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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Playdates were kids of both families are playing together while being overlooked by their respective caregiver: okay.

Playdates were people drop off their kids to be looked after by the AP: Not Okay.

If I asked my LCC if the kids can have a playdate she would say “of course!” , if I asked her if it would be okay for me to let neighbors and friends drop off their kids and for my AP to watch them for free. She would say “absolutely not.”

“Playdates” is a normal thing kids have so of course if you ask an AP or a LCC whether or not playdates are allowed and they would be okay taking kids to playdates, they would say yes. When I organize playdates it’s 99% me meeting parents at a park where they look after their own kids and I look after mine and the kids play together,  very rarely is playdate “drop off your kids at mine and come pick them up in a couple hours when you are done enjoying your kid-free time/running errands.” , if it was (and I understand it might be the case for tweens) I would feel it’s the responsibility of the host parents to be there to overlook it and if not, at the very least, for the other parents of the kids that are dropped off to offer and pay the Au Pair for what is actually and essentially babysitting.

How people can think “playdates” were the AP is left alone with other people kids for a couple hours isn’t babysitting and would be okay is nuts.

And I am sure parents who pretend they write it on their profiles aren’t actually saying “ oh and on Wednesdays and Fridays you will be looking after Johnny and Allison, the Neighbors for 3 hours, for free.” But probably write. “ the kids have playdates twice a week with the neighbors that we hope the perfect AP will help maintain and coordinate as our kids love playing together, they are only a 5 minutes walk away!.”

So yes of course, wording B probably wouldn’t get flagged while wording A totally would.

Carpooling 5 minutes from point A to B is different but for all the reasons previously mentioned also not acceptable.

Can’t believe the amount of people who are willingly trying to find loopholes to abuse the system and have their AP do free work for extra risks and very little reward.

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you're really barking up the wrong tree here. we discussed this with all au pairs prior to matching. they all had excellent english and they all knew what they were getting into and they all like the playdates and in fact set them up themselves after the first month or so. we pay our au pairs quite a bit more than minimum stipend, have them work fewer than the max hours, and provide many extra perks. why do you assume that having playdates = exploitation? there are lots of terrible HFs out there, but of all the things I've heard (people leaving their kids alone with the au pair for days at a time while they travel, people making their au pairs work off debt for medical expenses, people not giving au pair time off work after she was HIT BY A CAR and on crutches, people giving everyone in the family an xmas stocking including the dog but not an au pair, and like 50 other crazy stories)  the thing you're latched onto--older kids having a playdate--doesn't even make sense. the au pair of older children typically WANTS because it's less work for her (with older kids, playdate means you don't have to entertain the kid, break up sibling quarreling, etc.) we're long-term program participants. I get that you've got your knickers in a twist here but please find something else to worry about.
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