Au Pair Work abroad
Work as an Au Pair
I worked as an au pair
"You'll come out at the other end as a different person. There’s no other experience like this..."
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A day in the life of an au pair Ashlee Holt, a British au pair in France, writes..."7:15am: French radio blaring in my ear marks the start of my day as I sluggishly crawl out of bed. The view from my window is breathtaking, and that makes me happy to be there. Most French schools begin at 8.30am, and seeing as French families, especially those with children, take breakfast time very seriously, I give myself 30 minutes to get ready, then spend three-quarters of an hour devouring the range of cereals, fruits and fresh breads. 8:25am: Walking the two little boys to school I feel somewhat inadequate as it appears everyone around me is perfectly 'made up' - wearing their best clothes, switched on, awake, smiling and cheerful - unlike at 8.25am in England where we walk around like zombies, eyes half shut and brains still in our beds. 8:40am: After this I'm 'tout seul' in the house until 11.20am when I pick up Lucas, the youngest of the two from school. Lucas' eyes have an electrifying effect on women, but he really can cry them dry, and for no apparent reason. As he's just two years old he's not able to stay at school after 11.30. I do a bit of housework (there's never much to do as the family are very tidy, thank goodness, but I always try and spend about an hour ironing or doing laundry) - then I really take advantage of my free time and go for a bike ride or use the family's swimming pool. I might use the internet, read a book, or if I'm feeling creative, adventurous and French I'll start preparing something interesting for lunch!  11:30am: I've picked up little Lucas and we eat together - not as easy as it sounds! I'm always pretty relieved when he takes his afternoon 'dodo' (nap). 12:30am: I'm now free for two-and-a-half hours while Lucas sleeps and for me this is 'study time'. I'm studying Early Years Care with the National Extention College (a distance learning company that I recommend), and as well as that I get plenty of homework with my French classes that I attend in Marseille. I'm also studying German as I love languages, so I have German lessons on a Saturday, meaning extra homework to do during the week! 4:20pm: Lucas and I go and pick up his elder brother Benoit (a source of endless questions with a serious addiction to chocolate) from school and then for two hours I endure the tears, teasing and temper tantrums until the parents return from work. To make my job easier and stress-free I always plan a list of things to do with the boys in order to minimise the fighting and reduce the ear-splitting screaming during this time. Today's list looks like this... 4:30 to 5:00pm: Park (unfortunately we can never stay longer than 30 minutes as they get bored and start pushing each other off the climbing frame!) 5:00 to 6:00pm: Make cookies (this always goes down well, even if it is only because they want to lick the spoons!) 6:00 to 6:30pm: Drawing / painting (I always have to encourage them as at this time they'd prefer to watch the television, which I'm pretty much against!) 6:30pm: The boys' parents return from work (phew!). I eat dinner with the family and then the evening is mine to do my own thing. Why I do it Why do I recommend becaming an au pair? For me, au pairing gave me a whole new life. At school I couldn't care less about learning languages and had no idea about what I actually wanted to do in the future. I've now made up my mind that learning languages and experiencing different cultures is overwhelmingly interesting and captivating. I speak fluent French and after nine months I still get shocked and dumbfounded by what a parallel universe this country is to England, despite being so close.  If you don't mind living and working with children, you're an 'independant woman' and you've got a bit of 'get-up-and-go' then this is an ideal job for you. I advise getting to know people in your area: after a stressful day with the kids, it's nice to be able to go out with friends to unwind. I also recommend getting into a routine - I spent the first month here lounging around in front of the TV or computer which drained away my energy; now I always have things to do and bags more energy!Wednesdays are always utterly mad as there's no school (whose annoying idea was that in the first place, anyway?) so I always plan plenty of things to do. Both boys should take a long nap in the afternoon but the eldest always refuses. My tip if this happens to you? "If you don't go and sleep I'm going to give you an English lesson." Always works! Try it!"  Click here >> for more info on au pair work Click here >> to find a job Click here >> to email an au pair company Tel: 0845 344 7566 |
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