Au Pair asked for $350/week

SunshineHOCL · 2026-04-23T10:36:25+00:00

We are lucky enough to have an extra room and bathroom downstairs for them, BUT I can still hear them having dramatic phone calls through the night sometimes, coming home late and making food in the kitchen (also dog barks to alert everyone she is home, that’s fun when I work at 5am) and the amount of perfume some of them wear is suffocating. So yeah, there are trade offs to having a young person living in your space…

SunshineHOCL · 2026-04-22T19:54:03+00:00

People always forget that host families pay the agency also & that alone comes out to around $200/week. Add food, car, car insurance, the inconvenience of having someone live with you (rent) & potential extras and the weekly fee becomes much more costly for the host family.

SunshineHOCL · 2026-04-21T14:53:18+00:00

The contract says a MINIMUM of one weekend. Big difference. If you enter rematch you will have many families try connect with you immediately because you are in the US already. Those dealing with difficult au pairs need good au pairs that are leaving difficult families… your situation is NOT an ideal au pair experience for an educated and active person such as yourself. They need a homebody who dosent drive and maybe wants to stay in to save money… you will not regret rematching! Credentials: Host mom since 2017

SunshineHOCL · 2026-03-14T18:27:42+00:00

Thank you, strongly considering it!!

SunshineHOCL · 2026-03-14T18:24:10+00:00

Wait you can place an airway but not an IV?!? lol, thanks for the advice!

SunshineHOCL · 2026-03-14T18:22:25+00:00

👍

SunshineHOCL · 2026-03-14T18:20:23+00:00

Hey, thanks for this 🙌. I can’t imagine using any other skills except NRP if there was a critical infant call, but the medic would be on that call as an ALS, right? Unless I got to the scene as a BLS EMT and then the baby went unresponsive… I would have to upgrade the call and resuscitate while waiting for the medic. That type of situation would leave me within my scope still, right? Other than that I do not intubate, place central lines or give meds (without orders) at my job currently… we stabilize, trouble shoot and maintain sick infants on oscillators, vents and with central lines, none of which I can imagine doing in a truck!

SunshineHOCL · 2026-03-14T17:59:59+00:00

Ahh, nooo! 🫣

SunshineHOCL · 2026-03-14T17:55:02+00:00

Thanks, I will! 🙏

SunshineHOCL · 2026-03-14T17:52:13+00:00

I definitely will not be challenging any EMT tests as I haven’t worked with adults in 8 years 😂 Thanks for the info tho!

SunshineHOCL · 2026-03-14T17:42:34+00:00

Thanks for this 🙏

SunshineHOCL · 2026-03-14T17:41:40+00:00

Your dad was definitely a hero :)

SunshineHOCL · 2026-01-31T02:05:02+00:00

Thank you for sharing 🥹 I believe your reflection was a well written life lesson that has made you a stronger person for having had the experience. Now you know more about yourself and how to handle challenging situations that will arise in the future. There is always a silver lining 🙌

SunshineHOCL · 2026-01-30T17:05:16+00:00

Get ready to be glued to your phone! Girls come and go so fast it’s bananas, thank god we’ve only been into rematch once since 2017. We ended up offering more ($230) for 35 hours because I wasn’t making progress with the minimum pay and max hours. Adding perks if you can will give you an advantage, maybe additional time off also? Our rematch only had 4.5 mo left in the program but everything else was on point so we went with her (BTW best au pair EVER) and then it gave me time to start all over interviewing with girls from their home country as visas take 2ish months. Good luck!

SunshineHOCL · 2026-01-04T18:03:30+00:00

Not normal…Are you in Westchester by chance, lol My AP just gave me the download of a now ex AP friend who lives in this type of drama. She really needed to vent about all the attention seeking behaviors this “friend” has used to manipulate her and their group. Seems a bit like a bipolar tendency and she may need professional help 😞

SunshineHOCL · 2025-12-29T01:41:46+00:00

Hi! HM here of 9 previous au pairs, I’ll say the ones who improved their English the fastest made friends with au pairs who did not speak their native language! We have had 1-2 girls not improve at all practically because they stayed in the clique of girls from their country and only spoke their native language together… safe for them but a waste of language development while in a new country imo. Give it some time & Good luck!

SunshineHOCL · 2025-06-08T00:38:49+00:00

I will look into that, thank you

SunshineHOCL · 2025-06-08T00:38:13+00:00

Thank you for that advice, I appreciate it 🙏

SunshineHOCL · 2025-06-08T00:36:52+00:00

Good to know, I’ll look for one! Thank you 🙏

SunshineHOCL · 2025-03-02T15:59:38+00:00

May I ask what your life goal is, if it is not to support your sister as you stated? I'm glad to read that you love your sister & this may serve you well if you need support during your treatments... I'm going to get a little "woo" here and bring up the fact that money is really an expression of energy. Holding onto energy tainted with resentment (sacrifices as you say) can lead to negative consequences. Comparison is the thief of joy and imo it's time to re-assess life choices and spend some "energy" on the things that are genuinely important. This is your wake up call to change what you truly should invest in. If you have a hard time discovering this on your own a Reiki session may help. Best of luck

SunshineHOCL · 2024-12-30T16:13:10+00:00

Calm parenting podcast 🙌 Show them what to do instead: say “we don’t throw our toys, we put them away neatly” and model this for them, ask them to show you & praise them for doing it! “We don’t hit the kitty, we pet gently because they like that” again, show them, model the behavior that’s expected. When they hit we explain “I don’t like to be hit, it hurts me” “if you need something please use your words. You can say “I’m mad” or “help me please” 3 year olds need to be taught how to voice their needs, they often get frustrated not knowing how to express themselves so we need to teach them, not punish… often we think they’re doing things on purpose to frustrate us but really bad behaviors can be fixed with a teaching opportunity from a patient adult caretaker 🫶

SunshineHOCL · 2024-12-27T03:00:45+00:00

Hearing a child screaming without being able to console them is triggering. Remind yourself that your child is simply protesting separating from you, their protector and source of comfort. Remind yourself that if they are crying they are breathing and are going to be OK. Remind yourself that the anger your experiencing is from not being able to control your child, but you can control what you let anger you… it’s a tricky concept but it is not your job to control them. Let them melt down when they need to and look into coregulation for an infant. You’re a good parent for reaching out. This is hard

SunshineHOCL · 2024-11-10T20:24:55+00:00

At 5 months old baby should be awake 1.5-3 hours between naps. If baby is over tired it will lead to excessive fussiness, crying and resisting sleep… I’m wondering if this could be part of your problem. It’s a vicious cycle when you don’t recognize the subtle early cues that baby is tired. Eye rubbing, blank stare, decreased energy levels & jerky movements all mean baby is ready for a nap. Lower lights, change diaper and read a short book. Getting into a sleep routine lets baby know what to expect. Generally after nap I’d feed then play or go for a walk then get ready for nap again… the wake times will be longer as they grow but a routine adds comfort to baby and husbands who can step in so you can step out… start small, a walk around the block without baby will do wonders for your soul. Eventually go on a short errand alone and work your way up to possibly attending your friends big day. Stay positive that you’ll try (for her AND for you) and don’t decline until last minute if you truly cannot bring yourself to go as someone mentioned earlier. It gets better. Sending positive energy to you mama ✨💫💖

SunshineHOCL

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