Cooking with Kids

I really love cooking with my children.  Not only do they enjoy themselves, they get hands on experience in the kitchen and usually are more willing to eat something they helped make.

Au Pairs--with summertime here, cooking with the kids is a great way to keep them entertained when you are not out and about.  Here are a few blogs that I like to follow that have great recipes that are kid-friendly. They even have recipes for stuff that is non-edible--like homemade play dough!

http://jamiecooksitup.blogspot.com/2009/10/fun-with-kids.html

http://www.ourbestbites.com/

Toddler Behaviors

Have you ever wondered if your toddler's behavior is normal, or if you should be concerned about certain behaviors?  I found this article on Baby Center that has 17 different behaviors and detailed explanations of each behavior and signs to watch for if it should be concerning.

17 Toddler Behaviors

If you feel a behavior is a concern, you can have your au pair watch for those behaviors during the day and document them so that when you do speak with your pediatrician, you have more information to give them.

Father's Day Idea

With Father's Day just a few days away, I have a fun activity au pairs can do with their host children to give to their daddies for Father's Day.  Below is a list of questions that you can print out for each child.  

Ask the children the questions and write in their answers.  Then, make a card out of construction paper and glue this the questions/answers into the card.  Have the children color or draw on the card and write their names on the bottom. 

My 4 year old daughter gave me a similar card last year for Mother's Day and I loved it!  It's so much fun as parents to read what our children have to say about us! I'm sure the fathers will be very touched by their children's father's day card.

MY DADDY…

How old is your Daddy?

What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy? 

What makes Daddy happy? 

How do you know Daddy loves you? 

What is something Daddy always says to you? 

When is your Daddy funny?

What’s your Daddy good at doing?

What does your Daddy like to make?

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!!

Love,

Au Pair Saves Babies' Life

It's always heart warming to hear of heroic acts, especially when it's a child that was protected from danger by someone who demonstrates that they truly love that child.  And when it's your childcare provider, you know you have a a gem when they put your children's best interest before their own.

A Colombian au pair in Philadelphia recently saved the life of one of the 8 month old twins she was caring for when she put herself in the way of a distracted driver in a moving van to protect the child from the impact.  This story illustrates the true purpose of the Au Pair program, which is to create strong relationships between families in the U.S. and Au Pairs from abroad.

Read more about this at  http://www.goaupair.com/Host-Families/Blog/News/Go-Au-Pair-Au-Pair-Saves-Baby-s-Life.aspx and also at http://goaupairphiladelphia.wordpress.com/2012/05/19/au-pairs-from-go-au-pair/.

Happy Memorial Day!

I hope you are all enjoying your Memorial Day!  Au Pairs--if you are still looking for something to do today, simply do a search in your city for Memorial Day Activities, you'll find a lot of ideas of things to do.

Here's an example of just one thing I found when I did a search on "Memorial Day Activities in Chicago".

It's a great opportunity to see your city, meet new people and experience a little bit of the American culture.

Have fun, and be safe!

Go Au Pair Holiday Hours

In observance of Memorial Day, Go Au Pair will be closed Monday, May 28th.  They will re-open on Tuesday, May 29th.  As always, Host Families and Au Pairs can still contact their Local Area Representative over the holdiay weekend.

Healthy Summer Snacks for Kids

Au pairs--school is almost out, which means that the children will be home from school and you will be responsible for feeding them a lot more while in your care.  It is important that you work closely with your host family to ensure that you are feeding the children a healthy, balanced diet.  Too much sugar, or empty calorie snacks are unhealthy and can cause children to feel moody, a lack of energy, or have a stomach ache.

Here's an article I found that can give you some ideas of healthy snacks to feed the children.

Some of the snacks I like to give my children are fruits (such as watermelon, pineapple, grapes, strawberries, and blueberries), vegetables (carrots, celery, broccoli, and tomatoes), raisins, string cheese, yogurt (my children really like Gogurt, try freezing them, it's like having a creamy popcicle), whole grain cereal (my son loves multi-grain Cheerios), or a banana shake (just blend milk and a ripe banana in the blender).