14 – Part 1: Interview with Abbie & Maddie – Founders of Blog: My Au Pair & Me

Part 1 of the interview with Abbie and Maddie, Founders of the blog: My Au Pair & Me

Contact information for Abbie & Maddie:

Website: https://www.myaupairandme.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/myaupairandme/

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/myaupairandme/

Hello and Welcome Back!

Today we are speaking with two host moms from Western Washington and we all share a Seattle connection and girls in technology.

Maddie and Abbie share au pair host family advice from agency agnostic point of view with their blog called My Au Pair and Me. Instead of question and answer blogs that are more personal one to one questions, they write actual helpful posts to encompass what Host Families face every year with their au pairs.

Who started the blog?

Maddie actually got her au pair first but Abbie is a tech writer and they are both in technology and started the blog as more of a host family to host family helpful advice that one has to repeat each year such as how to get a driver license or social security card.

How did you become a host parent?

Maddie – went to a BBQ and a friend with an au pair came over and Maddie’s Mother tried to convince Maddie (pre-kids) to get an au pair. Later on that friend at a BBQ became an LCC in the community and when Maddie finally had done the research decided to enter in the program. Maddie’s first au pair was in a rematch situation and could teach Maddie what it means to be a host mom. Maddie then was able to tell her success story to Abbie.

Abbie – had a Grandmother near by and helped with the first child, however when twins came along, and with daycare costs and trying to mange childcare, cleaning out a spare bedroom led to finally joining the au pair host family community. It became a relief to have another adult in the home to help especially in the evenings when her spouse was a working as a band director.

What were your main reasons to join the program?

Abbie – Started in the navy and traveled the world and also her husband travels as well too. Traveling is a big part of their life. Each Au Pair has brought a language and culture to share with her family.

Instead of having to stay home from daycare with a stick child and 3 weeks later they can all go back to daycare. An au pair can help so you don’t have to take time off of work to stay at home.

Maddie – Always had roommates and having people around. That piece was missing when starting a family. This was perfect to have a roommate and filling in the missing piece of having another family member and balance the flexibility.

Where have the au pairs come from?

Addie – Japan was one au pair because her husband had a roommate that was Japanese. France was second au pair. Italy the 3^rd au pair.

Maddie – 6 au pairs in total, first 3 from France, 1 from Columbia, 2 from Turkey.

What was your turning point?

Maddie – Came home and the local nanny left bottles all over the house and even though this had the conversation six times before this just was not working. While the baby was sleeping she was on the phone. Maddie did not want to give the bad news that this was not working out and being the one to break the bad news. Having the hard conversations is not easy and having the LCC is a neutral party to help mediate and when you hire a nanny it is not always a guarantee that you have this service.

How does an au pair help teach another language?

Maddie – Had French au pairs until 5 years old but then dropped French to focus on English.

Abbie – Teaching shapes and starting with nursery rhymes and easy songs that every child knows it. Breaking words down less than 5 minutes and groups such as spoon, fork, knife, cup, etc. and integrate in the dinner conversation. Then counting and sing along. Play with language but not necessarily become bilingual.

Mary – We are a bilingual household and while it is easy to speak and give directions in the mother tongue when we switched to English it became harder for the au pair but they all were up to the challenge.

We teach the ABCs of the different seasons. Here is the product link: https://www.innovateology.com/product/abcs-of-autumn-in-french/

Easy French Songs for kids and all the videos are below:

• Pomme de reinette et pomme d’api – https://youtu.be/pwGR7vpQVCo
• Ah les crocodiles – https://youtu.be/1T9b0cax6s4
• Un éléphant qui se balançait- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns92r5TQH3k
• L’araignée Gipsy – https://youtu.be/b36oigvNR2g
• Promenons-nous dans les bois –https://youtu.be/KrLuJchq294
• Pirouette, cacahuète – Il était un petit homme –https://youtu.be/9Rz8gTYEtx4
• Au feu les Pompiers –https://youtu.be/CV83vc9U_3w
• Frère a Jacque- https://youtu.be/BC6rvbxdywg
• Alouette, gentille alouette – alain le lait (French body parts – for birds)-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_hFw_cWg9U
• Les jours de la semaine de Pierre Lozère (Days of the Week)- https://youtu.be/BiHYehk0tYo

Thanks for listening and join us for Part 2.

There is a lot more to come so we hope you enjoyed today’s episode and check us out at www.innovateyourlife.today

Join our Team Parent Group on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/623380868609287/