I hope you've all had a wonderful break over the Christmas period. For those of you who stayed withe your families I hope you had fun learning some new French Christmas Traditions. For those who did not have to stay with their host families, I hope you got to enjoy some peace and quiet!
Sadly the holiday is almost over, and soon it will be back to Work and School. But it's New Year's Day, so I'm going to recover from last night's celebrations and reflect upon what I learnt about being an au pair in 2015, and what I can do better in 2016.
Time for my Au Pair New Year's Resolutions...
1. Try harder to learn and use French
The family I live with lived in London for a long time and are fluent in English, even the kids. Whilst this is very convenient for telling them off and bedtime stories, it doesn't help me to improve my spoken French. So from now on I am going to make an effort to speak more french at home, and make myself learn new vocabulary every week.
2. Wake up earlier.
I am not a naturally early riser - more of a night owl. But more than early mornings I hate that feeling of being rushed off my feet. When I can't have any breakfast before taking the kids to school with my face unwashed and wearing yesterday's t-shirt while they refuse to put on their shoes. By waking up earlier I hope to have everything prepared for the day ahead before the kids start getting underfoot and maybe even fit in some yoga. Or an extra cup of coffee.
3. Get Fit.
I think the croissants are starting to get to me. Also I need to improve my stamina to keep up with the 4 year old.
4. Get things done faster.
I discovered this just before the holidays. If I can focus my chores into a timed routine (e.g. at 8:25 am I will load the breakfast things into the dishwasher for 10 minutes) I can complete them more quickly. This means I get more done in the morning and have more time to do whatever I want for the rest of the day.
5. See more of Paris.
One bad habit I definitely slipped into towards the end of last year was giving into the urge to slob out. I would be so tired from being with the kids that any free time was spent sat in bed eating so much Milka that I lived in a permanent state of chocolate based shame. I don't want to realise two weeks before I finish au pairing that I have missed seeing most of Paris but almost finished every series on Netflix.
6. Think about what's next
This one is a bit more open ended, but I have to think about where want to go next. Do I want to return to the UK or stay in France? Should I stay as an au pair or try to find a more permanent job? Do want to move on somewhere else. Spain could be nice or somewhere further afield? I hear Chile is beautiful...
Whatever your plans are for 2016, I hope it is a brilliant year for you and you get everything you want.
Bonne Année!
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