Reply to Is an Au Pair worth it for the convenience if I am basically seeking a better work life balance?

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[quote=Anonymous]Dh works around 8am-5:30pm from home. He hasn't traveled since COVID, but will likely start again after the pandemic (about 20% travel).

I run a service-based business from home so my hours are all over the place including nights and weekends. I work on average 35 hours per week and I am managing OK, but an extra few hours per week could really improve my growth trajectory.

We have a 4yo (currently in preschool 4 days per week 8am-2pm) and a 9 month old (in a home daycare 3 mornings per week and otherwise with me).

The juggle is starting to become a lot. I'm very fortunate to make my own hours at work, but my day is always haphazardly thrown together- get everyone ready, load baby in stroller and walk 1 mile round trip for preschool drop off, feed baby breakfast then work for an hour while she naps. Then drive baby to home daycare, work for 3.5 hours, pick her up. Put her down for afternoon nap, walk to get preschooler, afternoon playtime, cook dinner, baths, kids bed, work a few more hours in the evening, shower, prep the kids stuff for the following day, go to bed, repeat tomorrow. Basically, I feel fortunate to spend so much time with my kids, but then I'm working when they are napping, sleeping at night, and on weekends so I am never off from parenting or working. My daily shower is my only 10 mins to myself. I haven't watched tv, read a book, or seen friends since the pandemic started.

Our HHI is only $150k in 2021, projected $180-200k in 2022. Our current childcare costs are about $13k per year for preschool and the home daycare (plus whatever summer would cost with either camp or adding my oldest to the home daycare). We live in the Chicago suburbs so not as high CoL as the DMV area.

Do you think the increase in childcare cost for an Au Pair would be worth the convenience? We would eliminate the home daycare for our youngest and keep the older one home in the summer. It would be so nice to have someone to do the preschool drop off, be able to have a solid 5-hour block of work each day, be able to cook dinner and do laundry between meetings while AP has the kids. We would like evening hours 1x a week and maybe a few hours on a sat or sun morning or afternoon (or even every other Sunday for example). Is this outside of normal business hours unattractive to potential Au Pairs?

Au Pair would have a bedroom, kitchen, full bath, and living room to themself (though our house is very average, we just happen to have an apartment in the finished basement). There's almost always a car available because we both WFH. We are a kind, fun-loving, laid-back family. The cultural aspect is very attractive to us.

Thank you for taking the time to read![/quote]

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