Is it just my au pair who doesn't do her basic jobs without being asked EVERY time???

[kittywise]

Some of you might know me through my au pair saga. We have had a real run of bad luck with them.

I use GUMTREE and not an agency as I've heard so many crappy things about agency au pairs being generally useless and people shedding out loads of money for a shite au pair which the agency won't make amends for.

Anyway the current au pair is studying English here, although her English is pretty good.
I got to meet her before deciding whether to accept her. Gave her extensive questionnaire I got from MN and asked her lots of questions, watched her with the kids etc. Got a good reference. etc.

Anyway, she came last Monday and all seemed ok, a bit manic here as we had lots of christmas guests.
She was very enthusiastic, the kids loved playing with her.

Then on the Thursday she came down with a cold and sore throat and has basically been out of action since then. She has done bits and bobs, but VERY slowly.

After she was with us a couple of days I gave her a very basic and simple routine and jobs that I would like her to do each day like, tidy dc's lunch boxes away, get dc's water at tea time, get pj's on at 6.30, help tidy kitchen after dinner.

None of this gets done without me asking first, everytime.
I've asked her if she understands the list, if she has any questions about it etc. She always says everything's fine with a smile on her face and then doesn't do anything.

Today was first day back at school and she also went back to college, so was well enough to do that, but arrived back 10 mins late to start her shift and been generally dragging her arse around and the house since.

The kids like her which is good and although I trust her not to hurt them in anyway I'm not sure I would be happy leaving her alone with them for longer than me going on the school run (20 mins).
When i came back from school today the baby was walking round with a terrible pooey nappy which had not been changed.
When she dresses the little ones ( only after I've asked) they have really inappropriate clothing on, like just jumper, no socks to go out in.

Now, I don't have a problem settling someone in, showing them the ropes, taking things slowly as long as they are showing willing and some sort of initiative.

Oh I don't know why I'm writing this. I suppose I just wanted to find out whether this is normal? Is it something that i should expect any au par to do?

Do other au pairs do this?

Thanks for reading, I just bloody wish i could find someone with a bit of common sense

what does your childrens' father think of you taking his children so far away?

Is he too planning on coming over here?

What will you do workwise if your children get poorly? What about their schooling?

I offered my partner to come with us but he has no interest in coming to the UK.He has his reasons and I am at current starting to see why he doesn't want to come.He is more than happy for me to do something I want to do.I have stood by him throughout his dreams. As for my children if they get poorly--which i am assuming means sick/ill then I would deal with that...though to date I havent had any sick children...I realise it's a different environment and I will just have to wait see. As for education, neither of my children are school age.And as this would only be a 6-12mnth committment I would be back in time for my oldest to start school.

Oh I missed, If my children DO get sick and I have to leave then I will rent until they get better and find another job or just have a holiday and come home when they are better

Slightly at the 6-12 months when you're expecting a family to offer your separate accomodation (ie a whole floor of the house or a cottage) for you and your DCs and paying you a salary. I think there will be very highly qualified and experienced nannies looking for that kind of job (I know I would have) prepared to give a much longer commitment than that.

And as for not typing correctly, sure the occasional typo is fine, we all make them, but I feel one should still be aware of basic grammar, spelling and presentation.

To attempt an answer to why it's so expensive living in the UK....comparatively it was expensive in the UK because sterling pound was very strong compared to other countries which makes the cost of living seem comparatively higher. If you think that this summer the pound:euro ratio was something like 4:5 then things do seem very expensive. Against the US dollar it was even worse - 1:2 I believe. But it's also expensive within the UK when you look at what your salary will buy so what you might be able to get out of the same amount of money is very different.

Hi frannikin, I am a qualified Nanny and a qualified child carer and apparently a lot of nannies go through agencies or come over on the Youth Mobility Scheme. I am under the impression that a lot of these nannies only stay for a maximum of 18months - 2 years and the reason there is only a 6-12month committment is becuase the famiy that has offered me a job, is only returning to the UK for between 6-8months. I felt that, that worked well because of my situation with the children and coming back for school and back to daddy, he will be finished what it is he will be doing by then too.. Thanks

If you've got a family willing to take you for 6 months then that's fab. But an 18month - 2 year commitment is a much more solid length of time than 12months max which is the impression you were giving. I'm sure that as a nanny you know it takes a while to settle into a position and get to know a family and a while to wind down too. I don't think it does either side any favours going into something with mentality that you're only staying for a year max. But I didn't realise you had a firm offer - I was under the impression you still hadn't met the family.

Hi again frannikin, i am still to meet them yet, although they stipulated around 6-8mnths. Yeah sometimes it takes that long to warm to a family and vise-versa them to you...lol. It's hard enough warming in Australia let alone in a foreign country. I worked as a nanny for 3 years for 1 family here in Australia and it took around 6-7months for us to totally understand each other and then another 6 to really be apart of the family. Well thanks for your advice. Hope you's all have a happy weekend... oops it's not Australia Day over there is it.I love long weekends.

You are talking about the Domestic worker category - this requires you to have worked for your employer for 12 months prior to entering the UK - I thought you were looking for more or less an immediate start?

Who sais I havent worked for them for 12months .........they have been in Australia for a while.

Er well you just admitted to us you haven't met them yet and there would presumably be a paper trail, unless Australian employment law is completely different and you don't have contracts, tax, social security etc....

Personally I wouldn't risk coming to the UK as an illegal immigrant, which you would be coming as a domestic worker under false pretences. Each to their own though.

The irony is if you had tried this two months ago you would probably have got away with it, as of 28th November the UK adopted a new tougher immigration system based on "the Australian system" (the governments description not mine) with much more stringent evidence rules.

umm australian law is a bit different, we have social security but my family isnt entitled to it,so we aren't governed by it, apparently we earn too much. We dont need contracts of any sort to work for anyone. Some places do and some just dont. As for income at tax time, I only need to declare my income no matter where it came from. If it was cash in hand then i just declare it as cash in hand work.then i pay tax, which i would keep aside anyway.so yes laws must be different.Maybe that is why everyone likes Australia.People come into the UK under false pretences all the time,anyway I have decided that me and the kids are just going to come over for a nice holiday to the UK for about 6-8weeks and see a few things. I feel as though I probably won't fit in and from the feedback I hear about the UK from other aussies I know I ain't going to fit in. I'm too Australian and people over there are too UK... which is absolutely fine, we come from different sides of the coin...so to speak.I will go back to a nanny position here in Oz, there are plenty available even with my kids, even if they get sick, with 2 and 3 bedroom houses supplied for accomodation on stations, Good wages and people I know im going to get on well with....I guess I was just hoping other countries had adopted our way of life of giving people a go no matter what their circumstances are, without the 30 questions on why people shouldn't employ me.It was a dream that I am quite willing to give up now, knowing that I have tried and learnt that I really am proud to call Australia home. SO thankyou to all of you for your input. Cheerio.