A couple of years ago I met a friend couple with their two kids on holiday. They had brought also Clohe with them, a 20-year-old South African au pair girl. Back then I didn't know what an au pair was. We spent a week together, we took long walks, we ate in local restaurants, we did lots of things, and I can still remember the relaxing atmosphere we enjoyed. The children were most of the time with Chloe. They were like mesmerized by her, intrigued by her experience and stories. They used to speak and play in English in such a natural way, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
I thought about my time at school, at all the efforts I had made to learn a foreign language. They were playing instead with a person with a different cultural background and had learnt a foreign language without effort. At that moment I decided I wanted my kids to make this experience, which would allow them to learn another language in an easy and funny way and to grow up thanks to this intercultural exchange.
Hence, we also joined the program.
At the beginning we had lots of doubts and questions: What will it be like to live with a person who is not part of the family? Can we can trust her/him? And what if we don’t like the Au Pair?
And.. then along came “Lucy”. The first weeks we were all a little bit disoriented. It was an awkward situation for us all…but day after day we got more and more enthusiastic, we understood each other better and there was growing harmony between my kids and the au pair. When the experience came to an end, we all felt those three months had flown by so fast. After Lucy we had Alexandra, Katie, Clare… each time a different and unique experience. Each one of them has given us something.
After 4 years of Au pair exchange I can absolutely say that I am highly satisfied with this experience. We have reached important targets, we have all grown up, built deep and strong friendships, which are long lasting and give us the opportunity to visit other countries in the near future. We thought that our kids might suffer from saying goodbye to a person they became fond of and who had been part of their daily life. But once again our kids surprised us thus showing us how deep this experience had improved their social skills and had opened up their minds and their perspectives.
And so the idea was born to found this Association in order to allow other people to enjoy the same valuable experience, in order to offer more opportunities, to address and assist more and more Host families and Au Pairs, who would like to embark on this adventure."
At Au pair for Kids we aim to provide Host families and Au pairs with support and assistance in networking, contacting and introduction services. Qualified and reliable Au pairs are shortlisted on the basis of Interviews and reference checks. We are specialized in the selection of pofiles who are native speakers of: English, German, French, Italian and Spanish. Au pair for Kids also cooperates with professional and trusted agencies working in this field with the exact same criteria. We provide a wide range of solutions in order to fulfill all our families' needs, from nannies, au pairs to private teachers.
Our next challenge will focus on young peple and their mobility through international exchanges, in Europe or in other continents, according to their needs and requirements. We provide consulting services and assistance for the organization of study stays in host families or at colleges, working holidays etc..always applying our strict criteria. We select the best centres, comfortable accomodations, interesting language courses, excursions to places of particular cultural interest as well as leisure and sport activities.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HOST FAMILY AND AU PAIR
The contractual reationship between our association and the Au Pair/the Host family begins when the client applies on our website and ends when the au pair exchange program finishes.
The association and the Au pair/the Host family get to know each other. We go through the Au Pair'/the Host family's requests. After checking his/her references we schedule an interview.
After this first pre-selection, we make some propals to the Host family/the Au Pair. The Host family/Au Pair can examine all relevant documents and see if the Au Pair/ the Host family matches their expectations by phone and/or video call. If the proposed Au Pair meets the family's expectations and the other way around, both parties agree to sign a contract .
The Host family and/ or the Au pair can contact us anytime for any relationship problem or difficulty that might occur during the program.
Our association remains available to provide both parties with assistance throughout the entire exchange period . You can reach us by phone, email or WhatsApp on all working days from 8.30 am to 7:30 pm.For any relationship problem or difficulty that may occur, the host family and/ or the au pair candidate can contact us anytime. Our association remains available for both parties throughout the entire exchange period . You can contact us by phone, e-mails or on WhatsApp on all working days from 8.30 am to 7:30 pm.
In critical situations the Au pair can be assigend to another family or return home if no alternative stay is found. In this case a 15 days'notice is necessary. In the meantime, the family will continue hosting the Au pair who will keep on carrying out his/her duties as agreed while waiting for the replacement.
owever, no guarantee is given that a new family/au pair will be found in a very short time, since there are lots of unpredictable conditons to be taken into consideration, such as for example the availability of a new family/au pair who meets your requirements at the time of the replacement request.
INSURANCE COVERAGE AGAINST HOUSEHOLD INJURIES
The Italian National Institute for Insurance against Labour Accidents provides an insurance coverage for serious household injuries occurred during working times at the host family's home. The agency covers the expenses related to the insurance contract, which is - in case of Italy - mandatory by law.