how the next couple of weeks/months will be trying for both APs and Host Families. [/quote]

+1 I was just talking about this with my AP. I think if things are going great, this is ok but if the HF or AP are just tolerating each other, this is the last drop. So you love your HF which is why it is ok for you. The real problem is that the relationship is not great.[/quote]

Exactly! (I am the pp) and as much as I love my host family, it's my 2nd year in the US and I have been an AP for a couple of years now (in other countries) and so as much as I value having a great family (I do know how rare they are) and don't currently want to leave, I also have done my time as an AP and the one thing that made me extend was my quality of life in the US, if I knew for sure that the rest of my second year I would be at home 24/7 and would have nothing to look forward to. As much as I absolutely love them, I would go home.  If I am going to be stuck with people for months on ends it might as well be in my own house (kids free!) with my own people where even in 24/7 quarantine I would still be living with more freedom and less scrutiny than with any host family. I mean this whole corona thing is showing the divide between HFs and APs and how the ''being part of the family'' analogy doesn't work, on either side.

So yes, I love my host family and right now, while they are also worried and little paranoid about it, they also know than none of us is in immediate risk (no grandparents around, no known conditions and the baby and the kid are the least likely to get it or have symptoms and let alone die from it), and that I will do my part in helping their family and keeping them (and myself) safe as much as I possibly can but that I also need to be able to keep my sanity for it to work and so, so far, I have done some adjustments to my life (drastically reduced the amount of times I go out and where, I don't go to overcrowded spaces, take the car vs public transportation, carry hand sanitizers everywhere etc... keep a reasonable distance with people and meet outside vs inside etc...) and in exchange, they don't try and keep me locked into the house. The same way I trust that the mom also does her part in reducing the contamination when she goes to work or the dad when he pops into the shop.  Which means that while I do live a more restricted life, I still have enough of a quality of life to not feel like I need to pick between going home vs going crazy. 
Again, I have a fantastic host family, so even if I was locked in, if it was for a month I could pull through, but can't imagine having to do that with any of the not-so great host families I have had and don't blame any APs for catching the first flight home in that case. [/quote]

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