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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]So here\'s my gut reaction on reading your post:  I don\'t think you\'re going to have a super successful experience with Au Pairs.  It sounds like cleanliness and tidiness are SUPER important to you and honestly....those are driven so much more by personality than by a checklist or whatever.  Have hosted 6 Au Pairs.  3 were extremely clean/tidy, 2 were clean (didn\'t leave things filthy but didn\'t clear up clutter) and one was a complete mess (although super sweet and the kids ADORED her).  We are a clean home but it\'s not always tidy (I am looking at the kids\' shoes in an array on the floor and backpacks looking like they exploded on the bench next to the door as I type).  If you want to be successful you can\'t focus too much on that sort of thing...sorry.  Of course you can try and you can ask that she starts clean up with the kids 30 minutes before her shift is over, etc. and you can screen by asking her about how she keeps things at home...but it is subjective.  Living with strangers is hard for this reason so maybe a nanny is a better choice for you if being clean and tidy is an overriding priority, which it sounds like it is.[/quote]

Thank you for this feedback. You may very well be right.

I do not need full-time childcare, because I just work less than half-time and from home. I don't want to spend less time with my young children, I am hoping to improve the QUALITY of the time I spend with them. I spend literal HOURS a day fixing their meals, cleaning up after them, changing diapers (3 are in them), dressing/undressing/bathing, etc. On the one hand, of course this IS mothering. On the other, I'd love to sit down on the floor with them once in a while without having 700 things that still need doing. Also, because they are all so young, it's not as safe (or enjoyable) as I'd prefer to take all 4 to the park or museum for instance by myself. I thought having an extra set of hands for those things would help, too, but still, it's just so. much. housework. caring after 4 under 4. And my husband's away five days a week and, to be honest, only makes more work when he's home (although he's an absolute darling playing with the children, and quite dashing, he's not much of a housekeeper).

Do you feel like a nanny would be a better fit? I'd never thought of them as doing housework, to be honest, but I've also no experience or knowledge about it, save for a few references from movies. Thanks so much.

OP [/quote]

I have been in your shoes.   You don't want an au pair or a nanny.  You need a housekeeper 3-5 days a week plus a part time babysitter.  If you can find someone willing to do both and be Alice to your Carol Brady, more power to you.  I never managed to hire such a unicorn.

It sounds expensive, and it is, but I don't think it will be SO  expensive.  If you are willing to do all of the thought work and have checklists for what you want done every day, you can probably get away with hiring someone for $15/hr.  At 20 hours/wk, that's $300/wk.  Then subtract out what you are paying for monthly cleaning, take out, etc.  And you might end up with something like $10-12k/yr.

You also have some very real childcare needs.  How are you getting those met now?  Can you stick with your current strategy and add on the housekeeper?

[/quote]

With an au pair, OP will pay an absolute minimum of 20k. To get a resentful young woman living with her and probably not doing the tasks that well. For the same money she could get a much better deal. [/quote]

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