I'm an au pair, not a mother in training

What I am about to say may surprise you. It may even offend some of you. But I think it's worth being honest about, as it perhaps goes against many of the stereotypes of being an au pair.

I'm not really interested in being a mother. I'm not even that interested in children.

Ok, I can almost hear the gasps and angry comments being thrashed out on poor unsuspecting keyboards - let me explain.

I'm just looking forward to the day when my handbag isn't full of compote.

When things go wrong

If you read a lot of au pair blogs you may well have the impression that working as an au pair in France involves a lot of sitting in cafes, drinking cafés noisettes and occasionally swanning around a museum looking profound. Certainly, this is true to an extent, we do get to do this. But we also work really hard and, as far as jobs go, it can vary wildly from life enriching experience to a living nightmare. Just like any other job, how bad it gets will vary depending on your office (the house), your boss (the Host Parents), your coworkers (the kids), and your contract. However, suffice to say, when it gets bad it can get really bad.

You may have noticed that the blog has not been updated much recently. That is because my experience has been going through one of these difficult times. Consequently I have not felt motivated enough to write much and I have felt even less motivated to go out and experience things in a worth writing about. But this blog is meant to be an honest account of my time as an au pair, and I guess the best and most honest thing to do is tell you about how bad things have been.

Turning 26 - I'm an old au pair.

So yesterday I turned 26. Yes, the slow descent to 30 has begun. With the vast majority of au pairs being in their late teens and early 20s, I find myself firmly in the category of older au pairs. There's not much in life that you can be 'too old for' at 26, but au pairing can sometimes feel like one of them.

I have no sarcastic comment - this was a genuinely nice cake made for me by the kids.

Money Matters - How much is an au pair worth?

Money. No-one likes talking about it.

No-one ever said that being an au pair was a way to get rich quick. Yes you are paid, but part of your payment comes in the form of your bed, food, and use of the washing machine. While this is amazing and incredibly generous on behalf of the family, it is difficult to convert into cold hard cash. In a city like Paris, where life is pretty expensive, that can be a problem for a young person who wants to see it all. I was getting by on my payments, not seeing everything, but seeing at least one interesting thing a week, when I got a shock.

On one of my last blog posts, someone mentioned that they felt I was being underpaid for the amount of work I do. A quick survey of other au pair friends and colleagues on my French course confirmed that I was being paid at least 5€ less a week than anyone else, in some cases 10€ less. That's when I finally sat back and thought about money seriously.

The Au Pair Weight Loss Plan

Do you want to look good next summer when you head down to the French Riviera? Or perhaps you were thinking of taking another au pair position next year, further from the city, and closer to the sea. If so then you will be wanting to get in shape and loose a few kilograms. Well with the new "Au Pair Weight Loss Plan" you can get ready for next summer. I used to go to the gym every day and saw slow results, but I have been following the diet for two months and have dropped two dress sizes. Read on to find out more

Yes, you really can eat pastry on the Au Pair Weight Loss Plan

Holiday Hell and the frustrations of being an Au Pair.

So by now most of you have been au pairs for at least 1 month. You dealt with La Rentrée and you've finally sussed out what the kids like and do not like to eat. You've got your Navigo, and you've finally mastered enough french to get what you need. You have perfected the Parisian street style (black trainers, dark jeans, trench coat, scarf) and can walk with enough speed and confidence for people to believe you're local, or at least not try to drag you into their restaurant. You think you have it sussed. But now you are halfway through the first set of holidays, you have been working a 60 hour week entertaining the children while the parents are at work, and you've definitely caught some kind of illness from one of the kids. You are ready to scream. What has happened? Get ready for the rant...

This week I am feeling a lot of sympathy with the horses on the carrousel at the Jardins d'Acclimitation - going round and round in circles. 

Fortnight of au pair hell begins

This Monday morning I got up, dressed and went to breakfast. Unlike most mornings, I was not greeted with the sound of fighting over cereal, or the microwave pinging as it churns out porridge. The kitchen was dark, and the dad was getting ready for work without being harassed for apple juice or goodbye kisses. But do not be fooled by this illusion of calm, dear reader. The children were asleep, and as I write this are STILL asleep, but they are merely resting in preservation of the two weeks of hell that is about to descend on all the au pairs in Paris today.

A beautiful sunrise to start the week

So you've come down with the Au Pair Rhume...

1 month into your stay with the family, and you feel a bit tired. The initial adrenaline rush of living in a new city and a new country is starting wear off. Every morning you get up early to prepare breakfast. You hate rushing to school, and the weather has been changeable so you've been caught in more rain showers than you can count. The kids have been at school and mixing with other children, and have had a few sniffles or tousse. You've been running yourself ragged trying to pick up toys and get out to see Paris through the day. You must be feeling pretty tired right now, like you could go to bed and sleep for a full 24hrs... and is that a tickle in your throat?

You might have caught le rhume d'au pair!

Sources (i.e. facebook, Whatsapp, twitter, and word of mouth) reveal that several au pairs in Paris have succumbed to the condition and so here is your guide to surviving this unfortunate (but almost unavoidable) condition.

Where did the time go?

Alors! Bonjour! Ça fait longtemps!

Well I'm sorry for the lack of updates. It turns out that looking after children is incredibly time consuming. So is trying to adjust to a new country.

So what has happened since I last checked in?

Well, I've stepped on this about 100 times for a start....