Describe the relationship you would like to develop with your au pair as host parents. We have hosted an aupair in the past and had a wonderful experience. She became a part of our family. Our girls adored her and we still keep in touch. We hope that with our new aupair, we can find someone who can become a part of our family. We would like someone who can eventually able to adapt to our busy schedule. We need someone who can jump in and help with things without me having to constantly give specific directions or orders on a daily basis. Of course, this is once the aupair has been oriented and has adjusted to our schedule and family needs. We need someone who is kind hearted, nurturing, honest, self-motivated, and has good common sense. We would love to have someone we get along with and whom we would like to hang out with even in social settings.
How would you like your au pair to integrate with your family outside of work hours? Consider which activities you would like to share versus times when you would provide your au pair with independent time. We are very flexible with what our aupair chooses to do on her own time. However, we would like to always welcome our aupair to join us if we go on outings or vacations. We often take weekend or weeklong trips to local places such as San Diego, Palm Springs. There are times we may ask our aupair to join us on these trips.
What is your communication style as a family? How do you like to resolve challenges and miscommunication? As a family we are very honest with each other. Challenges are alway resolved as soon as they come up. We like to talk very honestly and openly. Mom and dad are very straightforward when it comes to communicating our needs. We always try to address issues right away. We try to be sensitive about the aupair's concerns and issues.
Describe any limits you might have on your au pair inviting friends, visitors or overnight guests to your home. We would prefer not to have the aupair bring overnight guests. Friends are welcome on a case-by-case basis. We are conservative about this issue because we have young children. Our priority is the safety of our children.
Please outline any curfews or household rules you would like your au pair to follow. We likely will not have a specific curfew on days that they aupair is not working the next day. However if she is working the next day, we would expect her to be home and asleep by 11pm at the latest. We need to know that she is well-rested to care for our baby the next day.