what house work are au pairs supposed to help with?

Mine has all morning free except one when she does the house work that includes hoover, dust, cleaning the room, tydong the house and Kitchen. After 3pm she has got to be home when she helps with kids. I cook dinner but hse helps to tidy and she babbisits, I work evenings from 7pm so she will babysit as and when I need,. I have been out tonight and my dd was sick so I got a phone call saying that dd was sick on the bed. By the time I got back she had changed the bed, washed dd and put her back to sleep. I odn't htink dh would have odne that if he was on his own... For a start he would not know where to find the sheets for changing the bed!!! They are really worht it!

Its fine to ask the AP to do any housework provided you state upfront exactly what you expect, that way you get no surprises and no unhappy AP. I agree with other comments tho when is she going to eat. Could she do some of her duties earlier and then finish at 7.30pm?. Our AP does 2 1/2 hour of housework a day. 2pm to 4.30pm Mon and Friday house clean/ Tues and Thurs ironing/linen change and Wed bathroom and kitchen extra clean. Mine even clean the silver once a month! Some AP's just want to do childcare, others are happy to do a combination role. My current AP is fussier than me and loves cleaning but I think she is a rariety!

I also work from home, but do not consider myself available for childcare whilst working unless and emergency arises.

Therefore whilst I am working my AP is in sole charge. I'm sure most employers would also expect this. We run our own business and would expect the same of any of our employees.

I think the timetable sounds very reasonable - it's not sole care charge. She has her days free for language classes/seeing friends/sleeping in. The only thing I would do different is to bath the children with the ap on hand to help as I think a 2 & 3yo at bathtime is too much for an ap. Also I would put the children to bed myself as I think that is a lovely part of the day for snuggles, cuddles & kisses.

Make sure you use your ap for babysitting - maybe she could put the kids to bed that night - and you and dp can have some quality time together whether that be a meal out or just a quick drink in the local.

Think lune mentioned that she would be feeding children whilst ap clears playroom/sorts laundry.

Maybe the ap would like to eat at that time with the children if 8.30 was too late for her?

Aaaahhh It will come back, maybe not for a while yet though. As the children get older you will find they do occupy themselves in the evening. Mine are now 14 and 20 so we get to go out without needing babysitters and the day is even approaching where we won't have children at home at all!!! (20yo is 2nd yr at uni)

How old are your children?

It seems a very long time (3-6.30) for an AP, who may have little or no experience of looking after young children, to have sole charge - which if you are working I would consider this to be.

On your information you need to be clearer and explain that during this period '6.30pm ? 7.30pm Clear up after the play activity with the children. Vacuum the play room. Empty the dryer and refill it with newly washed laundry, fold laundry and iron' the AP will not be also caring for the children. Unless your playroom is the size of a postage stamp, and they only got 3 toys out in the 2 hours of play activity, expecting AP to tidy, vacuum, empty/refill dryer, iron and fold dry laundry is quite a bit to do in 1 hour.

Will she be doing bathtime/bedtime alone or will you be doing it alongside her? This is not made clear. I would not expect my AP to manage the bath/bedtime of 2 preschoolers alone every evening - yes on babysitting nights though.

Also nbee84 asks, when do your children eat their tea?

Nope- not even her own! She just leaves anything she uses on the side. If I waited for her to do it, we'd be waitng a LOOONG time!

As I said before, she's very committed to the girls so I pick my battles where housework is concerned. It obviously doen't come naturally to her to help out.

my AP's have done most of the cleaning since both boys have been at school fulltime.
They do just about anything I do, except, my room, my washing, ironing, cleaning windows, and cars.
All of that is acceptable according to the agency I used. I think as long as you make it clear she will be doing housework.
little hijack>>>
Bettyboo What do you mean she hasn't washed a dish since she got here? Not even her own?

I am very clear with prospective aupairs that they are required to do general housework. My dcs are in fulltime nursery and school respectively and I am home from 4 pm everyday. Childcare is not enough to occupy their time and I need them to do housework to make up 5 hours a weekday.

They do 1.5 to 2 hours daily cleaning according to a written weekly roster. Every weekday, they must do a quick routine clean of high traffic communal areas like kitchen, bathroom and living room. Then fit in deeper clean of one room/area in the house. Friday is ironing day - mostly just dh's shirts as we keep ironing to a minimum.

They have not complained. Even my current aupair who initially expressed reservations about cleaning (which lead to my almost not offering her until she reassured me it was not a problem) seems to have settled happily into the routine.

I don't see anything demeaning about cleaning. I clean the bathroom myself on a weekend. It is just housework and good for the soul.

Two hours on an activity for pre-schoolers!!! I couldn't get 2 pre-schoolers to sit for more than half an hour. Do they really sit at an activity for 2 hours every day??

I don't think that she does that much cleaning. Including Ironing it's no more than 7 hours a week and I ran it past the agency before hiring her. Most of my friends aupairs do way more than that inclding cleaning fridges, cupboards and childrens wardrobes. They also expect them to do all their washing, which I most certainly don't so I think that she has an easy ride, she only does 21 hours a week. TBH I don't know what she'd do if she didn't do cleaning. She has been sitting infront of the TV with the kids of the last hour and hasn't said a word.

Wow- dannyb your AP does loads of cleaning! Lucky you! Mine hasn't picked up a duster or washed a plate since she got here

She is super-fantastic with the children though, so she has sole care of them each morning and this works for us.

I've just had to re-hire my cleaner as AP makes more mess than both the children put together and I'm working more hours than ever- sigh!

My aupair cleans the house twice a week. She does all the dusting hoovering mopping and bathrooms on a monday and friday and a very quick version of it on a wednesday. Tuesday and Thursday mornings she does ironing which takes her about 45 minutes a time.

She also empties the dishwasher, does the childrens washing and clears up after their dinner and after breakfast. She is meant to be with the kids in the afternoon but TBH she's pretty crap with them although she has my daughter for a couple of hours on a Tuesday and Wednesday whilst I take my son to activities and has absolutely no idea how to play with them so she does bathtime and helps me out with dropping them off and picking them up if I am at work.

I tend to find her most useful for cleaning and babysitting. The babysitting makes it all worthwhile, we have reclaimed our social life hugely but do not use her for any cleaning which I wouldn't ask my own daughter to do.

Since your children are preschoolers I assume you will be in the house whilst au pair is caring for them..in which case it's not too bad but I wouldn't expect an au pair to be able to cope with them both by his/herself (and I have a fab au pair who has 18months experience in a kindergarten).
My kids are both school age and my au pair plays with them whilst I cook dinner/make phone calls/do stuff after I get back from work.

Sorry, 4pm

And do the children eat dinner? There's a snack at 4.30 but nothing else.

Does this mean you are at home and will cook and feed the children???

And if you are at home why would the ap put the children to bed?

Lune77, I personally think that sounds too much, unless you are home with the AP at the same time. Our AP does childcare from 8.30-1pm and that is it. Included in her childcare time I ask that she tidies after the girls, prepares lunch and cleans away after it (although she never actually DOES clean away after it lol!)

Looking at your timetable, between 6.30-7.30 there is a lot to fit in, especially if she has to keep an eye on the children too, although I'm not sure if this is the case...

Also, when will she eat her dinner? Have you checked she doesn't mind eating after 8.30pm? I'd be ravenous by then!

my au pair does mainly childcare but also helps with the childrens laundry, cleans their bathroom and bedrooms (the children tidy their rooms), hoovers downstairs and washes the kitchen floor

Occasionally we may ask her to iron an item of adults clothing but that is rare.

i tell mine to spend about an hour on housework every week day. It includes kitchen, hoovering, dusting, tidying toys, hanging out / folding washing. Occasional ironing. The current girl is very into gardens so this week she spent a good hour in the garden planting some plants she'd chosen with me. I haven't asked her to scrub the loos or do our bedroom.