“A friend of a friend” always considered the au pair program a luxury and mentioned how strange it would be to have someone living in. They had a baby last summer that they’ve had in daycare; who has been sick ever since. My friend ran into them last Monday night and as she listened to the litany of childcare woes, she felt obligated to bring up the au pair program!
His initial response was - too expensive and, again, strange to have someone live with them. She offered to grab a Cultural Care Au Pair brochure from her car and give him the “low down.” “If you want, but we’re really not interested.” So she brought in our lovely new brochure and chatted for a few minutes and asked if he and wife still liked to get out for dinner once a week. “Not often. We’d love to, but the sitter costs about $100 for the night.” Then she asked if wife was riding much these days (they are horsey people). “She’d love too, but again we’d need a sitter because I can’t give her a lesson and watch the baby at the same time.”
Then the light bulb went on - $320/week for childcare suddenly equaled a baby at home not getting sick, date night and his wife being much happier.
They applied last Tuesday, finaled last Thursday and the au pair is moving in next Friday.
Now, her friend was not considering an au pair at all! But once they started talking about what they were really paying for childcare (daycare + date night sitter) and what they wished they could do (wife get out and ride once a week, go to the gym, go to work!) the value of the au pair program became clear and they applied.
If you’ve ever considered hosting an au pair, but THOUGHT it wasn’t for you….. maybe it is. Hosting an au pair really is quite affordable! And you’ll have a freedom and peace of mind that you don’t get with trudging off to day care- now THAT part is the luxury.
