What it's like having an au pair.

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. Au pairs and nannies are very popular in South Africa and do more than just babysit your child. You can expect for your chosen au pair to become a part of your family, and by this, we mean that he / she will become actively involved in your child’s daily life and in turn, yours too.

You can expect an au pair to help you through your regular and daily routines while providing childcare and childcare support. This support is integrated into your family structure and while you’re busy with important and pressing tasks or even a career, your au pair will take the kids to school, pick them up, attend their extra mural activities, make them lunch, take them to doctor’s appointments, help them with home work and a great deal more.

The good with the bad
Of course, working with an au pair has its pros and cons and in order to ensure that you enjoy more pros than cons, it’s best to carry out a thorough search for the right candidate. At Au Pair Extraordinaire, we assist our clients with exactly that.

Let’s take a closer look at the pros and cons of having an au pair:

Pros

  • Au pairs provide reliable and affordable childcare services.
  • Au pairs are more than just child minders or baby sitters. They will get to know your child and form a bond / friendship with him or her, providing you with complete peace of mind that your child is enjoying emotional support when you are otherwise occupied.
  • You can negotiate light housework tasks / duties with your au pair. This can include washing dishes, cooking meals, ensuring that things are neat and tidy and so on.
  • Au pairs will ensure that your child is well socialised and participating in extra mural activities. Au pairs will fetch and carry and so much more.

Cons

  • Au pairs don’t always have professional training and qualifications (this is not always the case).
  • You might need to provide your au pair with a vehicle and extra money for activities and outings with your child. This can be an unplanned expense, but would be dependent on your budget.
  • You will be inviting a stranger into your home. It can take some time for your au pair, you and your child to all settle with each other and get to know each other.

At Au Pair Extraordinaire, we work tirelessly to ensure that our families are well matched with our au pairs. It’s not just about an au pair looking good on paper. It’s really about who has the right experience and who is the right fit for you and your family. We will ensure that thorough background checks and interviews are carried out before potential au pairs are presented to you. Our team will make the hunt for the perfect au pair simpler and more rewarding.

If you would like to learn more about working with an au pair, take the time to get in touch with us at Au Pair Extraordinaire today.