Wednesday, 1 May 2013

Choosing a Host Family

Whilst I was waiting for the Connecticut family to make their decision I heard from two more families who said they were interested. One in Long Island and the other near Chicago. The Chicago family were obviously not for me, they didn't mention any pets in their home life and they mentioned in their letter that they would want their Au Pair to help them discipline their 3 children where I honestly wanted a family where I would be able to look after the children like they were my own little siblings and leave discipline to the parents. In order to let the family know they weren't for me I sent them an email so they were not hanging on.

The Long Island family did really seem lovely, they had two dogs, chickens and both the children went horse riding. I let them know that I was waiting for a decision from another family but I would let them know if I was still available. Then all I could do was wait for an email from the Connecticut family.

When the email came I was surprised at how long it was. They had decided to go with the other Au Pair who had lived in America before and was older than I was. The email was basically explaining why they didn't chose me. Although that may sound harsh it wasn't, it was really lovely as they said if they could have two Au Pairs she would and that there was nothing 'wrong' with me... good to know!

As soon as I found out their decision I was able to email the Long Island family and let them know I was still available and we set up a time and date to Skype and it really paid off that I am a night owl due to the time difference and I wanted our conversations to be more convenient for them. After a few initial technical difficulties we chatted and decided to have another talk. Over the next couple of days we Skype'd again and I was able to tour their house, talk to the children and speak the their current Au Pair and a previous Au Pair who had come to visit.

Within a week of speaking, Susan (the host mom), said that they would be honoured for me to become their Au Pair and I was glad to accept! I felt much less pressured into talking to this family and I know that they are the right ones for me!

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