The Harper Family & their au pair Madeleine

Our au pair Madeleine is an exceptional person. We both go to work in the morning knowing that our children will not only be well taken care of and loved, but that they will also be engaged and have fun. Culturally, Madeleine brings a great deal to our family. She has been teaching us all about Austria and her region, Tyrol. We have all learned a few words in German, some customs unique to her country. The day the boys started school, she made them all the cones that children are given in Germany and Austria to celebrate the start of school. Last Christmas, she created a handmade advent calendar with pouches filled with candy (three, of course) for each day of December. These are just two examples of the way that Madeleine has opened us all up to her culture.

Madeleine brings such joy to our home. Our entire extended family and friends all love her just as much as we do. The neighbors all say the same: she is amazing with the kids and an incredibly personable and positive person. We could not have asked for a better young woman to be helping us raise our boys. We will miss her dearly when she goes home, but know that we will forever have a friend in Austria, and she will have always have a family in Boston.

Submitted by Darah Harper, host mom in Massachusetts

The Tenny Family & their au pair Angie

When balancing two working parent's careers with the two very young children, life feels anything but predictable. My husband and I moved as far away from family as we could in our twenties, to the most expensive city in the U.S. (New York), waited as long possible before having kids in our late thirties, all in order to further our careers, then realized after having kids that we were all alone and struggling, sinking beneath the weight of trying to do it all. They say it takes a village and that is no cliché—finding the right support and childcare at times has felt insurmountable.

Before we met our au pair Angie, we never thought that it would be possible to have peace of mind. Now, we thank our lucky stars every day! She is the most responsible young woman we've ever met. When we come home from work, we find the kids happy, healthy, engaged and thriving. Angie teaches them Chinese, feeds them healthy and delicious foods that she cooks herself and organizes their day with calm deftness and confidence. We exchange cultural ideas and celebrations: Angie has taught us about various Taiwanese holidays, even making her own sticky rice desserts for a particularly sweet holiday. We gave her her first all-American mass Christmas consumption experience this year, replete with explosion of presents under the tree. She is possibly still reeling from that experience!

Angie is the prototype for what makes the au pair program unique and wonderful. She is not only amazing with our kids, but she has made for the best cultural exchange experience that we could ever have imagined.

Submitted by Daysun Chang, host mom in New York

The Donehoo Family & their au pair Julia

Dear Julia,

As you know, our family has been blessed with three wonderful boys. While we are very happy with our boys, we always wanted to have a girl. What we never expected was that our family would finally have our girl....but that she would be an eighteen year-old from Hannover, Germany.

When you joined our family, we told you that saying good-bye would be difficult. Our quote was, "If we are all not crying, then we were the wrong host-family for you." The crying definitely took place from all of us. The hard part was the kick in the gut watching you walk through security at the airport. Our daughter was gone. It still makes our eyes well up with tears to type these words. We love you so much and cannot wait for you to come home someday.

Thank you for an amazing year Julia. Our boys thrived having you as their au pair. Our family is a happier when you are with us. We miss you more than you can ever imagine. Best of luck at University. You are going to do great things in the world Julia Brockmeyer!

Love and hugs from your host family,

Bill, Cindy, Teige, Brenn and Finn

Submitted by Bill Donehoo, host dad in Illinois

The Jacobs Family & their au pair Camila

Camila arrived in Atlanta on a Friday afternoon and we immediately felt like she was part of our family. We took her to have hibachi dinner at our favorite restaurant and told the waiter it was her birthday. What could have been an awkward first encounter was a fun and entertaining one. Every day since then, Camila has continued to weave herself into the fabric of our family's lives. From cooking and eating meals with all of us, to arts and crafts with the girls, to basketball and bike riding with our son...her laughter and bubbly nature has permeated every corner of our house and filled our days with a happy glow. Our family is better for it. I didn't think it was possible for our kids to love someone so much in such a short time. But they do.

Camila is in her final days with our family, but she is far from leaving our family. In our hearts, she will be with us forever. We already have plans to visit her and her entire family in Argentina, and our girls have already vowed to be flower girls in her wedding.

Submitted by Paola Jacobs, host mom in Georgia

The DeRoberts Family & their au pair Valentijn

As a teacher in the Netherlands for elementary aged children, Valentijn's love for children and for learning shines through in all that he does. He has created a reading nook in our toy room to provide a special place for our kids to learn to love to read. He has taken all of them to the public library and borrowed many, many books to keep their interests high and their reading practice going strong. He uses sticker charts and reward systems to keep up positive reinforcement and the expectations of them clear. 

Valentijn has even brought his love of dance into many children’s lives by teaching them how to dance. Valentijn himself has practiced hip-hop dance for almost a decade and has even attended the hip-hop World Championships with his dance crew 5 times! A few weeks after his arrival he started to visit my son’s school once a week for an hour and a half. He goes to a few of the preschool and kindergarten classes teaching them a hip-hop routine to the popular Taylor Swift song ‘Shake It Off’. The kids loved it so much that many of the classes used the routine in their ‘year-end performances’ for their families.

Submitted by Meredith DeRoberts, host mom in Connecticut