Is my aupair being cheeky? Says it is hard for her to walk 25 min each way for school run.

[blueshoes]

My first aupair (French) is starting in Aug. But I am already having doubts.

An important part of the aupair's duties is to do my dd's school run. The school is a 25 min walk away, with dd age 4 in a buggy. Now the aupair emails to says that a 25x4 walk every day is hard for her to do.

She was asking about taking a bus and having a bus pass.

I emailed her to explain that a bus would take longer (35 min+), she would still have to walk 20 mins each way (because the school is not near the bus stop), and the roads are congested in the mornings. Plus it will cost us £20 a week in bus fare. She does not seem to have taken that in (language problem?).

Is she angling for us to provide her with a bus pass or contribute to her travel costs? Or does she have a point about such a long walk? I personally have done it (old-ish and weak as I am, lol) and don't see why a young strapping 20 year old cannot.

We are paying her £65 a week allowance - which I feel is slightly above market for what is IMO quite an easy job(London).

Do any of you who are aupair employers pay/subsidise transport costs on top of allowance? Should I ditch her before she starts, as being lame?

Thanks everyone. I want to take all your views in. Just that I now have to pick my ds up from his nursery (15 minute) walkx2! Hope I survive it.

A heath? In London?

She sounds like trouble. It's not unreasonable to walk 25mins to school. You have to stick to your guns, or look for someone else.

4x/day.

Pushing a 4-year-old in a buggy, though?

I'm going to save some of these threads and show them to any daughter of mine who tells me she wants to be an au pair.

witchandchips , it's there and back to take her dd and there and back to fetch = 4 trips.

I don't see the problem with the walk myself (and I'm a lzy git) - maybe compromise, offer her a bus pass but say you'll take half the cost off her wages?

An au-pair gets a room and all their food, plus an allowance of between £55 to £65 a day. So Blueshoes is paying at the upper end of the range. We don't live in London, but I worked out that the value of what our au pair got, including allowance, was about £150 a week for 25 hours work. That's the equivalent of £6 per hour and no tax...

Not half her wages!

Sorry - allowance is weekly, not daily!

I don't think its unreasonable at all - we're talking WALKING, not hard labour down a coal mine! But I agree it will put some people off (it amazes me, but some people seem to object to walking anywhere!), so needs to be upfront in the advert. I actually think its a positive thing in terms of fitness and activity. But then we walk everywhere

How about getting her some Heelies?

I can think of at least one Heath in London Expat - there may be quite a few for all I know. As an aside, is it safe to walk across with children in the late afternoon/early evenings? She may be concerned about her safety rather getting blisters. However I do doubt it.

Perfectly reasonable.

Considering London's rising murder rate, yeah, I'd be concerned for my safety, too, tbh.

actually i'd probably expect my 4 year old to walk too....or more likely take their bike.

What actually is a heath? We dont have them in Scotland.

If she was working as a waitress she'd walk a lot further than that every day.

Message withdrawn

I'm so not having a go - but wow, 25 hours a week for £65. If I had a spare roon I'd so get me one of those!

After considering the original post I have reconsidered and while I still have no problems with the 25min walk, the 4yo in a buggy is a bit much. I think you should be working on building up your DD's stamina first off.

expat I was an au pair - but I went to Dallas so I just drove from one air-conditioned venue to another.

'If she was working as a waitress she'd walk a lot further than that every day.'

And probably earning a lot more, too.

PMSL @ Elliot and coal mines

I'd quite happily do it (In fact pay me £65 quid a week and I will do it!). I'm amazed at the number who wouldn't (but then I prefer walking to public transport/driving). Agree with RnB- get an active type.

, bozza.

My 4-year-old has dypraxia and tires very easily, but she walks everyone now, too.

She has to, the 18-month-old is in the buggy now.