Have you got/had a male au pair?

[LotsOfLovelyShoes]

I am looking for one to help out when I go back to work and am drawn to some of the male au pairs from the states.

Just wondering if there will be less tension than I had with our previous european female au pair and also kids are now all aged over 8 and could benefit from a more active kind of childcare....(last au pair was totally un motivated with kids and treated her stay purely as a chance to improve her English)

Could be kind of cool?

Or a complete disaster?

Any feedback appreciated....

I really did not mind sharing a room with the children. It's camp you don't really all change like that, in the mornings we would walk to the shower block all get showered (in individual cubical) then you'd come out changed. You would have the occasional change in the cabin with the kids but that was just tops or trousers.

So PGL sounds fun. I remember when I was there someone escaped from a nearby prison so we had police helicopters flying around the camp which was quite scary.

LotsOfLovelyShoes it is great that your DH is ok about having a Male Au-Pair.

LotsOfLovelyShoes - did you get your earlier question answered, re Youth Mobility Scheme?
If not...

You are right that the Youth Mobility Scheme has replaced the Au Pair visa category. It has also replaced Working Holiday visa - which is what American's would have used to work in the UK.
Alas no idea why the US isn't on the new list, could be due to the US Government needing to sponsor applicants.

The US has never been on the list. It's rampany anti-Americanism I tell ya. (just kidding)

Just wanted to add I've had brilliant male au pairs from Czech Republic, we're still in contact with some. One is now married with a baby of his own!

A household of dds is better off with a male au pair imo. They also have helped with the gardening, diy, mowing lawn, looking after animals etc. Mine were much better than ironing than me and cooked some amazing meals too.

Some say women need wives too!

thanks - found out about the American boycott!

I am searching for a male au pair on Au Pair World. The guys on there seem really sporty and switched on. Can you tell me apart from references what else I should consider asking them so I don't get a wrong'un? I have only ever had female child care before and have made fairly good choices ie. they were all fundamentally nice with varying degrees of usefulness.

I imagine I just use my instincts again?

Considering:
Canada
Australia
New Zealand
Spain
Turkey
France (?)
Denmark
Czech Republic

Any other good 'cultures'/countries?

erm... are all those countries on the list now?

no, that's where I am basing my searches....

You say you visited PGL right? If it was Boreatton Park in Shropshire, theres an army base nearby, the prison escapee is a story we tell all of the kids because we're lovely like that

I just don't feel comfortable sharing a room with a kid, if they made an allegation on me I have no proof of innocence, just my word against theres, which is what really terrifies me. My whole life I've wanted to work with children and I really cope not being able to do so, and all it takes is one allegation for you to be tarred for life.

In saying that though, I had allegations of bullying and homophobia made against me last year. The bullying was dismissed thankfully as the child had been causing a lot of trouble and had been accusing people of bullying him all week (I took an umbrella away from him, which constitutes as bullying apparently. He was in the 13-16 age group...) but the homophobia allegation was taken really seriously.

At least until I admitted that I'm bisexual, which isn't something I hide but at places like PGL it's not something you want public either . That homophobia allegation was because I told a bunch of 16year olds off for being homophobic, ironically enough!

Oh my... and they say Americans are litigation mad. One camp I went to (Camp Lake Hubert in Minnesota) had a cabin that was sort of split into wings. There was an east side, a west side, and an upstairs. Equall sizes and about 7 girls in each. I think the counsellors (3 - one for each wing) slept in a central room.

I can tell you more about it if you want. There is a boys camp across the Lake (Camp Lincoln).

See that sounds more like what I'm used too, though we had 4 members of staff staying in a central room to about 100 kids or more, which can be horrible if all hell breaks loose! But I was only ever kept up twice, once by faulty fire alarms and then kids coming to me ill on the same night, they'd been keptup by the alarms too lol But I was up until nearly three and then was made to [illegally] work the next morning!

The other time was chasing the kids, though tbh, I don't think I was on duty that night, I was living in the staff cabins in that area and got asked to help! Again, no morning off even though I was one of the few who volunteered my help .

That place really took my god natured willingness for granted! Always working extra hours and helping out when I shouldn't have done slaps self silly

At what age can they go to summer camp in the USA and we can send them over can't we ?
DD would think she'd died and gone to heaven.

On topic I shall be employer my brother as a Manny I think, should I ever get a job.

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