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It’s holiday time and you’re gearing up for a long road trip with the kids. Like most parents, the stress and panic will be setting in as you contemplate how you will keep them entertained for the duration of the trip.

Au Pair Extraordinaire is an au pair agency in Gauteng that puts considerable value in providing informed support to all of its clients – both au pairs and parents / families. For families and au pairs, it’s all about working as a team.

We cannot be more thorough when it comes to choosing a person to look after our kids. Luckily there are some great tried and tested ways to ensure that you find the right person. Here are some things to look out for when you start the process of finding your au pair:   1. We…

Determining Au Pair salaries can be quite the conundrum! This is because each family has such different needs, especially when it comes to working hours, so there really is no conclusive rule of thumb. There are so many factors that come into play that it is easy to get it wrong. If you set the…

It is that time of year where we all scramble to tie up loose ends and finalize all outstanding obligations to ensure that we have a peaceful and relaxing holiday.

As au pair’s, when being placed with a family, many of us have fleeting worries about hospital visits caused by tightly wrapped karate belts and forced running, only to result in a cut open head and a very teary hospital visit with a terrified au pair trying to keep it together.

We lead busy modern lives , and you’ve taken the step of getting an au pair to ensure everything runs like a well-oiled machine. You afford the good stuff for your family, and you’re mindful of the quality of care your child is receiving while you work.

3 Tips for Choosing an Au Pair for the School Holidays   Once again, school holidays are approaching fast. Where has the time gone? And where are the days when we were lucky enough to have four holidays a year? The reality for most adults is that we have to be at the office as…

Choosing extra mural activities for your kids is about far more than just finding them something to do after school hours, especially if you have an au pair helping out. Extra murals are however still vitally important.

This topic has caused a fair amount of confusion, and we are going to demystify this once and for all. The difference between the two is vastly different in South Africa compared to abroad. A nanny overseas is a broad term for someone who is employed to look after a child in its own home.…

The hunt is over! Here’s a list of exciting things to do over the Easter weekend. The long-awaited Easter break is upon us. For some, it’s a significant religious holiday to celebrate, and for others, it’s a much anticipated break from work. Regardless of what Easter means to you, it’s time to enjoy the last…

Our day to day lives involve so much. From the usual adult responsibilities, to the need to find an au pair that fits perfectly into your family dynamic and continually ensuring our children are well-rounded and happy, it’s no wonder many parents are left feeling confused when it comes to handling the topic of extra-murals.…

If you’re already hiring an au pair, you will know just how valuable they can be to your family, and just how much of a role they play as a part in your family too. Something many host parents worry about is whether or not it’s a good idea to take their au pair on holiday with them.

How much does an au pair cost in South Africa?  Depending on an au pair’s experience level, you can expect to pay between R5000 to R10 000 per month for a part-time au pair working between 10 to 30 hours per week, and R9000 to R20 000 per month for a full-time au pair working…

A great deal of care must be taken when choosing the right au pair for your family. While being an au pair is a job, the chosen candidate should be willing to become part of the family.

How to Get My Child off the iPad And Playing Outside Technology certainly has its advances. It allows us to stay in contact with people far and near, to share experiences, and also to perform certain functions at work and home a lot easier. It has also completely changed the kids’ play landscapes all over…

How to Help Your Au Pair to Be Fantastic Employing an au pair stretches well beyond the employment of a temporary cleaning crew or gardening service. Au pairs are not just someone to look after your children for a night or two, making sure they stay out of trouble. They are highly trained professionals who…

How to Help Your Family Shine This Year   Once again, we find ourselves fast approaching the end of the first quarter of the year. No matter how well we plan, time always seems to slip by faster than we expect. After a challenging 2019, many of us have pinned high hopes to 2020 and…

It’s only natural to have a few concerns when you are about to start working for as an au pair for a new family. Challenges of all shapes and sizes are bound to crop up and what defines you as a professional au pair, is not the challenges themselves, but how you handle them.

How to Protect My Child from the Internet   The Internet is a wonderful source of information and activities to help entertain and educate our children. At the same time, it can also be a scary place with many dangers lurking when we are not watching. With so many devices readily connected to the web,…

Choosing an Au Pair agency in Johannesburg can be tough. Most families work with just one agency and never really shop around.

6 Fun Indoor Activities for Kids for the Coming Cold Months   While we do often have sunny and warm days in winter in South Africa, there can be cold spells that last for days on end. During these times it is often too cold for kids to play outside and it can be challenging…

Let’s face it; the idea of sending your child to day care or after-school care facilities on a daily basis isn’t an exciting concept. Here your child will be provided with care and kept safe, but in such large group settings.

In this day and age it’s easy for both parents and children to have busy lifestyles. In fact, in some cases, all members of the family often find themselves overloaded with responsibilities and things to do.

Mapping Out the School Year with Your Au Pair   It is another new year, and another chance to achieve your goals. It is also a time for planning to make sure you and your family are on track and ready to take on every challenge that the new year brings. While there are many…

Kids and Messy Play Ideas – Why It Is Important to Get Messy!   Many parents are put off by the idea of messy play. After all, it seems like a whole lot of trouble to clean up, do the washing, and then get the little ones clean! In modern times, messy play is often…

Parents are faced with a great deal of anxiety and responsibility at the start of a new school year. If you are making use of an au pair to care for your child this year, there are a few things that you can do to ensure that the year is easily navigated by your au pair, your child and of course yourself.

Requirements to Become an Au Pair It is often said that children are the future. It is therefore so vital that they are looked after, cared for, and nurtured to become the best versions of themselves that they can be. As parents, life demands a lot from us and, as much as we would love…

If you are considering a career as an au pair, it’s best to ensure that you’re fully aware of what to expect and how to behave, before you get involved in the industry.

Working as an au pair means that you need to have an extra sense of responsibility at all times as you need to be extra alert when it comes to the safety of the children you are looking after. As an au pair you are already dedicated to keeping your client’s / host family’s safe and as such, precautions must always be taken.

As we are all aware, COVID-19 is creating many new challenges for us as a society and for our economy. And, as of today, schools across South Africa have been given the go-ahead to close their doors to help curtail the spread of the virus.   But, while this may answer one question – how…

5 Reasons Why You Should Encourage Kids to Play Outside Now That It Is Spring   It is that time of year again – the mornings are getting lighter, the temperatures are starting to climb, and everything seems fresh, beautiful, and full of life. Gone are the days of snuggling up on the couch and…

The definition of an au pair is ‘a young foreign person, typically a woman, who helps with housework or childcare in exchange for food, a room, and some pocket money’, but here in sunny South Africa we make our own rules.

We at Au Pair Extraordinaire believe that it takes a village to raise a child, and what better part of that community than a dedicated, experienced, and loving member such as an au pair. Born and raised Joburger and au pair for four years, Roo Kruger, 22, tells all about the adventures of helping raise…

When trying to decide which childcare approach best suits your family; you are bound to feel overwhelmed and even a little confused with the options.

A babysitter is someone who you employ for ad hoc childcare services. This will usually be in the evenings or on the weekends.

7 Tips to Keep Children Safe from Predators   It is probably every parent’s greatest fear: that our children will be abducted or be harmed by a nefarious predator. The mere thought of it is enough to send chills down one’s spine and to turn one into a dreaded helicopter parent. But apart from the…

Hello working mommy. Yes you, the one with the weekly planner on the fridge door, the lunch boxes packed and waiting, the neatly ironed shirt hanging on the back of your bedroom door, the cold coffee close to hand… and the dark rings under your eyes. You find yourself navigating to the loo, to the…

What Can – and Should – I Expect of My Babysitter? Different families – and certainly different children – have very different needs. While there are basic tasks you can realistically expect of your babysitter, it is always advised to carefully go through all expectations and house rules to ensure that everyone is on the…

Selecting an au pair in Johannesburg to live and work with your family can be a difficult task. In some instances, an au pair might look perfect on paper, yet in reality it just doesn’t work for one or both of you.

“What is an au pair really?” Is this the right option for me? What does an Au Pair really do?” These are some of the most common questions that come up when you decide you need to hire some extra help for your children. In South Africa, we have adopted the term Au Pair and…

Having a career and raising a family can be difficult to juggle at the best of times. If you are a busy parent and need a helping hand, chances are that you have considered hiring an au pair or a nanny.

The market is flooded with au pair agencies, all offering the same thing- screened au pairs. How do you know which one is the best? The people that look after your children need to be screened more thoroughly than most other employees, and agencies give parents the peace of mind that all the candidates sent…

Finding the perfect au pair for your children can be daunting task. Where do you begin with sourcing high quality, trustworthy people who not only love to look after children, but are really good at it? Hiring an Au Pair is not easy, there are just so many people out there who think au pairing…

Au pairs can be found working in all corners of the globe and one thing that’s synonymous with au pairing is ‘life experience’. Of course au pairing isn’t always about travelling abroad.

Why Do You Need an Au Pair? Let us face it – the world moves at breakneck speed, and at times, it can be tough to keep up. Between focusing on a career, maintaining a healthy lifestyle, and having some semblance of a social life, there is hardly time to run a household. Add children…

Why Encourage Kids to Play Sport   Sport is an integral part of most children’s lives. Most schools advocate that children take part in at least one summer and one winter sport. Families are also becoming more conscious of the importance of partaking in some form of sport as a family. There are many reasons…

WHY YOUR CHILD NEEDS A HUG We all love warm, fuzzy hugs. But for kids these are essential for their growth, health and development. Science shows that a 20 second hug releases a hormone called oxytocin, also known as the love hormone which in children helps them to grow healthier brains, strengthen their immune system,…

For the majority of the time, when you employ an au pair, especially if it is through a reputable agency such as Au Pair Extraordinaire, things go well, and it is a successful endeavour for the whole family. However, there are the rare occasions when a placement can go wrong and this can be for…