Au Pair in the Netherlands: contract and insurance

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Aupair.com works really well. Many candidates, very active comunity and the platform is easy to navigate. The profiles of Au Pairs have enough information to decide to make a contact and Nicole seemed a good match based on this. After meeting her, we both decided to work toghether.

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Oh wow, I am not sure where to start from. First I’d like to say if I had the capacity to film a documentary. I totally would make one about the cultural shock and difference between Africa and Europe. Well My name is Myra and I am from Africa (Uganda) I joined the program early this year as a means to fully embrace my passion which has always been working with children and what better way is there to explore it, than engaging in child care internationally. I met the family about a month in and they were so warm and welcoming, (we exchanged all necessary details and fast forward about 2 months later I joined them) The first few weeks were sort of hard because I struggled with communication to the children as they did not speak or understood any English at the time, but I persisted and took it one day at a time until we found a common ground (I call it Greenglish) basically I mix English words and Greek words to be able to teach them some English and they are really learning a lot in fact the eldest child now communicates to me with more English words lately and my relationship with them is fast growing in that they are more receptive to ideas and I can reason with them better upon making some decisions like brushing teeth(you know how kids can dislike this), washing hands, going to sleep etc.. I have visited so many beaches and places within the country and made a few friends courtesy of the family. Onto the cons, of course it’s not always merry around the house as I said earlier the cultural shock caught me by surprise the kids are pretty aggressive and have so many mood swings as well as luck of a proper communication manner as they always raise there voices while talking and being the quiet persona that I am that sometimes gets overwhelming. As well as a lot gets lost in translation which in turn can be reason for some misunderstandings. I am struggling with the issue of boundaries as I live where I work and because of that I end up working overtime and doing a lot more than I should be and at times it is hard to talk about with the hosts because I feel like it might create some sort of tension but then I end with a bit of anxiety and I am somewhat always tired from the extra workload which in turn makes it difficult for me to engage in other personal activities, also the time schedules make it impossible to fully explore unless with the family. But I am sure I will find the right way to communicate better and hopefully that can help eliminate the problem, other than that the family is really nice and welcoming, very interesting and I glad I get to live and experience everything fast hand. Also I am learning some great intel to help me make an informed decision on what next.

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Great experience with Smriti. She handles kids well and kids absolutely love her. She also helps around the house when she can which is very helpful as a working mom.

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Through aupair.com we found this great candidate (the ninth already) and upon arriving we had a immediate click between the kids and the au-pair. She planned to stay for a year but unfortunately due to family circumstances she will have to leave earlier. During her 3 months she was taking very good care of our two kids and they saw her as a great sister/friend.