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Paid childcare

Discuss everything related to paid childcare here, including childminders, nannies, nurseries and au pairs.

So the new ap arrived last night .....

114 replies

cloudberry · 07/11/2007 22:31

She missed the flight she was supposed to come on which would have arrived in the morning. I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry! She speaks almost NO English! It's been rather tiring today. Armed with the smallest dictionary you have ever seen we have stumbled through the day. I have no idea if she understands anything. What on earth do you do when someone looks blankly at you when you ask 'Would you like ....?' or 'Do you want ....'? She has eaten 1 biscuit today unless she has a secret stash of food upstairs which she has wolfed down in 45 minutes this afternoon, the only time she has not been with me. She now tells me she is veggie when on her profile form the box was ticked next to 'No special dietary requirements ie vegetarian'!! I can't even tell her she will have to cook for herself as my dh likes to eat meat every night as she can't begin to understand. I have always cooked for our aps in the evening and don't mind doing it as one extra person makes no difference but I'm not going to produce 2 separate meals. However .... she has smiled all day, has smothered my 2 dcs in kisses all day. She has painted my dd's finger nails bright red and sprayed her in perfume, as well as bringing her a very sweet shirt and skirt as presents. My not quite 3 year old dd is in seventh heaven and has been mincing around all day. She has never looked so girly in her life! My dh has told the ap that make-up on the face is a no-no!! I shudder to think how the ap can top today in dd's eyes!

Since starting this, I have been talking to a friend of the ap's on MSN who has very good English and feel better that we have a translator! She told me that she felt bad that they had been misleading me about the ap's level of English as she (the friend) knew that the ap could speak NO ENglish at all. I need to have a little chat to the agency tomorrow. Despite all that, as long as she has a good attitude the language issue isn't a problem as it can only improve and she does seem very willing. She has been eager to help today and painted with the dcs this morning which I hate doing. I am glad that we've got another 4 months till no.3 arrives, things might look quite different if it was due next month!! She's quite differnent to the last wet ap. We've gone from anoraky geek to rather sophisticated warm Turkish girl. The other thing that makes me laugh is that all my worries about notes etc etc are completely irrelevant as she wouldn't be able to read them anyway so I'm going to having to show her exactly what I need help with instead of writing down her duties, and maybe that's not such a bad way to go. At least I'll know I've shown her myself how I like things done. So there you go for anyone who's interested(!) - End of part one of Cloudberry's new fascinating ap saga ....!!

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
laura032004 · 16/11/2007 12:26

I replied to a gumtree post and got even more of a shock. An 18-yr old who wanted a summer holidays aupair role said this to me in an email:

I would be interested in a salary range of £180+ per week. This will include my complete dedication to your family, and I would gladly cook meals and help out cleaning when needed.

£7.20 per hour! For 25 hours work per week, live-in.

friendlyedjit · 16/11/2007 12:05

MrsS
Did you put an advert in, or did you respond to advert?
I'm thinking about changing out current situation. We have our 3rd aupair ( 3rd in 1 year), and at the end of me tether.
What kind of duties does your mothers help have and if you don't mind what kind of rate dso they generally expect?
Our advert will have to read " hands on person, not afraid of work and bright noisy children required to make mother's life more tolerable" "School pick ups, and playing essential, and common sense a must"
Two dd's get picked up and dropped to school but don't get anything else. No huggles and very little fun from current lady who again another who often has a face that rarely smiles....

MrsSlocomb · 16/11/2007 11:55

This is a really interesting thread.
I had my first aupair start last August. She was English.
I should have smelt a rat. She lasted a month. I couldn't stand the endless jabbering, She never left me alone. She was willing though. But had a problem with alcohol I think. It's put me off having anyone to live here again.
I'm currently employing a mother's help. They're more expensive but it's so nice not having anyone living in.
I've got all my help from "gumtree' a fab site.

MrsRecycle · 16/11/2007 11:41

Wilbur just been chatting to AP and she is helping out at the Christmas Fayre on 24th November all day - if your AP is going maybe I could introduce them. Tell your AP she missed a good night on Weds - it was salsa.

Oh cb am so for you. And to think I was contemplating the agency route this time (just don't tell eleusis!)

Anyway if anyone wants a laugh - I've just received a reply to the questions sent out and guess what "pocket" money she wants - £8 to £9 per HOUR yes (hour!!) A lot more than dh gets paid!!

luckyblackcat · 15/11/2007 18:20

laura OOOhhh La La! Bon Chance.

laura032004 · 15/11/2007 18:16

I'm thinking you're going to be owed a part refund, or a credit towards your next ap arrangement (after this one goes beautifully for 6 months ).

Ask for a personal mobile number. That will show how committed they are.

luckyblackcat - our ap is French. Not arrived yet. She gets here on Sunday

cloudberry · 15/11/2007 16:55

I can't get hold of the f-ing agency! The number comes back with the message "the number you are calling is unavailable", apparently it was put onto divert this morning to an incorrect number and hasn't been changed yet. I emailed her at lunchtime and nada. I'm not going to try and ring again because frankly why should I chase her. Am I being ridiculous here? Someone give me a reality check please. I can feel myself rapidly losing the plot. I WANT SERVICE AND I WANT IT NOW GODAMMIT AND I DON'T WANT TO WAIT. Do you see what I mean? Arghhhhh! She said she'd arrange to me to ring the 2 possible candidates this evening .....

OP posts:
Wilbur · 15/11/2007 14:59

Mrs Recycle - I have Swedish AP at the moment who is also off to the Swedish church on a regular basis (not tonight though, as she's going to Paris ). Seems to be a great organisation. She is a delightful girl, very switched on and apart from a few teething problems that I need to talk to her about, we're v happy, so another vote here for Scandinavian girls.

Libra · 15/11/2007 14:42

Our first Au pair (currently been with us for three months) is German and so far absolutely wonderful!
She has very good English - too good for her to undertaken an English course so she is doing a Higher in English literature instead.
Although we live in a rural area, she has managed to make contact with four or five other German au pairs around here and, although I don't think any of them would be bosum buddies at home, they are socialising at weekends as a group.
I will definitely be looking for another German next time. She is actually from East Germany, although I don't know that this means much.

luckyblackcat · 15/11/2007 13:53

Laura, is your ap French?

You know my current (most useless ever AP is French, can't/won't even pair socks!! DH came back from a week in the USA a while back, 2 out of his 7 pair of socks had a partner!

CB I'm sorry, it is such a pita, good luck with the new candidates.

BrummieOnTheRun · 15/11/2007 13:52

our american found loads of mates through a church. she searched the internet for churches in the city that were particularly welcoming to international young people, and it was fantastic. Lots of groups and parties. She also took a pilates class.

jINGLESbells · 15/11/2007 13:52

I don't think so Laura but I might be wrong. I think it's just agencies so the people using it can be verified as AP's. I did a little google and found www.aupairzone.net don't know if it's any good though and also there seems to an au pair friends section in the marvellous gumtree.

BrummieOnTheRun · 15/11/2007 13:49

Thank god someone asked about the nationality thing (thanks Cloudberry!). Was going to be my next new thread.

laura032004 · 15/11/2007 13:04

I'm hoping our aupair will be OK friendwise because her best friend will be working a few miles away. However, you can never have too many friends! The website says you need a password though - our ap isn't coming through an agency - is there any way we can buy a membership to the website or anything? I couldn't see any details on the site.

jINGLESbells · 15/11/2007 12:32

LOL Cloud...I know what you mean! that ap2ap site is great I think..Took an hour or so to show ap who was nearby and help her compose an email but she had loads of responses from it and seems to meeting new AP's every other day...she's german but czech born, family...the other germans have been a bit snooty when it comes to making friends, I've reminded them (well, him!) they don't need to be bosom buddies immediately just some company to share experiences..he chose to remain friendless!

cloudberry · 15/11/2007 12:14

It took me a moment to work it out jingles!! Very clever! Very festive! Enough exclamation marks for now. We are lucky as there is a great language school near us where all the aps in the area go, it's free for EU students and flexible with non-EU too. I get them started asap as an ap with asocial life is a happy ap. But sometimes you can't win. The last one ie German Sept one was so timid in 5 weeks she still had no friends and that was despite her going to school 3 mornings a week! A good friend of mine also has a lovely German ap and she bent over backwards to be friendly and gave up in disgust, so there you go ... Peter Pan sent me details of the aupair2aupair website and I registered our Turk on it and will definitely do the same with the next one. God I feel rather like an ap production line.

OP posts:
jINGLESbells · 15/11/2007 12:01

Thanks Mrs Recycle...I was rather chuffed with it myself..

MrsRecycle · 15/11/2007 11:52

love it Jingles!!! what a great name!!

jINGLESbells · 15/11/2007 11:03

It is soo important to help the AP find friends as quickly as possible so their new life becomes normal quickly and they don't have time to be homesick. I really recommend spending a couple of hours helping them find a college course, and helping them to enrol..or use aupair2aupair site,..Peter Pan agency is part of this,..as is Millenium..
By the way do you like my new xmas name?

frannikin · 15/11/2007 10:27

As a child the best ap we had was Swedish the Bulgarian one was really grumpy and the Czech one didn't speak English, but did teach me some Russian...

From my parents POV the Swedish one was great with kids but useless around the house, the Bulgarian one was the ideal housekeeper but useless with kids and the Czech one was just a bit dippy all round.

Not sure that helps at all!

Now we're all too old for an au pair my parents have international university students boarding with them and currently have a really lovely German ap who does housework and took over my sister's babysitting jobs (which she nabbed from me when I left home).

MrsRecycle · 15/11/2007 09:47

My friend has had an Estonian Nanny for over 6 years now (her kids even speak it!) and highly recommends them. Funnily enough, whilst on hols met a family from Estonia and they were lovely - my kids seem to mix with them very well (even through language barrier!). I've had a Romanian who was wonderful and is now a mumsnetter's Nanny but she was live-out so can't vouch for the food thing (although she never ate when she came to us). I did like the Czech's when I went to Prague - very friendly.

I think rather than look at nationality you should look for their reasons being here (earn more money, enjoy being part of english family) and also ask them if they know anyone in the immediate area - if not how do they propose to make friends. As the saying goes, once bitten...etc...

All too quickly this year, I've gone for the quick option that can start ASAP and its turned out a nightmare - best to take your time and find the right one who is going to stay (which I do know you will find!). Good luck

tasjaSAmuminUK · 15/11/2007 09:34

try south africans

blueshoes · 15/11/2007 09:24

Oh, and she was from the South of France. On the day she arrived to meet my family (she was on a holiday), it was pouring with rain. I think that spooked her.

blueshoes · 15/11/2007 09:23

Coincidentally, my no-show aupair who strung me along until the last minute was French Algerian. It was the first time I was hiring an aupair, she pressured me to make her an offer. I liked her enthusiaism and interest in my children and did.

Then her emails gradually got less and less frequent. She griped about the school run (long walk), assured me that it was ok and she was still coming even though I said the job comes with the school run. Kept asking me the same questions about duties, as if she never read my previous emails. Then she started giving excuses about not answering promptly (like tired) and finally dropped the bombshell one week before - that she was already on another (non-ap) job.

I am now paranoid. Until the aupair turns up at my doorstep, I don't relax.

Having said that, I haven't ruled out French aupairs. I was unlucky, I reckon.

SquiffyonSnowballs · 15/11/2007 09:10

FWIW I always actively hunt out Scandinavians because:-

  1. They love the outdoors and aren't fazed by bad weather
  2. They seem to be genuinely cheerful on the whole
  3. They seem to get the whole 'playing' thing when it comes to kids
  4. Perfect English

On the downside though, they do eat you out of house and home, they always have shedloads of (admittedly charming) friends coming to stay for weekends, and they were hiding behind the door when ironing skills were handed out...

My Swedish au-pair left almost 2 years ago but is still a big part of our life - lots of photos and letters and visits.