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[quote=Anonymous]I also think there is a big difference between "cooking" and "heating food".   I am out at least 2 and sometimes 3 evenings per week.  Our Au Pair is responsible for "heating dinner" on those evenings.  We have three kids, my husband, Au Pair and I, so 6 people total in the house.  We don't short-order cook for the kids.  So yes, if the Au Pair is grilling chicken breast for the kids, I will have her put all 8 breasts on the grill and boil a box of rice.  In my opinion, it would be absolutely ridiculous, not to mention a waste of gas, time, etc, to have her only grill 4 chicken breasts so that the act of grilling 8 chicken breasts it is not seen as "cooking for the parents"  :roll:

Our au pairs (we have had 2 and currently in year 3) have never seemed to have a problem with this.  Our first au pair liked to know that morning exactly what to "heat" (she didn't like to decide, so I would give her a plan) whereas our current au pair likes to have a few options and decide herself what she feels like having that evening.  It is a busy time with three kids and activities, so everything she does is "heat and serve".  Last night she grilled hamburgers and put sweet potato fries in the oven, and put out baby carrots and snap peas with ranch dressing.  The container had 8 burgers and she grilled all of them.  She also likes leftovers the next day for lunch, so that works in her favor as well.

I "cook" the other 2-3 nights (homemade chili, soups, marinades for meats/fish, casserole, homemade mashed potatoes, etc).  I would never expect our au pair to do this unless she wanted to on her own.  And, then we usually go out or order-in one night per week.  Some nights we just put out all of the random leftovers.

I make it all very clear while interviewing that my husband and I are out at least 2 and sometime 3 evenings per week and she will be responsible for "heat and serve" dinner meals.  Honestly, if I had an au pair (or LC) who took issue with our au pair heating a few extra pieces of meat/fish for us AND for her lunch the next day, then this program would not be for us.  We aren't asking her to prep something separate for us, serve it to us, clean up our dishes from later that evening, etc.  And, we are never asking her to act as a personal chef for anyone, including the kids!

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