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[quote=Anonymous]I wonder if this might be a miscommunication issue.  I wonder if the family expects this to be a working vacation or a "member of the family" vacation.  You said that you are working your normal schedule while there, but did they ask you to do that, or discuss it with you?  You said that the parents never leave, and you never leave with the kids, so I wonder if they really consider you to be the adult in charge.  It sounds like these are school aged kids, so not babies that are needing fed, diapers changed, constantly monitored, etc.  I know that my 5 and 7 year old might be playing a game while I am in a different part of the house doing something else, and I still consider myself to be in charge.  Even if my au pair is playing with them, I don't consider those working hours, and I consider her free to leave at any time.

Your post also made me think of our previous au pair and some things that drove me nuts about her.  This may or may not apply to you.  It's hard to know much about someone from two paragraphs.  
1)  The incessant phone use.  It is rude to pull out your phone or even a book or a magazine in a room where everyone else is socializing.  You can join in the socializing or go somewhere else.  I put a lot of time and effort into family events, and having someone there looking distracted and bored does not make it more pleasant.  If your HM has the kids set up doing a puzzle on the dining room table, then play on your phone in the bedroom or on the patio.

2)  Not being proactive about her leisure time.  It is not your HM's job to be your tour guide when you are on a family trip.  You say there is nothing to do there, but do you know that?  Did you google the place?  Did you ask anyone who may have heard of it?  Ask your LCC to hook you up with other au pairs in the area?  Your HF may be boring, but it seems unlikely that they bought a vacation home in a place where there is literally nothing to do.  We took our au pair to LA and rented two cars, one "kid car" for whoever had the kids, and one "adult car" for whoever didn't.  We went out for my grandfather's funeral, so she wasn't invited to a lot of the family stuff we were doing at the time.  So, do you know what she did during her off time?  Left the car parked outside and watched TV in the hotel room.  So, yeah, she had a boring time, and probably blamed us for it since we didn't take her anywhere.  Your HF has provided you with an internet connection, possibly use of the family car that is just sitting in the driveway, and a trip to a different city.  Make use of it.

Then again, maybe they are awful people who expect you to work 24/7 and won't let you leave the house.  In that case, I agree with the above posters.  Rematch.

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