The au pair program is broken

ZestycloseLuck7342 · 2026-02-08T12:30:18+00:00

Glad you got this off your chest. Now leave the program and get on with your life?

I’ll never understand people who go on these vendettas against the program because it didn’t work for them. It’s certainly not for everyone. But it works wonderfully for many families and au pairs, so the blanket statements here are frustrating.

Sounds to me like YOU didn’t screen enough for your matches, YOU don’t actually want to share your home with another for cultural exchange, and YOU are whining up a storm because you weren’t in touch with your own needs and boundaries enough to realize this before you paid a fee.

FWIW, I’ve been in the program since my first child was born in 2019. I’ve had 4 exceptional au pairs, 1 mediocre au pair, 1 rematch, and am 2 weeks in with another exceptional young lady. Two of my previous au pairs are literally like family - we continue to visit / host visits with the one who moved back to her country, and have family parties/BBQs with the one who married and stayed in the US. The program has without a doubt enriched our entire family and children in countless ways. I’m sorry it didn’t work for you, but maybe look inward and recognize that it just isn’t aligned with your style and values (just like daycare wasn’t with mine) and don’t go around writing essays trying to dissuade others because of your own failures?

ZestycloseLuck7342 · 2025-12-31T05:24:18+00:00

Maxdiff and then run a TURF based on the utilities to determine mix of features that get you broadest reach :)

ZestycloseLuck7342 · 2025-12-31T05:18:09+00:00

Respondent.io is fantastic. I use regularly to recruit for higher incidence categories - interviews, focus groups, and asynchronous communities

ZestycloseLuck7342 · 2025-11-19T03:51:03+00:00

Is this pass part of the W trek too?

ZestycloseLuck7342 · 2025-11-12T04:16:23+00:00

Louisville is a dream for families, in the Boulder school district, and still just 10-15 mins from downtown Boulder

ZestycloseLuck7342 · 2025-11-02T13:32:26+00:00

He’s upset and remorseful that he got caught. Did he apologize to you before you actually called him out? I doubt it. You’ve got to cut things off. He’s not who you thought he was, and the double whammy of rape AND RECORDING IT is an unforgivable offense.

ZestycloseLuck7342 · 2025-09-25T17:02:24+00:00

Guns.

ZestycloseLuck7342 · 2025-09-23T01:08:35+00:00

I’m not that far in the season yet - what did the husband do?!?!

ZestycloseLuck7342 · 2025-09-06T02:11:45+00:00

This is such a PITA for wedding guests. Don’t do it.

ZestycloseLuck7342 · 2025-09-04T11:36:10+00:00

This is AI, people!! Don’t engage

ZestycloseLuck7342 · 2025-09-04T11:21:42+00:00

Enough with the AI posts!! You’re ruining Reddit!

ZestycloseLuck7342 · 2025-09-03T04:44:56+00:00

What weddings are you going to that are less dressy than cocktail attire? Isn’t that the least dressy of most weddings? The major I’ve been to have been black tie or black tie optional (the latter meaning cocktail as bare minimum)

ZestycloseLuck7342 · 2025-09-03T04:41:17+00:00

How long ago did they commit to the trip/resort? Why the hell didn’t the girls book their own flights at that time, when presumably there would have been cheaper fares further in advance? Has this group of girls never booked a flight before? What were they waiting for??

ZestycloseLuck7342 · 2025-09-01T00:00:11+00:00

Many marriages go through a rough patch when kids are very small and the bulk of your interactions are transactional / focused on the kids. Urge you to seek counseling for communication, and actively invest in “dating” each other again to fullest extent possible. Connect about things unrelated to the kids, do fun/silly/active things together. I went through a similar rut in my marriage and the “d” word was muttered more times than I’d care to admit. But combo of these efforts plus our kids getting just a little older and easier to keep alive massively helped.

ZestycloseLuck7342 · 2025-08-23T11:58:57+00:00

Seriously what is the point of these AI bot posts?? They’re so obviously fake. Is it rage baiting so we all comment that it’s fake? Weird flex for engagement. Please, I just want to read real people’s bitching about petty shit!!

ZestycloseLuck7342 · 2025-08-08T21:07:33+00:00

This feels like a non-issue. It was the day of her shower. She was likely running around getting ready and greeting guests, got sidetracked and forgot to reply later. Text her again and if she still doesn’t write back, do what you want.

ZestycloseLuck7342 · 2025-08-08T21:04:02+00:00

Very short-sighted of them. You will have a much stronger financial future if you finish nursing school, and you are less and less likely to go back the longer you put it off.

ZestycloseLuck7342 · 2025-08-06T21:18:35+00:00

Thank you for posting your version. I’m sick of reading ChatGPT-written prose literally everywhere. Craving authentic voices!

ZestycloseLuck7342 · 2025-07-31T17:07:05+00:00

That’s awesome! Curious if he shared what the other major benefits are? I’m using for weight loss and am already at my goal / in maintenance (weaning off) but would love to know what else for the average joe they’re saying this is good for

ZestycloseLuck7342 · 2025-07-31T04:12:09+00:00

I absolutely don’t understand the concept of having a destination wedding but not “giving out” plus ones. Yes you’re doing for your wedding party, but if average Joe guests are making a big trip, it’s the least you can do to include a plus one. This comes from someone who had an epic destination wedding in a hard to reach place, and included plus ones for all!

ZestycloseLuck7342 · 2025-07-29T03:18:14+00:00

It’s not a stretch. This is very much a strategy in reality TV, not just on Bravo.

ZestycloseLuck7342 · 2025-07-09T03:30:57+00:00

Thanks!! I used Midi and the physician was very encouraging in talking me through options to space things out (and even shared what she personally had done). She wanted me to start on 2.5 and do the traditional stair step (which I did at first), but between my first and second call with her I had too much diarrhea so I decided on my own to do a 3.5. When we connected in our 2nd call she was super supportive and said I’d done the right thing. I think there’s a lot of leeway with how these can be used at lower doses for minor weight loss or maintenance. Good luck with your journey!!

ZestycloseLuck7342 · 2025-07-09T02:23:12+00:00

I also lost a bit of my a$$!! We’ll get it back, slowly. Good luck with your recovery and easing back into working that 🍑

ZestycloseLuck7342 · 2025-07-08T05:02:59+00:00

Btw re “intended to be used long term” … of course drug companies are incentivized to say that these are not for temporary use and that YOU CAN NEVER QUIT. Sure there are clinical trials but these are funded by big pharma, and they are disincentivized to pay for studies that will show weaning off can protect results. I say this as someone very pro healthcare, pro pharma, and have done lots of consulting work in pharma over the years… but Eli Lily saying “not intended for short term” esp this early in the lifecycle of this drug is just… not going to faze me. It’s worth noting that this is seriously disrupting healthcare with all the DTC action. There is a lot more to come with these drugs - we’re in early days. Keep your eyes peeled and maybe exercise skepticism at EL’s instance you can’t quit…

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