Fun is the absolute best part of Au Pair child care. Life with children is fun already, and adding an Au Pair amplifies the daily joy of being a family. Families love to share in the delightful moments when an Au Pair tries their first piece of pizza, attends their first baseball game, watches their first American TV series or enjoys their first Thanksgiving. For Au Pairs, everyday offers fun new experiences with Host Kids, Parents, friends, and neighbors.
Listen to How Families and Au Pairs Describe the Fun
~ Sofia, Au Pair from Mexico, caring for 3 children ages 2 to 7
I love spending time with them. Seeing how much the boys love music and watching them dance and sing. I love spending time with A (Host Mom) and T (Host Dad) playing board games, having good conversations trying dances with A (Host Mom), new recipes or having a girls night. I really enjoyed doing Insanity workouts with T (Host Dad), encouraging each other every time we got tired or discouraged from it, talking about soccer and sometimes playing FIFA. I love all the time I spend with L (Host Kid), all the snuggles, movies, playing hide-and-seek, eating spicy chips together and seeing his beautiful smile every time he sees me when I get home after a long or short time away. I also love spending time with L (Host Kid), how sweet he can be even with all his energy… he always chooses good songs and has great dance moves and it is always fun playing soccer with him. And L (Host Kid), my big boy, with whom I can have really good talks. I love seeing how he loves his brothers by taking care of them but also how he helps me with them. He helps me to improve my english and teaches me about superheroes, videos and things that I don’t know. He is my best and favorite partner to play Just Dance or Mario Kart with, even the times he wins.
With the kids we like to share the same seat doing the three of us different things just to be together. We love eating ice cream and baking delicious pastries even if after that we have to clean up the mess we put every single time. Talking about food must be one of our favorite topics. We enjoy going to beach and see which one of us had tanned the most, trading stuff in animal crossing and singing descendants and others Disney songs out loud during bath time and turning up the volume in the car when our song of the moment get on! It is with all these moments that if feel so privileged to live this adventure because even if I’m far from my family I know that right here standing next to me I have another family I can count on.
~ Emma, Au Pair from Ecuador, caring for 2 children ages 3 to 5
Our boys see her as far more than a care giver. She is a friend who they can laugh and play with, a teacher of new languages and cultures, a giver of tickles and hugs and part of our family! We couldn’t ask for a better more trusting and responsible Au Pair and friend.
~ Meredith, Host Mom in Stamford, CT with 2 children ages 3 and 6
My host kids are awesome kids and I couldn’t be happier with my choice of families. Whether it’s bike rides, soccer or even being used as monkey bars by your little six year old. The fun definitely never ends! As an Au Pair who travelled abroad, missing home does play its significant role and it’s definitely one thing that my host family has helped with. It could be the simplest things from just having a meal together around the table or taking me to explore the different parts of New Jersey or it could even be something as simple as a conversation to ease the mind.
~ Nicolas, Au Pair from South Africa, caring for 3 children ages 6 to 11
~ Estefania, Au Pair from Ecuador, caring for 2 children ages 2 and 5
I never needed a different moment to believe that they had been my best decision, but the most wonderful gift they gave me the last year on my birthday, they had a surprise party for me, with all my au pair friends and I couldn’t contain my tears and happiness, at that time I knew that love, respect and admiration was mutual, I think that was and will be forever the best memory of how wonderful they have done for me.
After school, C [Au Pair] takes S [Host Kid] and R [Host Kid] to their activities. It can be hard as a working parent to miss gymnastics or hockey practice, but C is our eyes and ears. She takes short videos and posts them to our family shared album so we can feel like we’re there, and makes sure we know when the kids accomplish something new so we can celebrate with them at home. When there are no scheduled activities, C makes sure our kids have something constructive to do. Weekly trips to the library near our house ensure they have plenty of new reading material, and during the summer she and the kids made a list of adventures to do together. One of the highlights was the private tour she organized at our local fire station for a group of au pairs and their kids. Our son didn’t stop talking it for weeks.
~ Anna, Host Mom in Minneapolis, MN with 2 children ages 4 and 6
We have dinner together every night, his food is delicious and healthy. I really enjoy dinner time, it is the best time to talk about everything in addition to playing ABC games, guess the ingredients, first letter last letter, for me is the best part of the day. All this time I have not felt homesick because they have always included me in their family activities, but also, they have known how to give me my personal space…I cannot believe how lucky I am to have the best host family of the world.
~ Jessica, Au Pair from Ecuador, caring for 2 children ages 11
D [Au Pair] brings so much positive energy and love into our home. She has a joie de vivre like I’ve never seen. She is so enthusiastic about new experiences, and her energy is infectious.
~ Anna, Host Mom in Anchorage, AK with 2 children ages 3 and 6
When I just arrived they said that we should do themed foods every week so that I can figure out what I like and don’t like because American food is quite different from South African food. They always invite me to go on biking adventures and all kinds of fun trips with the family. I never really rode bikes back home and now I am doing mountain biking trails! They took me on my first ever boat ride, first ever water skiing, first ever water tubing, first ever jet ski and first ever paddleboarding adventure. They celebrated my 21st birthday with me. They respect the fact that I am a Vegetarian and they started to try it too! I made the kiddos some South African “pannekoek” the other day and they loved it!
~ Jomari, Au Pair from South Africa, caring for 2 children ages 3 and 6
I feel truly blessed to be a part of the M family. They are a family that is willing to try new things (African cuisine). It is always a pleasure for me to cook some South African meals for them because everyone will enjoy it. I recently cooked samp for my birthday; it was so heartwarming for me to watch the family go for seconds, kids included. Not once have I felt unappreciated, even for the smallest things that I do not mind doing, there is always a “thank you Raven” from the family members.
~ Raven, Au Pair from South Africa, caring for 3 children ages 2 to 7
Our 7-year old son loves to play boardgames with her and learn Africans (D’s [Au Pair] mother language). Our daughter loves to do arts and crafts with her, and our 3-year old son, whom D calls “superman,” loves to imagine and play make-believe with her. D is famous for her bedtime stories. The kids are captivated by her long, winding animated adventure stories.
~ Jennifer, Host Mom in Minneapolis, MN with 4 children ages 1 to 8
~ Franciele, Au Pair from Brazil, caring for 3 children ages 3 to 9
And now what about my Host Family. They are AMAZING and at all times they make me feel part of the family.
They made me know wonderful places, eat something different. I had several nice moments here with them, but some of the moments were Christmas, because that moment was very special for me. I met their family, it reminded me of when my mother got the whole family together for Christmas. It was magical. The other moment was my birthday, which is the same day as my Host mom, it was a beautiful day, my host kids decorate my room, they gave me a beautiful birthday cake and it was the last snow of the winter. And speaking of snow, I also realized my dream of knowing snow. And the last moment was when we traveled to another distant city and stayed in a cabin in a beautiful place, it was one of the best days too.
My host family has a lot of features which I really appreciate, like patience, leniency, and a positive attitude to people and life. And their sense of humor – that’s what I really love! We laugh about everything! For example, when I started to begin a diet, I knew Friday would be pizza for dinner I said: I can’t wait for pizza! Then my host dad answered with serious tone: “I’m sorry Anna… Because of your diet we ordered two big bowls of lettuce for you. “At first I really believed there was no pizza that evening… After dinner I admitted that were the tastiest bowls of lettuce in my life. We make jokes almost all the time and I love it!
~ Anna, Au Pair from Poland, caring for 2 children ages 3 and 6
The love that I have received during my time with this family is beyond anything I would have imagined. They care so much about my happiness and the quality of my time spent in the United States. Every morning my host mom greets me with a smiling face and asks me how I am doing and if I slept well. My host dad has a great sense of humor and is always making me laugh with his silly jokes. He also always makes a point to ask if I need anything. My host kids have treated me like an older sister and they always tell me how much they love me. Each time they give me hugs and kisses it warms my heart a little more.
~ Jannella, Au Pair from Ecuador, caring for 3 children ages 2 to 5
We had a lot of memory together, go hiking, and had trip in George town, go to the museum and so on. So many good memory with the family in my life. With this particular COVID-19, we’ve all had a hard time. But yy host family helped me a lot and through this special time. We talked about our views every day. And we went hiking on the weekend that breathing some fresh air. Let us are not always stuck at home. And they recommend the American shows to me, so I watched all of the thrones. It is a nice show ever. Although they work at home, they always respect me when I teach the kids. To sum up, let me feel closer than before through this special time.
~ Yihui, Au Pair from China, caring for 2 children ages 3 and 7
During this time in quarantine, it has been a difficult moment for everyone, especially being an Au Pair from another country. E (Host Mom) & R (Host Dad) have made it awesome for me. I could say this is my favorite part of my year. We were doing a lot of activities together like movies night, dinners, beauty saloon dates, housing projects, exercising & baking.
~ Katherine, Au Pair from Ecuador, caring for 2 children ages 1 and 3
Every day I feel that I am part of this family, the kids love me a lot and I love them. On my birthday we were locked up by the Covid-19 but, nevertheless I had a beautiful celebration. When I woke up on the table next to my room was my favorite coffee, and a drawing with a heart made by my host kids. Later the youngest girl took me to her room and gave me her happy birthday wreath and told me that she was going to behave well because it is my birthday and she gave me a big hug, that melted my heart. At dinner I did not expect much because of the quarantine situation, but I was very surprised to see that H (host mom) had bought a cake and Italian food from my favorite restaurant. It was a different but very beautiful birthday.
~ Vanessa, Au Pair from Ecuador, caring for 3 children ages 5 to 10
~ Jessica, Au Pair from Mexico, caring for two children ages 4 months and 1
I’ve only been in Alaska for 3 months with my second family and I feel like I’ve been with them for a lifetime, as if I’ve known them forever and as if they were my own family. They all make me feel like a member of the family, they include me in absolutely everything and we do many things together; We go hiking, we go for a walk, we walk, we watch movies, we go camping, we play board games, we picnic, we visit family friends, we have a Mexican night a week in which I prepare dinner, we make bonfires, we go for ice cream, shopping, and a thousand things that I love and that we share and live together.
As a family they love to play cards, and I come from a family that plays cards so off course I love to play with them and they love it when I play with them cards. The youngest one is so good in cards that it is almost impossible to beat her even tho we try to, she is just that good. The H’s [Host Family] just include me in everything and I love that about them. When they go on vacation they take my with and I don’t have to work while we’re on vacation. They make me feel as if I’m one of there daughters and the girls feels like my younger sisters.
~ Anilia, Au Pair from South Africa, caring for 2 children ages 6 and 10
I’ve been flooded with nothing but love with my host kids, they are always making me something or drawing a cute little picture for me. Oh and let me not forget about the worlds best hugs from them, one of their hugs cant turn that frown upside down in a split second. I am blessed that I have had all of this extra time to bond with my host kids, they are such intelligent kids who are a blast and a half to be around! Not a day goes by where they dont make me laugh. My heart is full of love for them.
~ Mikayla, Au Pair from South Africa, caring for 3 children ages 5 and 8
The kids Oh my God, they make me cry with a lot of emotions, they are complete crazy, funny, smart. R [Host kid] is the sweetest child in the world, you can fall in love in the moment that you see him. Z [Host Kid] is like my little sister, she always wants to fight with me and imitates my expressions, after all she is beautiful and sweet, so you need a lot of patience with her.
~ Paola, Au Pair from Ecuador, caring for 2 children age 3
Living with the S family is perfect. The kind of perfect where there is noise everywhere, everyone is running around, and the laughs can be heard all around the block. And yes, taking care of four boys is not an easy job, but it is completely true that we make a perfect team, and I can´t imagine this time of my life without them…Every boy teaches me how to laugh and take the things easy, they show me how to enjoy every second. No matter how noisy or crazy they are, they are really the best thing that happed to me at their own way.
~ Kristel, Au Pair from Guatemala, caring for 4 children ages 7 to 14
D, my cute, nice and handsome boy, who is 8 years old. I love him very very much. He is like an angel for me. When they were playing, D was always the one who asked me to join them and offered to tell me what they were doing. He is a sweet boy who always gives me a big hug in the morning and when I pick him up from school. One more thing I really want to share is that my cute boy is a lego master, he has his own lego city he built himself; the spacecraft with 1969 pieces, and so on. I am very sure you will surprise how many he built.
E, my little and naughty boy, who is 6 years old. He is really sweet boy who care everyone very much. he is also a sweet boy to tell me to wear a helmet because he did not want me to be hurt. He likes to say a lot of sweet words to make a happy day for me. What he likes to say ‘Zara, I love you, Zara, I like you’ and so on. I guess he must eat honey everyday, because he says sweet words every day.
~ Xuejing, Au Pair from China caring for 2 children ages 6 and 8