APEX Host Family Profiles

For qualified childcarers.... meet our great APEX families

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Family 1

We are a happy, busy family looking for a loving, energetic and flexible au pair who enjoys outdoor activities with children. Our kids love reading, swimming, hiking, sports and playing with other kids.

Our eldest daughter is 16 years old and is in 10^th grade. Our middle daughter is 11 and in 6^th grade. Both girls are in school from 8:00 to 2:30 each day, with after school sports or other activities 2 – 3 days per week. Our youngest daughter, 8, is in 2^nd grade and in school from 8 to 3:15.

Our au pair will have her own room, private phone, TV / VCR bicycle and access to one of our cars for local driving. Our five bedroom, three bathroom house is about one and a half miles from the beaches and 5 minutes from the train station. New York City is a 50-minute train ride away. Our town has two beaches, several parks and playgrounds, a variety of churches, shops and a movie theater. With many au pairs in the area, there are lots of programs and activities for them. I work 4 days a week in New York City. My husband works in a town nearby as an attorney. We need an au pair who is flexible and can adapt to our always changing schedules. We love to hike, bike and do other outdoor activities with our kids.

The au pair’s responsibilities involve caring for the children, mainly when we are at work. Responsibilities include playing and reading and doing art projects with them, preparing their meals and cleaning up after their meals, driving them to various activities, taking them to parks and beaches, laundering their clothes and tidying up at the end of the day. We encourage our children to play or read. The broader our au pair’s interests (in art, music, crafts, hobbies, sports or games) the better.

We believe that the au pair program provides a fun and unique learning experience for both the au pair and our family, and we look forward to welcoming her.

Family 2

We are a family living in Maryland, just outside of Washington, D.C. We’ve been married for 15 years and have three children, aged 12, 9 and 6. This would be our second year with an au pair and we are really looking forward to it. We’ve had positive experiences with our first au pair and with a little more experience under our belts we now know how to make it even better. We have a nice arrangement for an au pair in our basement, with a sunny bedroom, private bath and private entrance / exit to the back patio. We provide computer/internet access as well as a cell phone for local calls. Driving is an important part of the duties and we have a car for the au pair to use.

We’re a pretty lively family. Everyone is busy and sometimes life seems pretty chaotic. As a family we love to ski (Washington is never really snowy enough for us). We’re very active and all three children are on local swim team. Biking is also very big around here and there are many trails that lead far and wide. These are outings everyone enjoys whenever we can fit it into the schedule. On top of all that we have school and homework. Given all these demands we think a curious au pair will fit in best with the family.

Our eldest is 12 and in 6^th grade. He’s very talkative and loves adults. He can sometimes be a little emotional but is also thoughtful and affectionate. Our eldest daughter is a little pistol – small in body but not in spirit. She’s pretty intense and competitive but has a soft side as well. 9 years old and in the 4^th grade, she is the soccer player in the family but loves music as well. She’s a good student and hates to miss the bus so is very good about getting ready in the morning. Our youngest daughter, 6 years old and in the 1^st grade, is independent, easy going and loving. She often acts the peacemaker between her brother and sister. We often joke that she’ll be an actress because she loves to perform and loves to talk to people – she can really work a crowd. We think an outgoing and friendly au pair with a sunny disposition will fit in well with us. A good sense of humor will come in very handy.

We need flexible care, focusing on before and after school except when school is out. In addition, we often need that second set of hands in the early evening and sometimes on weekends just to get everyone where they need to go. We would like our au pair to be available for weekend babysitting two times a month. A typical schedule would start in the morning around 7am and would include helping with breakfast, packing lunches and generally helping the kids get out the door. Duties would include serving a healthy snack, helping with homework and driving to activities when needed. During the school week we don’t the let the kids watch TV until they’ve finished their homework. Of course, the au pair will have access to TV after the children go to bed. The au pair would be responsible for the children’s laundry, changing their beds and serving and cleaning up from their meals (mostly breakfast). Sundays and Friday mornings would be “off duty” times. We look forward to finding the perfect match and sharing our home with an au pair.

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Family 3

Hello! We are a family with two daughters living in North Carolina. Our girls are 8 and 4 years old. You’ll be our second au pair; we have very much enjoyed our time with our current au pair (from the Ukraine) throughout this year. We’re looking forward to meeting you, learning about your home country and introducing you to others.

We’ve recently moved to the area – it’s primarily known for colleges and universities. We’ve got museums, concerts, restaurants, shopping and other activities. We’re about a 3 hour drive from the ocean. Our house is in a more rural area but is only 20 minutes away from downtown. We live on a private road and have a 3-acre yard that includes a pool, some woods, several gardens and a pond. Our house has a large porch that surrounds us on three sides. It also has a cellar, used right now only for storage though we have plans to make a play area for the girls down there this winter.

Our eldest is in 3^rd grade. On school mornings she gets up at 6:30, has breakfast - you would go with her to catch the school bus about 7:10. The bus picks her up at the end of our road, which is about half a mile away. She enjoys school and gets excellent grades. The bus brings her home at around 3:20. You and our youngest will meet her (in the afternoons we usually walk). After having a snack she immediately does her homework. On most days you would still be in charge during that time and would help with her homework as needed. Both my husband and I value education highly and we hope that you will also enjoy helping our children learn.

For fun the kids like to run around outside, either by themselves or with us or with the neighbors’ children from down the street. They also like to make up games and activities for themselves. In the summers when school is out, the girls like nothing more than to be in the water. The pool at our house is handy for that! My husband works at his office one 1 day a week, as it’s a long drive from our house. The rest of the time he works from home. This means he can be quite flexible. His office is away from the main living area – it’s quite easy to forget that their Dad is home. This makes your life a bit easier, as you are in charge while he is working.

We like to start our working days early, leaving more family time in the afternoon. We have family scattered around the U.S. and often travel to visit. You’re welcome to join us on any of our trips. In your free time we hope you’ll take advantage of the many opportunities in the area to explore, learn and have fun. We have an extra car that you will use to take the girls to activities and for you in your free time. We are interested in learning more about you and your home country, too, and hope that you will enjoy learning more about us during the year.

Family 4

Welcome to our family! There are six of us – mom, dad and our children: aged 11, 9, 7 and 4 years old. We live about 35 minutes north of New York City by car. Our community is close to many excellent colleges and we also have easy access to many shops, movie theaters and cultural activities.

Our home is a large colonial style building. Each of our children has their own room with a bathroom, and there is a separate nanny’s suite with two bedrooms and a full bathroom. We spend most of our time together in the spacious kitchen and family room. The kids all go to school in our community. Our oldest is in 6^th grade. Our 9 and 7-year-old daughters go to the local elementary and our 4 year old is in her last year of pre-school. The children all get along well with eachother and are outgoing, affectionate and love to play both indoors and outside. Our eldest plays ice hockey. He also loves baseball. Our 9-year-old daughter is in the 4^th grade. She’s just started playing basketball. Our 7-year-old daughter is the quietest in the group. She’s our baby but always wants to do everything “by myself”. She is extremely independent and very verbal for a child of her age. The three girls love to do art projects together, like painting and making jewellery. All four of the kids have many friends and they frequently hang out together.

During the school year we’re always busy with the children’s sport practices and games, after school activities and active social lives. All four children go to camp. The two older kids spent 4 weeks at a sleep away camp and the two younger ones go to day camp locally. We usually go away for 2 to 3 weeks in August – we enjoy renting houses near the beach because we all love the ocean and spending time together there.

The au pair’s day will begin at 7:45 by helping to get the three girls dressed, fed and ready for school. All three leave around 8:30, at which time the au pair will be able to make the kids’ beds, do their laundry and straighten up the kitchen. It’s then quiet until our youngest gets out of school at noon, but she usually has activities so most days we won’t need the au pair “on duty” until about 2:45 when it’s time to collect the rest of the kids from school. They usually eat dinner between 5 to 5:30 so our au pair would prepare dinner for them, then help with homework and getting them ready for bed. The au pair’s working day is usually over by 6:30.

So far we’ve been very lucky with our childcare arrangements. What we’re looking for now is someone who will become a member of the family. Our kids are very excited about having someone new join our family as an au pair. They have had wonderful experiences with their previous caregivers and look forward to starting a relationship with a loving, upbeat and energetic person who can teach them about another country and culture. We look forward to welcoming someone new into our home and into our lives.

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Family 5

Hello, my husband and I are hoping that you will become part of our family in the first year or two of our daughter’s life. We are expecting our first child to arrive soon and hope that you’ll come to join us in the summer. I will be home with you full time for the first 2 months you are with us. After the baby is 3 and a half months old I will return to work.

I really enjoy staying physically fit and like to run and do yoga. My husband and I enjoy the opera, ballet and movies. We try to see a good show at least once per year. I have also traveled a bit for my job (to a lot of Europe). My husband works 5 days per week. He really likes helping people and, when he’s home, likes to do projects around the house. We live in a friendly neighbourhood and most of our neighbors are also well educated and diverse. We travel whenever we can. If we take any vacations while you are here we will of course pay your way to take you with us.

We’re hoping that you’ll come in the summer because you can work fewer hours (since I will be home) and take the time to get to know New York City and to make friends. Manhattan is one of the cultural centers of the world. We are a quick bus ride from the city (45 minutes away). You will have access to a car whenever you need it so if you need to travel to meet with friends or go shopping you’ll be able to get around easily. I find we usually go to Manhattan if we want to go to a museum or a park to just walk around and do some shopping.

We have a comfortable 4-bedroom home. You will have your own bedroom here in the house. We share a TV in the den and hope that you will feel comfortable watching TV with us or sitting in the den with us at night. Your room is private, on the second floor next to my office, so you will be able to close the door and have all the privacy you need. A cleaning lady visits once a week, so the house is always clean (and mostly neat!).

This is a very exciting time for both of us. I am very excited for you and I look forward to seeing you experience what could be one of the most memorable years of your life. I am hoping to make you feel as comfortable as possible in your home away from home, and that during the time that you are here caring for our child, you will have the type of experience you are looking for.