Where did you find your Swedish/Finnish aupair/nanny?

[GloriaInEleusis]

That's it really. I have a Finnish friend (albeit biased) who has convinced me that a Swedish or Finnish nanny is a good idea. I may be asking a but early as our job begins in March. But I've been looking through the usual websites (nannyjob, greataupair, nannyjob) and the pickin's are slim to say the least...

Help! Who's got a Swede/Fin and where did you find her?

And if anyone wants to point me in the direction of a fab nanny who doesn't happen to be a Swede or a Fin I'm certainy interested.

But.... she must have live-in experience, she must have an interest in the gym membership I'm going to give her, and she must be relatively tidy/organised/proactive. Oh, and she must have basic cooking skills. And I mean throw some veg and meat in a pan, add sauce, cook pasta, mix it up and put it on a plate.

Yeah, I looked at nannyjob twice,okay?

I found my lovely Finn on APworld. Wow she was fab, sadly had to go back to finish her A levels (equiv) - yes she was 17!

She was going to come back for a year as she wants to improve her English, but now she has decided to join the Finnish Army.

She was happy, adaptable, loved being in the garden/active with the kids and just took to everything without the kind of micromanagement I am currently involved in!

(French AP, have extended the list of 'dos' and 'don'ts' by 100% since she has been here, it now includes stupid things like 'Do not wax your legs in your bedroom without protecting the floor (10 month old cream carpet now ruined) 'Please wrap cheese in cling film before replacing in the fridge' Please check there is more milk for the childrens breakfast before making yourself (a pint of) hot chocolate at night' etc

There is a Finnish AP in UK forum, but don't know what it is called [unhelpful icon]!

Oh, an AP forum would be great. I'm actually tempted with the idea of dropping to au pair. But, I think that realistically I probably need a nanny until Jan 2010. So almost 2 more years of a nanny.

Where are you based?

Have you tried Gumtree?

Am a nanny looking for work - would love gym membership as part of my package

I got my Swedish aupair on aupairworld.net

However a very kind mumsnetter sort of gave me advice on Swedish aupairs and in my case I wish I had listened (you know who you are )

Am almost at the end of my relationship with my Swedish girl - though our German girl was mundane found her far nicer, friendlier and less hassle

Sorry for the hijack

(oh and btw if that mumsnetter could tell me where she disappeared off MSN - miss the chats)

Oops they changed the format here so the first post is at the top and not the bottom - hey Eleusis

Shows how long it is between visits

There is also a Swedish forum in IRL - not been privy to it but know AP uses it to compare and contrast positions

She told me about all the unhappy girls there!!!

So, mishmash, tell me about your swedish au pair experience.

Omega, I'm in Sunbury/Twickenham (we live in Sunbury but scool and activities ballet, tennis (at the gym) are in Twickenham so much of the day is spent in Twickenham). Looking for live-in to start in March. So if you are looking for something now, you might not want to wait until mid March.

She is self centred, selfish, here for a good time and costs me a fortune - that enough

Oh no! That says a lot coming from you, whom I regard as the most patient and tolerant nanny/au pair employer there ever was.

I can tolerate so much

Any more signs of you moving to Ireland?

Threats of moving to Ireland are on the back burner now. Don't think it would have panned out really when you consider I have no right to work there.

Am in worcestershire so no help anyway but thanks for reply

I will wing a note off to my Swedish ex-AP who is now at uni back in Sweden - she had a friend looking for something last year - she might know someone.

Oh, you are lovely.

You can have mine - man mad, eat you out of house and home, no interest in your children, wants your car, doesn't do much housework, wants loads of holidays (and still get paid) AND, choses her moments carefully to catch you off guard so invariably you can't say no to whatever she is looking for at the moment

You really need this girl

Oh mishmash

There is obviously something to be said for taking a girl with a bf at home. Perhaps a bit more homesick, but not out trying to get a man at every opportunity!

Gosh mish, she sounds so tempting. But I wouldn't want to impose.

I try to shy away from the man chasers. If they put up a pic on great au pair with their boyfriend I take it as a warning sign. I want a nanny who is in control of her own destiny, not one who is going to put her man before my job. No thanks.

Oh Laura - the men aren't at home - they are all here. Last a few weeks and she moves along swiftly to the next. Eleusis this is the girl you may rem I had reservations about because she came across as toooooooo quiet - she certainly proved that point wrong

Maybe she had been advised to keep her mouth shut if she wanted the job.

Im a live in looking for work, but Im not finish or anything... butr I am lovely, and not a man chaser (is this really a problem for some?)

Aren't you looking now? My job doesn't start until mid-March. So I'm not sure you'd really be interested in it.

Not to mention if I hire someone from mumsnet, we can't very well both come on here talking about the other and then what would I do at work???

To be honest, my jobsearch is just going badly. I've had two jobs now confirmed then pulled out from under me! so if I found a march job, I wouldnt be too sad! although Im in that lucky position of having a room at parents house (in Cornwall, but hey ho) so I could wait and be lazy (or get temp job!)

As to mumsnet, I could be oh so sneaky and refer to you as BloriaInEleusis?!?! no one would know! or I could just not, you know, dis you. I'm only here as current employer doent use site, if one did I'd skedaddle to nannyjob or something.