Au pair - does this sound like reasonable workload?

[Rosti1981]

We are considering getting an au pair from next year, DD will be 5 and DS 2. Was going to look for someone who could do school run and nursery pick up, so roughly 2.45-6.30pm including giving them tea and bath. My issue is that one or two days a week we would need them to look after DS all day while one of us work at home. Is that a reasonable expectation? Can't get a third or fourth day at nursery at this stage, and also don't want him out of the home in institutional setting for more than those two days anyway, not initially till he's a bit older anyway.

I will be working four days a week so au pair could have a weekday off a week and every weekend.... Is it still too much? Hours add up to about 25 but there would be a day or two that would be longer, and am mindful about not using them like a nanny with sole care (but maybe OK if one of us was working at home at the same time?). Thoughts?

Thinking we may need to get a cleaner to cover the housework side...

So working week would be something like:

Mon 2.45-6.30pm, pick up DS from nursery and DD from school, tea
Tues as for Monday
Wed 8.30am-5pm look after DS while one of us also in house, including school run for DD
Thurs day off
Fri (possibly alternate weeks) as for Wed
Weekends off

So you'd need an au pair to do 2 full days while one of you is working from home? That can be horribly stressful for an au pair especially with a toddler, as she'd need to make sure you weren't disturbed and obviously with your DS knowing you were in the house that could cause trouble, so no, this, to me would not be okay.

Personally I think that is ok for an au pair - my au pair looked after my 2yo for 2-3 full days at home, while I worked at home. If you are not exceeding 25hrs a week and they have at least 2 consecutive days off, I think that is acceptable.
My two bits of advice would be: do get a cleaner, and get an au pair who has experience with 2yos. My first au pair had been a nanny back in her home country for a 2yo, and she was awesome with him. My second, in hindsight, had not had experience with under 5s (my error for choosing her) and she just didn't know how to handle a toddler.
Oh and make sure you are working well out of the way, as it is very disruptive to whoever is looking after the child if you are hovering about and the child knows you are there...

Thank you both for your input and perspective in what it could be like from an au pair's perspective. I would probably ensure there was a paid activity (gymboree, dance class my son likes) to take the pressure off a bit on those days, goodness only knows even I can't entertain my son for hours at home! My husband works from home at the moment sometimes so it is a situation my toddler is used to (though not with me working from home as I'm currently on a career break). I would definitely present it as we are about should you need us, particularly in the early days (and given the commute to office is 1.5hrs), rather than I am about as I want to supervise your work. Would probably increase nursery days after a few months too, they just don't have anything available when we need it and I don't want to jump straight into long nursery days several times a week. I haven't ruled out other options like a CM or nanny share either.... It may be that we put the au pair idea on the back burner for a couple of years, but the idea really appeals.

I did something similar to this for the last couple of years until DS3 started school this year. Was fine, with an au pair experienced in younger children. I had Monday as my day off though, so she had a long weekend every weekend. I had an annual card for our local soft play where she went straight after school drop off, so that filled the morning, then lunchtime nap, and park etc after school.

I think the key is to be up front about your requirements and press it home in interview, so there are no surprises.

Sounds fine to me. They might find it hard to fit English lessons around that but, I guess, not impossible.