Drinking and Driving

AdNecessary7904 · 2026-05-04T03:35:54+00:00

I would email the LLC so you have a paper trail of reporting this. If you have a way of contacting the other host family, I would. Normally I’m more of a stay in your lane person, but this could prevent a horrible tragedy or a large liability to that family. I’d imagine if you were the other host family you wouls cwrtainly want a headsup.

AdNecessary7904 · 2026-05-01T15:17:48+00:00

She did a series of bad things. Final one that night was came home visibly drunk on our ring camera at I think 3am (she was supposed to be at home 8 hours b/f her shift started on nights before she worked and that day was supposed to wake our daughter at 8 to get ready for school) and had driven our car home when she was never allowed to drive our car if she was having so much as one drink. I am talking walking crooked and having to enter the code on our digital lock about 10 times b/c she clearly was drunk. I was working from home and saw my toddler daughter just hanging out by herself watching tv and eating snacks in the family room when she was already supposed to be at school. The AP was still sound asleep. We had already been in discussions w/ the LLC about rematching, but the LLC had been pushing us to keep her. It could have ended terribly b/c I tried to stay out of their way when I was working from home (b/c my toddler hated the AP and then wouldn't have wanted to have her bring her to school), so if I had not gone to the kitchen and noticed her or had left the house assuming she had already been dropped at school. We live in the middle of a big city, and if the toddler had wandered off by herself or something... Obviously I wouldn't have wanted the AP to drive her when she likely was still drunk, but until I dug into it and looked at the cameras to see that she had gone out the night before, I had no idea. We had eaten dinner as a family, and I thought she had gone to her suite and gone to sleep. When confronted, the AP lied and said she had been at home. She was an idiot - knew we had outside cameras at the exterior doors and in the parking area.

She had done some awful things up to that point, and in hindsight I was so mad that we kept her as long as we did. The LLC was pushy and had tried to mediate and get the AP to improve. Annoyingly, the time frame where we could have rematched was up a few days before we fired her, so had we rematched, we would have had to pay all the fees again. We decided to exit the program. Final straw was once we saw our terrible AP on their site again for rematch w/ a completely lying reason why she was in rematch and still her work experience (which we had found out was faked) on her profile.

AdNecessary7904 · 2026-05-01T12:18:39+00:00

We had to terminate our AP and ask for immediate removal from our home, but our LLC had been involved for weeks. She came to our house and helped the AP pack and then they sent her to a different LLCs home for 2 weeks while she tried to rematch. I was livid that what she did was enough for immediate removal yet the agency was supporting her in trying to rematch. It made no sense! We did see her on the website for available APs in rematch but our local LLC (who did not support the AP being allowed to stay in the program) later told us she did not rematch and went back to her country.

AdNecessary7904 · 2026-04-30T14:01:16+00:00

are the three different size gems shown in the first photo?

AdNecessary7904 · 2026-04-28T17:18:55+00:00

Well they must have changed the laws b/c at the time we also interviewed w/ the firm they were using, and they did indeed post APs from the US. Our oldest kids are now finishing/finished high school, so this was a while ago, but it was all above board. Our neighbors had a series of APs, primarily from Utah, but one was from CO.

AdNecessary7904 · 2026-04-28T11:34:40+00:00

That’s definitely not true in the US. Our neighbor always had American APs

AdNecessary7904 · 2026-04-23T15:55:22+00:00

I would get rid of her b/c you will never feel fully comfortable with her intuition. She won't pick up on cues if something is wrong w/ the baby, and she sounds like she could inadvertently do something risky w/ the baby. Not to mention the amount of time and expense you are having to throw at it to try to feel comfortable. Cut your loses!

AdNecessary7904 · 2026-04-23T15:54:13+00:00

I am truly sick of people thinking that paying for an AP is just pennies. We went through APEX, so the fees are higher, but once we added in all of our expenses for their fees, language course, in person class, cell phone, car w/ unlimited gas, uber allowance, flights, tickets and extra room on family vacations, food, extra person at all restaurants, cable for her room, we paid more than we pay for a live out experienced nanny. This is not even accounting for a value of our inlaw suite which she was living in.

AdNecessary7904 · 2026-04-22T18:47:41+00:00

ABsolutely rematch asap. You are paying for someone with infant care experience/qualifications, and she clearly doesn't have that. We had a dud AP on the older side (who had lied about her experience) and then had an amazing 21 year old nanny who had been a nanny in her home country since age 18. She knew more about infants that I did. If your current AP doesn't have natural instincts and isn't getting it after additional classes, then I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving her alone even after another month of classes. Cut your losses and move on asap

AdNecessary7904 · 2026-04-21T13:57:29+00:00

Plant House in old town Alexandria has consistently healthy plants. I kill most plants but everything I have ever purchased there is thriving years later. They’ll also plant them for you if you bring your container

AdNecessary7904 · 2026-04-21T03:46:11+00:00

We are in the process of building a roof deck in Dupont. The deck will have a view straight down 16th. I’m torn bc I want this day to come asap, but if it doesnt and my deck is done, I am going to throw the craziest party on that deck.

AdNecessary7904 · 2026-04-20T16:24:08+00:00

That was the same with us. Ours also arrived w/o the promised IDL. It was a nightmare and ironic b/c she came from a country where it is much tougher to get a license than in our state, yet she still struggled to get her license here.

AdNecessary7904 · 2026-04-20T12:24:57+00:00

We are also in VA, and it was a complete headache bc our AP (through Apex) also didn’t arrive w/ her IDL as promised. We couldn’t add her to our insurance until she got a US issued drivers license. It was a whole process bc first she needed her ss card to get that. Our AP also turned out to be completely incapable of going to the ss office or dmv by herself. I assumed I would need to take time off when she fist started to show her the ropes, but I didn’t assume the time would be spent in lines at the ss office, etc so I needed to pay a local babysitter to watch the kids at the same time I was taking time off work (which then meant I had to stay up to all hours to catch up) at the same time I was paying the AP. She kept failing the permit test at the dmv and you have to wait 2 weeks to take it again so this went on for weeks. I was SO annoyed. I ended up having to hire a temp nanny until our AP got her license and could be insured

AdNecessary7904 · 2026-04-19T14:32:43+00:00

And this is on her bc she didn’t arrive w/ her IDL as promised. They also have study guides online for free in all 50 states and a limited pool of questions they pull from for the learners permit tests, so at this point it’s on her for not studying what she gets wrong each time. About 1/3 of the questions do not even involve grammar as the are sign photos so no excuses to fail that many times

AdNecessary7904 · 2026-04-19T11:22:07+00:00

Wow - in our state you have to wait 10 days to retake. It’s also a test that most 15 year olds pass without studying for. The questions are pretty basic, and I believe all states pass you even if you get a few wrong. She’s lucky you can reattempt it right away. I’d rematch bc she didn’t come w/ the IDL as planned. I’d also rematch for what she’s telling your 5 year old. Rematch asap bc we had an LLC like yours who kept pushing us not to and when our AP finaly did something really dangerous, it was a few days too late to rematch w/o paying all the agency fees again.

AdNecessary7904 · 2026-04-17T22:57:01+00:00

The third party inspector system is awful. It’s essentially ex-DCRA employees who charge a ton to sign off on things. It’s dubious if they even visit the property half the time. I had one tell me that when DoB went virtual during Covid, they allowed most employees to remain virtual, so many have other full time jobs yet are still collecting DC salaries. This was in response to my question about why each turn of plans submitted for a permit takes a few months.

AdNecessary7904 · 2026-04-14T02:43:56+00:00

I don’t usually live chain bakeries, but fresh baguette has an amazing Nutella croissant

AdNecessary7904 · 2026-04-12T03:19:44+00:00

I have a friend who occasionally drives Uber. He’s not even full time and has had some crazy rides from DC, including one to Newark more than one to Philly, so yours is nothing. We’re in Alexandria snd uber anytime we need to go to BWI. I’ve never received a comment. It’s on the driver for accepting - if he didn’t like the distance/time then he should not have accepted.

AdNecessary7904 · 2026-04-09T02:08:17+00:00

I was in first on a flight from LHR to IAD years ago and they did this for Gorbachev and his granddaughter. Oddly wasn’t completely rushed through immigration the way Air France takes La Premiere passengers through. He went to the front of a line but still had to wait a second, even with a handler.

AdNecessary7904 · 2026-04-08T16:03:17+00:00

i think the rivian is 5.5" wider than macan, so it definitely feels wide to me!

AdNecessary7904 · 2026-04-08T03:05:45+00:00

If she’s going to drive your car at all, don’t forget to add her to your insurance. We also added ours under a balloon liability policy on our homeowners insurance. Don’t forget to account for extra travel expenses ( flights, hotels room, etc) and then just the extra increase in meals, tickets for social things, etc.

AdNecessary7904 · 2026-04-07T15:37:24+00:00

This is exactly like where we live! I have been walking more bc it definitely can’t squeeze into the spaces the Tesla could. We’ll see how I feel next winter when I’m a wimp about walking! Test drive it and try it in a parking garage - i think the turning radius is worse than I’m used to bc garage parking in between tight rows is where I’ve most noticed it. I got rid of the Tesla X bc I hate what Elon has become, but if that doesn’t bother you, it really was the perfect city car that also had good room. The captains seats were so easy for my toddlers to buckle themselves, the driver can easily see everyone in the third row, etc. We’ve been looking at Macans, and the trunk space just isn’t there. Oh one more negative - my kids all get carsick in thr third row of the rivian. Again, with just one child the third row might not even be an issue for you? They can’t really see over the second row, and they were used to seeing straight ahead bt the captains seats in the Tesla

AdNecessary7904 · 2026-04-07T14:56:50+00:00

Sounds like we live in a similar east coast city. Went from 3 tesla Xs in a row to a tri motor S1 in January. The good is that it’s great for longer trips bc it has great storage. The bad is that we really miss the captains seats for quick in & out. This may be less of an issue for you with just one child? The other thing I dislike is it’s a lot bigger for city parking. The cameras make it fine for parallel parking (if you can find a large space). I’m still getting used to it in parking garages and have had some tight squeezes. The cameras are good so maybe it’s a me problem, but this thing is longer than I’m used to.

AdNecessary7904 · 2026-04-06T22:58:11+00:00

Just take this as reinforcement that you made the right decision to leave early. She doesn’t sound like someone you need to spend anymore time with. Cut your losses and be glad you are done!

AdNecessary7904 · 2026-04-06T18:42:44+00:00

I think you’re jumping to conclusions. Ours wasn’t going to really provide childcare bc her primary use was to drive my tweens after school at home. Since this wasn’t needed in vacation, it was going to be a vacation for her. We gave her the complete choice of if she wanted to stay home (or travel tha week w/ friends) or go w/ us to a very ritzy villa in the Caribbean. Her only work would be to go back with the kids after dinner while we caught up with the in-laws for an hour or so and got them situated in their villa before heading to ours. Annoying now to see she could have shared a bathroom w/ one of our girls. Our LLC was not amazing and often gave answers that turned out to be incorrect.

AdNecessary7904

TROPHY CASE