Anonymous wrote:
- Following week loses their state license at a bar
- This weekend on vacation rents a car (using home license/international) and gets a reckless ticket

Is she old enough to be in a bar? If yes... well, I have lost things. It happens. I have lost my wallet in a parking lot. DH lost one of his credit cards when getting a hair cut. My mom lost her glasses when getting out of her car (and then stepped on them, oh well). People lose things. Including their license. It's being human.

Renting a car on her home/international license is totally legal. So a complete non-issue.

Neither is "trending down."
Getting those two out of the way it leaves you (or her) with a reckless ticket. Six months in. For an AP you were happy to take back after she had already decided she wanted to go home.

If you consider one ticket "trending down" or if you think one ticket makes her a bad AP... then be it. Yes, she might be trending down (which happens to many APs in the second half or last quarter of their year) but from your examples I don't see it.

Anonymous wrote:Bad things can happen to go good people. She sounds like she’s mostly been a good au pair.

Agree. Amazingly, we are almost in the exact same scenario as you right now! Except our au pair is too stubborn to admit her mistake in leaving and is going home this week. Despite the havoc her immaturity has caused over the last two weeks and my emotional drainage at this moment, if she said she changed her mind, we would keep her with some expectation setting. Rematch sucks a lot and what is available is worse than what you have going on.

The license loss and ticket don’t reflect on their childcare unless you need a driver. Then, even getting a ticket during vacation would be concerning, especially a reckless ticket (not just a plain speeding ticket).

Bad things can happen to go good people. She sounds like she’s mostly been a good au pair.

So we are on AP #5. 6 months in, AP is good and what we were looking; minus the usual things of dishes in room/not the cleanest but whatever.

So, in the last 30 days this is what has happened:
- After holidays (and significant other visiting us/AP) informs us will be departing in March, about 4 months early as old job wants AP back with a promotion
- 2 weeks later, after we enter into rematch to find new AP current AP informs us they want to stay for full term
- We are cool with it, say great let's finish the year
- Following week loses their state license at a bar
- This weekend on vacation rents a car (using home license/international) and gets a reckless ticket

So, I think there are two ways to look at this - good luck on losing license as there is probably no way my insurance will find out about ticket (it was out of state anyway) by the time AP leaves.

Or, am I so callous/jaded by hosting for 5 years I just expect this type of stuff to happen every so often with people?

I am not sure if my AP is good or bad at this point. Care has been fine/great driver/kids like AP/etc....but in the back of mind at this point in the last 30 days I wonder if I am just closing my eyes and hoping for the best.

Thanks for any thoughts!