I have had the luck to be able to meet my host family after
I finished my year. And especially the two little boys I took care of. For that,
I am forever thankful. That special connection and gratitude I feel towards
them for taking me in, to their family and home is something I will always
bring with me. The two times I have had the luxury to meet my “second family”,
because that is how I see them, happened shortly after my time as an au pair
ended. After that, we have kept updating each other a few times a year, sadly
no more than that. Imagine my surprise when I woke up and noticed I got an
email from my host mum that read, “We will be in Sweden later this summer for a
couple of days, would you like to meet up?” Knowing I would get to meet my host
family again, for the first time in what felt like ages made my day. I couldn’t
stop imagining how it would be. How would it be to meet the boys again? Who are
not the little boys I cared for anymore, by the way. Would it feel like the
most normal thing to meet up in Sweden, several years after I meet them for the
first time? Or would it be a meeting were we felt as strangers to each other.
So the other day, the day I had been waiting for the last
couple of weeks finally were here. And I must say, seeing them standing there
made me feel like I were back in the US working as an au pair again. And even
if the boys have gotten bigger and starting to be as tall as I am, nothing had
changed. It was the most natural thing seeing them, playing with them, and just
having them around. It didn’t took long before we had gone back to the persons
we were all those years ago, me trying to make them stop fighting each other
and they having a blast doing so. I guess boys will always be boys. The thing
that made it even more rewarding seeing them was that they remembered me and
enjoyed spending time with me.
Creating that special relationship with the host family,
that relationship au pair’s dream of is a very special thing that is hard to
find when not being an au pair. Regardless of how long it has been since you
talked to them or saw them in person, it will always feel that you never left,
always being a part of their family.
Take the chance to have the time of your life, and bring back great memories and a second family, I did!
/Marcus
