Au pair for older children?

[alimac87]

Hi, I am (hopefully) going back to full-time work soon, involving a bit of a commute into London, and I will need some back up as DH also doesn't get back till 7. I am thinking that an au pair might be our best bet. However my kids are older (12 and 16) and we have a dog. My 12 year old is young for her age and has very mild special needs. I think I need someone who can bridge the gap between 3.30 and 7.30, do some light housework, drive the kids around, walk the dog, do homework with my daughter and generally offer support. We'd need more involvement in the holidays.
Does this sound like the kind of thing an au pair would be interested in? Are there any things I should bear in mind? I'm thinking that an older au pair or someone doing a course might like it. We live in a university town with lots of foreign students, so location would be fine. I am also confused about all the websites and would love a recommendation on where to start looking.

Au pairs are live-in. Do you have the space for one? Would he/she be free all morning or would you expect her to be around for dog walking? If you only need the 4 hours a day that you mention, I think it sounds ok. She could have the entire morning off for doing her English classes which is very important. We always used the great aupair site in the past

Thanks. Yes, we can make space with a bit of rejigging.

I think she'd have the morning free. I will leave early, DH and kids will leave at 8.30. Dog loves his people so needs a walk by us or the AP first thing, is then fine for 4/5 hours. Some days my DD will just play with friends after school so it's not going to be very childcare intense - house may be very quiet until 4-4.30. I might need to rejig that timetable slightly.

We do have loads of language schools in town so it's a great place for someone serious about improving their English.

I think this sounds great for an au pair. I'm in a similar position to you - just returned to work (in London) after 2 years out. I have a DD11 and DS9. We've had au pairs for five years - generally very successfully. I like aupair-world.net

All sounds good except for doing homework with your daughter. Quite a few au pairs don't speak good English plus could not really help with the homework for 12 year old one.