Family 1

We would like to introduce ourselves to you and to explain what we are looking for in an au pair. We have been marries for 16 years and have two children; a girl who is 10 years old and a boy who is 4. This will be our tenth year having an au pair.

We live in an apartment building on the Upper West Side neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. Our large apartment provides the au pair with her own bedroom, bathroom and telephone. Of course, the au pair has use of all the shared household family amenities such as the kitchen, computer, Internet, books and television. The building has a playroom for the children and gym for the adults. It is on a quiet street next to Riverside Park, which has many playgrounds and jogging paths. It is only two short blocks away from Broadway and the heart of Upper West Side with its shopping, restaurants, bookstores, movies and the very large Central Park. Central Park has many playgrounds, a zoo, as well as lakes, woods and gardens. There are also many schools and cultural institutions that offer courses appropriate for au pairs. There are many other families with au pairs in our neighbourhood and NYC.

Both our children are normal and happy, are used to having au pairs and have bonded well with them. Our eldest loves to be active, running and climbing outdoors and swimming; but also to play games, draw pictures, do crafts projects, play piano and to read. She has bonded well with all of her au pairs. Our youngest is a very jolly, social, talkative and active boy.

My husband’s work schedule is standard 9am to 5pm 5 days per week. I work 3 to 4 days per week but have a few weeks per year when I work 6 or 7 days a week. Our eldest is in school 8am to 3pm and our youngest from 9am to 1pm. Therefore an au pair will typically be free for part of weekday mornings. A typical day begins at 7am with the au pair helping us get the children ready for school. After picking the children up from school the au pair will spend the afternoon with one or both of the children at various times until we return from work. During some afternoons the children will have schedules after-school activities. At other times the au pair organizes the afternoons – scheduling play-dates with the children’s friends, going to the parks, playgrounds, museums or playing at home.

We are looking for a person who genuinely loves to be with children. We hope that our children will grow up to be intellectually curious, tolerant, self-confident, empathetic, multi-culturally minded and curious and respectful of the environment and of all people. We look for these same qualities in an au pair. In return, we believe that we can offer a congenial home, a great city to live in and explore and plenty of possible friendships with au pairs and other young people.

Family 2

Dear Au Pair

Greetings from the United States! I know you must be very excited about your upcoming experience in America. Let me tell you a few things about our family.

My husband and I are both professionals. My husband travels to Michigan and Chicago for his work. We have 2 daughters aged 13 and 9. Our eldest is completing the 8th grade in Middle School and loves it. She is very smart, very outgoing and loves to swim, play tennis and play the piano. She also loves to listen to pop music and write stories. She wants to be a journalist when she grows up. It's hard to believe time has gone by so fast. Our youngest is completing the 4th grade. She, like her sister, enjoys piano and tennis. They're both very close and play very well together. We have had au pairs live with us for 9 years, since our eldest was born, so the girls are always excited about meeting new girls and learning about new cultures. We have had au pairs from France, Germany, Latvia and Thailand.

We currently live in New York State and we moved here in June 2005. It's a beautiful community with lots of trees, large homes, great shopping and great restaurants. There is a train that takes you to Manhattan and we're also very close to Connecticut and New Jersey. Our home is a 5-bedroom house and the au pair's room is on the first floor with it's own bathroom, TV and DVD player. We have a large back yard and there are many parks in the area. But the biggest advantage we have is being so close to Manhattan with all of the theaters, restaurants, musical and dance events.

As you can imagine with work, school and lessons, our family life is very busy. We absolutely adore our children and want the very best for them. Education is very important and exposing them to different cultures, places and activities is also important. We always try to find interesting family activities to participate in on the weekends, including outdoor festivals in the summer, the zoo, museums etc. We also use the bike paths around our home and the swimming pool and tennis courts. We take a few vacations a year, usually someplace warm with a beach or pool and lots of sight seeing activities.

Because we have lots of prior experience with au pairs, we know it is important for you to become and integral part of our family life. I want to involve you in all of the planning for the kids homework and activities. It is important that we have open communication at all times, and that we help you make a smooth transition in the local au pair cluster. We hope to help you learn about American life and make great friends.

Family 3

My wife and I have been together for 14 years. We have four children aged 12, 10, 8 and 3. We live in New Jersey and have been here for many years. I grew up in town and much of my family remains in town, including both of my parents, a couple of my brothers and a number of cousins. It’s a great community environment in which to raise a family.

My wife and I both work locally so we play an active role in our kids’ lives. We are often home after school for homework help and activities. I work in a local firm in town and my wife is self-employed. We’ve had au pairs living/working with us for the past 10 years. Having an au pair has enabled our children to continue to grow while maintaining some of the same consistencies of our family lifestyle. Our experience with au pairs has shown that they have had the opportunity to meet a number of American families and enjoy the first hand experience of some of the cultural diversities in the states.

The kids’ scheduled activities revolve around school. They’re in school all day and often go to some type of activity after school (i.e. swimming, tennis, soccer, baseball etc.). Our current babysitter does a majority of the tasks that are associated with caring for kids. This includes feeding them, playing them, washing their clothes and linens and driving them to school and activities. We live in a charming town with great support and spirit. We have a true ‘downtown’ area that offers shopping to accommodate most everybody’s needs. Very often you may find parents/babysitter strolling with children through town to window shop or have coffee. After school, kids often meet their friends downtown for ice cream and shopping or a movie. We live on a quiet cul-de-sac about a mile and a half from town. Our home is a six bedroom, four and a half bathroom building. The town has been a terrific place to provide an au pair with opportunities to enrich their cultural experience. I believe our au pairs have been very pleased with their experiences in the United States and all of the cultural and natural benefits of the area.

I look forward to providing another young woman with the opportunity to experience some of the benefits, while at the same time provide her with a strong sense of family and community.

Family 4

We are blessed with three wonderful children aged 8, 6 and our baby who is 9 months old. My husband works for a company that he has been in for more than 20 years. His office is less than 10 minutes from his home. I work downtown about twice a week.

Our children go to a private school that is approximately 25 minutes from our house. We carpool with another family. They generally leave for school at 7:30am and are home by 3:30pm. One of the primary responsibilities of our au pairs would be to take and pick up the kids from school. The kids have both excelled academically – the love maths and also love a variety of other activities. They generally don’t have play dates during the week but they do play outside or do homework until dinnertime.

Our home is large and our au pair will have her own room and bathroom. We also have three cars, so that she will always have a car for child-related and personal needs. Downtown is approximately a half hour drive by car or rail. The metro area has every type of cultural and social opportunity imaginable. Our previous au pairs have enjoyed the monuments, museums, theaters, shopping at the various malls and socializing with many other au pairs in the neighborhood.

We are excited to join the Au Pair in America program again and look forward to meeting our new au pair.

Family 5

Hello! We are a family of four living in Maryland. We both work in Washington D.C., the capitol of the United States and have regular Monday through Friday jobs. Sometimes one or the other will have to travel out of town for work. Our neighborhood is very nice, there are many families with children, parks to play in and sports teams for the kids.

Our house is a family home with a small yard. We have 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. The basement is made into a play area for the kids. It also has a large bedroom with a walk in closet, a full bath and an outside entrance. This is our au pair’s room. Our community also has a playground, tennis courts and a pool.

The kids are 8 and 9 years old. We also have two small dogs. Both boys attend a private school, which is a couple of miles away. Our au pair drives the boys to school each morning and picks them up in the afternoon. They need someone to help them get ready for school in the morning. This includes waking them up, making sure they get dressed and brush their teeth and hair, eating breakfast and being driven to school. After school they need someone to pick them up, help with any homework and keep an eye on them when they play. The boys love to play outside. On rainy days they like to watch movies and play on the computer. They both like football, baseball and basketball. We have had five au pairs previously and have enjoyed learning about different cultures and sharing experiences with our au pairs. We believe that having an au pair benefits our children by exposing them to different nationalities and different countries. The Washington, DC metropolitan area also offers endless resources and activities for someone interested in learning about the culture of the United States. We would encourage an au pair to take advantage of all the activities possible in the city.

We also feel that having an au pair reduces stress in our lives and in our children’s lives. We thing the boys are happier spending time at home than in a crowded after school program. We are looking for an au pair who truly wants to be part of our family. We love to do activities together and would like our au pair to participate. We like to go to the movies, museums, the zoo, the beach and long walks or bike rides. We look forward to having a close relationship with our au pair. We feel that open and honest communication is very important and we hope that any au pair placed with us will feel comfortable enough to talk to provide loving care for the kids. In return we’ll provide a loving home and an opportunity for a young woman to expand her horizons.