My parents moved from Sweden to the USA a few years before I
was born and until I was eight years old we hosted au pairs in our home. My
fondest memories were always having someone extra in the home that loved us and
always someone who could spend one on one time with us. Since I have two
siblings there was not always time for my parents to sit down and listen to us
after having worked a full day. So having the au pair as a back up, whose sole job
was to spend time with us, was excellent. It also didn’t hurt that my friends
were always jealous, since our 20 something au pairs were always cooler than any
parent.
Our au pairs lived in a basement apartment in our home, with
their own bedroom of course, as well as bathroom and entrance to the house. I
remember the hardest thing when we were younger was understanding what “time
off” meant and that our au pair was not always working. For us kids, we didn’t
see them as working, I mean, how could being with us be work?! We would
sometimes stand outside the au pairs bedroom knocking until she would come
play. It took some time for the rules to settle with us J
Today I still actually have contact with most of my former
au pairs and actually attended one of their weddings last year. It’s been such
a blessing for my family and it really kept our Swedish culture alive!
