What is an au pair?

I wanted to create my first blog on the two things I feel most passionate about and that is being a mom and cultural exchange. I decided to start this blog after a recent experience I had at a moms-night-out. As often happens at these events, the talk was of children, husbands, whether or not any of us are doing any of this right. One topic that always comes up is childcare. For the past 5+ years, hosting an au pair has been my family's answer to the childcare conundrum. People are always curious about how this works, why did I choose this, what is it like having someone live with us? I am starting this blog to answer all of those questions!

I am currently hosting my 6th au pair with Cultural Care Au Pair (http://www.culturalcare.com/). I have 2 children who are currently 5 1/2 and 2 1/2. My first au pair arrived when my daughter was about 4 months old, so my children are truly growing up with this experience.

I think that the most common question I still get is, "what is an au pair"? The term "au pair" comes from a French term meaning "on par with". In the childcare context, this means that this is a young person who comes to live in your home as part of your family and provide up to 45 hours per week of childcare. She is not a domestic servant, a cook, a housekeeper or Mary Poppins.

Au pair programs, like Cultural Care, are regulated by the Department of State (http://www.exchanges.state.gov/education/jexchanges/private/aupair.htm). Currently au pairs are required to be between the ages of 18-26. They must have completed the equivalent of a highschool diploma, have previous childcare experience, speak English, have references, provide a criminal background check and health certificate.

There are about a million more questions that you probably have - I am happy to answer them! I am going to start each of these subsequent blogs with a FAQ that I get about my au pair.