It is very important that the Host Family and the Au Pair have a well planned agenda to enjoy a good time together and live the experience in a satisfactory way.
Sometimes both Au Pairs and Host Families can feel uncomfortable organizing schedules, since families define tasks and working hours in a non consensual way.
For example; a family with two children takes them to school from 9.00am to 3.00pm, during that time the Host Family may think that the Au Pair is free in the mornings and consider that during that time the Au Pair must do the basic household chores, pick up the children’s room, prepare the clothes, etc. When the children arrive, she must be with them until dinner and even help bathing and putting them to bed. If an Au Pair attends language classes three times a week, when the day is over, she feels that her time of cultural immersion is diminished by having so many tasks at the end of the day, feeling frustrated and unmotivated.
Therefore, the family and the au pair must agree on a schedule in advance to avoid this situation, communication between both parties is essential to avoid misunderstandings.
In some moments, an Au Pair can feel independent when she is not with the family. But there are also many moments that will be spent together, with the family and outside their agreed schedule; and it is in these cases that the family cannot take for granted that during these hours the Au Pair has to be working, he/she will simply be one more member of the family.
In the end, as in any personal or professional relationship, living together may not be as pleasant as one would expect, and misunderstandings and lack of communication can wear down the relationship between the Au Pair and the Host Family, and may not be the experience that one would have imagined. That is why at KIDOWE we always make sure that the planning and organization is well defined and perfectly understood by both parties.
The first few weeks it is very likely that your Au Pair speaks Spanish shyly so they feel insecure about being able to communicate fluently. So it is vital to help in that aspect to give confidence. Here are some tips to help you with your Au Pair & Host Family relationship so that everything goes as you have imagined and you enjoy the help and time the Au Pair spends with you.
– Before welcoming the Au Pair, you must structure the work and free hours for the first 4-6 weeks in agreement with both parties and be somewhat flexible on specific occasions.
– After the first 4-6 weeks you must review the weekly schedule to listen to the possible needs of your Au Pair and be flexible in their requests.
– Include family activities: plans, appointments, trips that you already know each other to be able to plan the time and be sure that the other party has understood well all the conversation.
– Adjust the planning to the agreed weekly hours, don’t forget that your au pair comes to help.
– A good option nowadays is to link your calendar on your smartphone and your Au Pair’s so that you can notify any changes and have everything organized.
We trust that this Blog article and especially its application will help you. We want you to get the best out of the Au Pair experience, we would appreciate it if you give us your opinion through our Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KidoweAuPairAffinity/ asking any question, recommendation. We will answer you as soon as possible.
