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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Hello.

My significant other and I live in the Richmond VA area, and are both physicians with somewhat wonky schedules (which includes working some weekends and getting called in at odd hours when on call). We have three young children in elementary school, and are considering hosting an AP to start this summer. Ideally, the AP would pick the kids up from school (which is within walking distance), help them do their homework, and cook dinner for them (and perhaps for us some evenings?). It would be amazing if she could do their laundry, do some cleaning up after them, pack their lunches, do the grocery shopping for them, and/or help with their dishes. It would also be extremely helpful if she is available to watch the children during the day in the event of sickness, half day, or school closure.

Our kids are currently in afterschool care, and it appears that it may be about cost-neutral to host an AP (afterschool care is about $800/month for each).

Does this sound like a reasonable set of basic expectations for an AP?

We have talked with three agencies (Au Pair in America, Agent Au Pair, and Cultural Care Au Pair). Our initial impression is that the latter seems to have the largest network and most support around this area.

My significant other and I would greatly appreciate any input or experiences the participants on this forum may have had (positive or negative) with any of these agencies that may help guide which we go with, and to know if there is another agency that we should reach out to?

Thank you - we would be sincerely grateful for any thoughts or input :-) [/quote]

Honestly, it sounds like you might be better off with a newish live-in nanny.

They don’t have the limitations on hours/days that APs do, so if there’s no school and you can’t be back in 9-10 hours, it’s no big deal.  They also are required to have 1.5 days off, and many prefer a weekday vs weekend (it’s a lot easier to handle appointments, errands and things for yourself during the week).

A live-in nanny who speaks English should be able to help kids with homework and even serve as a liaison with the school and teachers.

A live-in nanny/housekeeper could handle most or all of the housekeeping while kids are in school, with a less done if kids are home.  APs are not supposed to cook for the family (unless they choose to do so, which is rare), and they aren’t supposed to be asked to do more than their share of housework (split with either just parents or with kids as well).

With an AP, there’s an expectation that you will take them with you when the family goes out to dinner, if they’re home.  Some want to come on vacation.  There are other perks that add up.

The room and board requirement would be the same, but live-in nannies have usually lived on their own before (you might find a young woman straight out of her parents’ home, but that’s rare), so they’re usually better at cleaning up after themselves and being reasonable about groceries.

Live-in nannies are paid hourly, but unless you’re in a location that requires it (MD), there’s no overtime requirement.  I think you could probably find what you want if you offer 45-50 hours at $15-20/hour ($675-1000/week), depending on specifics of the job and the nanny’s qualifications.[/quote]

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