Hello,
we are the Alonso family, .
My name is Marianna, I'm Italian but I've lived in Spain for 19 years. I'm an artist and art teacher. I'm 43 years old.
Alejandro is my husband, he's 48 years old and works as an industrial engineer.
We have two children: Luca is 9 and Marco is 7. They are both bilingual (Spanish/Italian). They attend a school not far from home. They are fairly well-behaved and quiet children. Since they're close in age, they play together a lot. They both enjoy soccer, but they also like playing with Lego, Playmobil, and race cars. We have a cat, who's a little older.
At home, we usually speak Spanish and Italian.
We live in Gijón, a city of almost 300,000 inhabitants, with a beach. Gijón is a very quiet and safe city to live in and offers many services. It's a culturally active city that offers exhibitions, concerts, film and music festivals, and a vibrant nightlife.
We live a 10-minute walk from the beach, in a multicultural neighborhood that's quite central and quiet. There's a shopping center with a movie theater and shops nearby, and all kinds of services are nearby.
We're a close-knit family who likes to do things together and with friends. We have a camper van that we take out on our free weekends.
Our house is quite large and spacious. It has three large bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, and a large living room. The children share the bedroom, and the other room is for guests; in this case, it will be for the au pair.
Our weeks are full of activities. Alejandro leaves very early for work.
I get up at 7:15 a.m. to make breakfast. The children get up at 8:00 a.m. The children and I have breakfast together. At 8:35 a.m., we leave the house to walk to school, which is 1 km from our house. My mother-in-law, Clementina, lives near the school. Clementina is a little older and gets tired walking, so we need someone to pick up the children at lunchtime and around my work schedule.
In the afternoon, they return to school at 3:00 PM, but I can usually accompany them at that time. Depending on the day, the children attend extracurricular activities, which last until 6:30 PM or 8:00 PM. However, there are days when they don't have these activities, and we would like the girl who will be with us to teach them English and help them with their English homework.
Alejandro leaves work at 4:30 PM and sometimes later, so he arrives just in time to pick them up. On those days, we need help taking the children to activities outside of school or picking them up from school.
I work in my classroom and in art workshops from Tuesday to Friday from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM, so I can't help with the children's activities in the afternoons. The au pair's work schedule will primarily include picking up the children from school at 1:00 PM and returning them at 5:00 PM or 7:00 PM.
Her duties around the house will include cleaning the children's room, cleaning their room, and helping me with general house cleaning on scheduled days, as well as hanging and collecting laundry from the clothesline.
We have no problem organizing outings and activities with the au pair, as long as she wants. If she prefers independence and a break from the family routine, she can have Saturdays and Sundays free and organize things as she wishes.
Alejandro and I participate in sports and dance, which we normally do when the children are at school or in the evening. We dance on Friday afternoons, during which time the au pair or their grandmother must be with the children. We don't usually go out alone on weekends, but if it ever happens, we want to be able to count on the au pair's availability.
There are several language schools near our house that she can attend in the morning or sometimes in the afternoon when we don't need to pick up the children.
The language school fee is her responsibility; we will give her a monthly allowance of 250 euros.
Gijón is not an expensive city, and we think that amount will cover her needs.
One thing we don't tolerate in our house is anyone who smokes. Personally, the smell of smoke bothers me a lot. We also can't accommodate any more pets because we have our cat.
We eat a variety of foods at home, and we would like the girl who will be staying with us to be able and willing to eat everything.
We would also like her to have a good level of English and to speak to us in English at home to help us become familiar with the language.
We want to host an au pair because we think it's an opportunity to open up to new cultures. It can be a very enriching experience, and above all, it can be a way for us to learn and practice English in a more natural way.
I don't know much English, my children know a little from school, and my husband knows how to get by much better. Hosting an au pair could be the perfect opportunity for me.We're helping our children become more familiar with this language and learn more.
This year we're already hosting a girl from Finland, and it's a wonderful experience we'd love to repeat. She's another member of the family, and organizing and living together comes naturally to us. We want it to be as natural as possible, without having to tell anyone what to do or having them not do it naturally. She helps us set the table, clean up, and sometimes cook... just like you would at home!

Best regards, Marianna, Alejandro, Marco, and Luca.