A Parent's Guide to Having an Au Pair

I am a working mother of twin boys. When my children were about three years old, I changed jobs. My husband and I realized we could no longer afford the bevy of nannies that were frequenting our house. We had to find another child care alternative. After talking to a number of people, we decided to get an au pair, but we didn't have a clue about what to do, how to pick one out, or how to handle a stranger in our house. We proceeded, over the next 10 years, to learn everything through the school of hard knocks, the same method used by most families who host au pairs. Now, it is true that it might take you a while to feel comfortable with your au pair selection and management process, but we are hopeful that this book can help you avoid some of the bigger mistakes made by myself and others. As a professional writer and software engineering manager, I believe that having some guidelines, templates, and direction can make any task easier and less daunting. My husband and I have shared our knowledge with many people that we know, but there really seems to be a need to reach a broader audience with our common-sense approach to having au pairs. So, you think you want to get an au pair. What do you do next? What do you need to know? Who do you ask? Where do you start? This book helps parents navigate the confusing world of J-1 VISAs, U.S. State Department sanctioned agencies, and having a strange girl who doesn't speak much English living in your house and looking after your precious children. This book was written with the United States perspective and legal requirements, but much of this book applies to any au pair in any country. Now that is a frightening thought. But this book can help you improve your odds of having a wonderful experience being a host parent. As for my family, we had really great experiences and really bad experiences. The information in this book comes from our own experiences and those of other host parents who kindly provided their input for this book. Inviting a stranger into your home is a REALLY BIG undertaking and you must do your research first. This book is a good place to start. We welcome comments and input from reader's so we can continue to add ideas to this book and help other parents have a successful au pair experience.

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