First of all, an au pair is not a Nanny.  The difference between the two is vast.  A Nanny is highly paid and highly qualified, doing a full-time job taking full responsibilty for children.  An au pair is none of these things.  She is a foriegn student wanting to improve her english – she is not neccessarily intending to make a career out of childcare or housework.

The idea behind the au pair system is that these students live in a safe and friendly environment with a host family, getting board and lodgings and a small amount of weekly pocket money.  in return for help with the children and some light housework.  They are not qualified to look after children, but feel that they are capable of taking on a reasonable amount of responsibilty. Some of them may have taken care of children in summer holiday camps, which is a bonus, but usually there experience has been just casual babysitting.  It is a less expensive way for them to take english language courses than living in digs or a hostel and it makes their parents feel that they are living safely away from their home country.

An au pair does not take sole charge of pre-nursery age children if the parent is at work, she does not do the cooking for the whole family and she does not go to a single person without a child.  You may hear of this happening, but no reputable agency would place a girl in that situation, thats the negative out of the way for the moment.

What an au pair will do is give you more freedom, she will pick up children from school, feed them and look after them until you get home.  She will do some housework, as you might imagine standards of housework vary.  You can help here, the mysteries of the washing machine can be revealed for example, and as long as you point out what goes in must come out, the weekly wash will be done.  The same goes for small quantities of ironing – but your best clothes are left for you to do yourself. You will have one or two nights a week where you are certain of a babysitter, and it doesn’t matter what time you come home as she will be safely tucked up in bed.

Au pairs are often young, and sometimes havent really been away from home by themselves before.  They do need guidance from you and a lot of mistakes and misunderstandings can be avoided by remembering this from the start.  A great deal of patience is required, communication is vital, despite language difficulties from the start.  Communicate in any way you can – verbally, or by hand signals pointing or both. Don’t assume that just because she has come to you as an au pair she knows exactly what it actually means, or that she will know just what to do, or that she will fit in comfortably into your way of life within the first 24 hours.

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