Our Family

Manual

To Help Guide

Your

Au Pair

Experience

Welcome, welcome, welcome! We are so happy and excited that you are here! We hope that your time with us is exciting and rewarding. We look forward to a great relationship between you and our family.

To help make your time go smoothly, we all need to do what we can to ensure open communication, consideration, and cooperation. Please feel free to talk to us at any time if you have any questions, concerns, or complaints. If there is anything you do not understand, just ask us. Remember that this is new to all of us!

Like any new situation, the first few weeks will probably be the most challenging. Once we settle into a routine and you become familiar with our family and our home, it will get easier. If you are having difficulty with anything, including being homesick, let us know and we will do all we can to help.

We hope that you find your room comfortable – you are welcome to do whatever you want to really make it feel like “home” to you. Please let us know if there is anything else you need to help you feel comfortable.

On the next pages, you will see some information that we have put together in a “household handbook”. We have tried to include as much information as we could think of, but please let us know if you have questions about anything. After you’ve had a chance to read through this handbook, we can sit down and go through it together to make sure you understand everything.

Once again, welcome! We are looking forward to having you become part of our family!!

Love,

Host Dad, Host Mum, Child 1, Child 2, Child 3 & Child 4

BASIC FAMILY INFORMATION & CONTACT DETAILS

1. Address:

2. Postal Address:

3. Home phone number:

4. Mobile phone numbers:

5. Emergency Phone Numbers

If there is a life threatening emergency always dial 000 first then the parents.

No one in our family has an allergies or medical conditions you should be aware of.

Your daily schedule

Be ready to hit the ground running from 7am, Mon - Fri

Help with lunch boxes

emptying dishwasher

making breakfast for kids

encouraging them to brush teeth

Remind children to tidy bedrooms

take meat out of freezer for dinner that night

Take the children to school between 8.00am and 8.20am – mum is usually home until 8.15am

as well

Some jobs that need to be done every day before you collect the kids – Once these jobs are

done the rest of your time is free until you pick the children up.

Tidy kitchen

Make sure nothing is on benches or table that shouldn’t be and wipe over

Make sure all washing is done – Washed, dried and folded (mum usually puts washing

on in the morning)

Tidy lounge room

Sweep Living areas floors

Please note these items should be a quick tidy up and should only take an hour at the

absolute most.

Collect the children from school at 2.25pm

Make them afternoon tea

Children should put their washing away before any activity starts

Children can organise to have friends over for play if they have a gotcha to pay for it

Help children with homework – If not sure what to do then please ask me or the

children

Between 4.30pm & 5pm if we are not home

Pack up and clean up from activity

5pm showers for children should be started

5.30pm dinner should be started

All outside doors should be closed from 5pm in winter

We will always try to get home by 5pm but may need to work late at times. Your work

hours do extend to 6.30pm.

What we love to see in our Au Pairs:

Speak in a friendly manner to children at all times (if the children think you sound

grumpy they are less likely to listen)

Understand that they are missing their parents

Understand children will not be perfect

Understand that how they treat you may be reflecting how they feel they are being

treated, if it is not positive then reflect also on how you sound, behave or come across…

Communicate with the children – it will help their understanding

Try to be positive with the reward charts – Positivity will promote positivity. Negativity

will encourage negativity.

Be fun – Be happy – Be caring – Be loving

If a parent is talking to their child and disciplining the child, please do not get involved

or try to help.

Bonding and playing games when mum & dad are home

Understand that it is a privilege to be offered a position of trust in our home and with

our children, please treat everyone in our household with respect.

Do NOT swear at/or in front of our children – Words which we consider inappropriate

are: Shit, Fuck, Cunt, Slut, Whore

As much as we wish our children were perfect angels, they are not! We want you to feel comfortable disciplining the children. They need to understand that they must listen to and respect you the same way they listen to and respect us, and that they do not make the rules. Please tell us if there are behavior problems that you need us to help you address with the kids. However, if you have problems with them during the day and feel like you were able to resolve them yourself, you do not need to tell us every little detail of what happened! If you feel like it is “over” by the time we get home from work, you do not need to tell us about it.

If any of the kids are upset or hurt and can’t be comforted, you can always call us on our mobile phone, sometimes it helps them if they can hear one of our voices on the phone. This should only be used as a last resort, and not encouraged to occur every day.

We also have in place the Behaviour Ladder and the Gotcha System. Which can be your best friend.

Behaviour Ladder:

For the following items you can award the children a tick, they may use their ticks to stay up

later at night. They cannot use up more than 30 minutes worth of ticks on a school night but

they can save them to have up to 1 hour later on the weekends.

Ticks can be given for the following behaviour:

Helping without being asked

Using manners consistently

Doing homework without being asked

Cleaning up without being asked

Not arguing when asked to do something

General good behaviour

Treating an adult with respect

Crosses can be added for the following behaviour:

Being rude to adults

Not listening

Not doing something when asked more than 2 times

Being rude to siblings

Physically hurting siblings

Being mean to anyone

You can use your judgement when to give ticks or crosses.

If a child does not have any ticks and has crosses they start having to go to bed earlier than

their bedtime by 5 minutes for each cross.

Bedtimes are: 7.30pm – Child 2, Child 3 & Child 4 8.00pm – Child 1

Hint: Using positive rewards works better than negative, rewarding one child for good

behaviour will also encourage the other children to behave in this manner. Always use a

positive tone in voice for both negative and positive, if you speak down to them then they

will think you are just out to get them.

Gotchas:

Gotchas are to be used as a positive encouragement for good behaviour in conjunction with

the Behaviour Ladder. You (not the child) can choose between a Gotcha or a tick, however the

Gotchas are supposed to be for especially good behaviour.

Refer to the list for when a child gets a Gotcha.

Try to only give the negative when absolutely necessary, positive behaviour will encourage

positive behaviour. This is about getting the children to listen to you, enjoy their time with

you. If you are coming down hard on every little thing then they won’t want to be around you.

Dealing with issues

We hope that you feel comfortable with us and want you to feel free to bring up any questions or concerns with us at any time. If there is something that is bothering you, please talk to us about it right away so that we can resolve the issue, rather than waiting and perhaps having the problem get worse.

However please ensure you choose an appropriate time to ask such things, for instance it would not be appropriate to discuss in front of the children or when we are busy.

The best thing would be to either wait for the children to be in bed or ask me to give you 5 minutes of my time whilst the children are at school.

If there is something that you do not feel comfortable talking to us about, you can either write us a note or an email, but would prefer to have an open and honest face to face conversation.

We think that the best way for us to have a successful time together is to make sure that we talk about any problems or things that are bothering us right away. Please do not feel scared or nervous about coming to us with any problems or concerns that you may have.

Here are some tips & guidelines in relation to the children:

If you are taking children outside for more than half an hour sunscreen MUST be applied. Aussie sun is hot and the children burn very easy even on a cloudy day.

Sugary afternoon snacks like chocolate and lolly’s should be avoided unless you want to deal with attitude!

Children should wear helmets at all times when riding bikes, scooters, skateboards or unicycles. It’s the law here!

Child 1 is allowed to make his own way to and from school Child 2 is allowed to ride to and from school with her friends but not by herself. Child 4 or Child 3 may accompany Child 1 to school but not home from school. Child 4 and Child 3 must be with you from school to home (road is a lot busier in the

afternoon) Child 2 is allowed to take himself to friends’ houses as long as you know where he is, he

must be home by 5pm & he will have to pay with a Gotcha. Child 1 is not allowed to hang out at the skate park You may let children have friends over for play in the afternoons but they must be

collected by 5pm, same if our children go to a friend’s house, you should collect them by 5pm. They all have to pay with a gotcha for this to happen. Please find excuses why the following children can’t come over

XXX – Child 4’s friend XXX– Child 2’s friend XXX – Child 4’s friend XXX – Child 3’s friend

Front door should be shut when leaving the premises but does not need to be locked Children unless starving should not be given any food to eat after 5.00pm until dinner. Swearing is not permitted in front of the children – Us parents do sometimes, but the Au

Pairs should not. The top level of the house is not a common area and is only to be used on occasion for

movie times, children are not allowed up there without supervision especially if friends are over. All mess should be cleaned up when finished in the area.

When children are playing games and ask you to be involved it is best if you get in and play with them some of the time. We understand if sometimes you will have other things to do, but it is important part of the bonding process to interact with them on their level. They will respect you a lot more if they think you are fun and if they feel you care about them.

If children are having a difficult afternoon and in bad moods it is best to redirect them, separate them from anyone they are arguing with or to make something a little naughty happen, like ice cream before dinner… or movie in the top loungeroom, they might just need a little more one on one attention

The children are very good at telling you what I normally allow to happen, if in doubt please just txt me or inbox me on FB to confirm or use your own judgement. Unless their safety is at risk it is not a big deal if they get away with something once.

It is your job to remind the children to pick up after themselves when we are not home. – Ticks are great rewards for when children remember this!

If the children are all in bad moods and you are feeling out of control of the situation, please call us and we will come home and deal with it. This is to be used as last resort.

Get into the habit of cleaning up with the kids after each activity, before you move on to something else. This will make it easier to keep the room clean and will also teach you and the children to clean up after yourselves.

Meals

Our children enjoy eating the pretty much anything that is in the house, please encourage healthy eating options first followed by the “cupboard”. I would love to see you baking fresh snacks for the children’s lunchboxes with them after school, this will help cut down on the processed packaged foods we have in the cupboard. However I do not expect you to do this in your spare time.

When preparing meals for the whole family, the children are less likely to be “Impressed” with vegetable based meals, but love things like Asian or Italian, anything with lots of meat.

You may find that I take the luxury of someone else cooking as an opportunity to have a shower before 8pm, or to spend one on one time with my children… That is my prerogative, after all this is why I have the help of an Au Pair. However I do not expect to be waited on hand and foot, and I am happy to do most of the cooking.

Cutting a fresh fruit salad in the morning, or making a quiche the night before for lunch boxes is a great way to jazz up their lunch box. If you have any ideas, we would love to hear them.

What we expect from our Au Pair

We would prefer it if you didn’t spend any more than a short amount of time in your bedroom whilst looking after the children, they should always feel you are approachable when you are looking after them

If you would like to introduce the children to your family back home via skype we encourage you to do so. This should be done in the living area of the house and can be done at any time if the focus is on the children

When you are off the clock, we do ask that you integrate with the family and not hide in your room ALL the time we are home, however we understand if you want some time out to yourself or if you are going out.

We ask you to contribute to the household duties in the same way that you would in your own family (ie helping to set the table for dinner, helping to put shopping away).

We also expect that if you are home and see that something needs to be done, if it is only 5 minutes of your time then do it out of consideration.

Please let us know if you are not going to be home for dinner. When children are in bed we spend time in our parent’s area on the top level of the

house, you are welcome to join us but you also have the living areas downstairs to yourself if you choose.

If you join us on outings on non-work days and there is a cost per head you will be responsible for your own entry costs and food.

We do not accept overnight guests unless it is pre-arranged and approved. You may have up to 2 friends visit at one time in the downstairs lounge room during non-

work hours, we just ask that you keep the noise down and respect the children trying to get to sleep.

Important Rules

Here are some house rules that are non-negotiable:

Overnight male guests are not permitted at all We expect you to respect your position of looking after our children and ensure you get at

least 8 hours of sleep prior to your workday commencing. Swearing at/or in front of our children is not acceptable and depending on the

circumstances may result in instant dismissal. Theft – We are generous people and will treat you like a member of the family. Any kind

of stealing no matter how small will be considered an insult to us personally and will result in immediate dismissal and will be reported to the police.

Smoking – We do not condone or permit smoking on our property, please advise if you are a smoker. Smoking is not permitted inside the house or car under any circumstances.

Alcohol – Your blood alcohol level must remain at zero whenever you are working. This includes any residue from a big night the night before, hangovers on duty will not be tolerated especially as you do not work weekends.

Illegal Drugs – Being under the influence, any kind of consumption or possession of illegal drugs will not be tolerated in our home and will be reported to the police immediately

HEALTH & SAFETY

In the event of a fire:

Get all of the children outside. Once you know that everyone is safe outside, use your mobile phone or a neighbor’s phone to call 000.

In the case of a medical emergency, you should call 000 and then: Call Host Mum on her mobile phone. If you can’t reach Host Mum, call Host dad. Please note that if you call 000, you will need to give them our address, so you should make a point of memorising the address.

The children are not allergic to anything that we know of and do not have any known medical conditions that emergency services should be notified of.

If someone who you do not know comes to the door, please do not let them in. If it is someone who is dropping off a package, you can take it, and sign for it if necessary. You are welcome to invite your friends over in your free time, but we would prefer to meet them first before you invite them into the house when we are not home.

Whenever you take the kids anywhere in the car everyone must wear their seatbelts.

Please ensure you drive safely at all times, 40km an hour in school zones and 50km’s in residential areas.

Please turn the handles of any pots and pans on the stove away from the front of the stove so that the kids cannot knock them.

There is a First Aid kit in the kitchen. We will show you where it is.

Please provide us with emergency contact information for your family back home and a list

of any known medical conditions or allergies.

This is so we can adequately inform medical professionals should you ever require attention.

Car

You will have the use of a car to drive the children to and from school and to after school

activities.

You may also use our car in your free time if the car is not otherwise required by the family

during that time, providing that you always ask for permission beforehand.

The car is not to be taken outside of XXXX unless discussed and no further than XXX. The

excess for damage to the car in case of an accident is $XXX you will be responsible for any

fines or damage to our vehicle whilst you are driving and we may decide not to allow

continued use of the car depending on circumstances.

Driving the vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs is strictly prohibited and will be

reported to the police and may result in instant dismissal.

If you have your own vehicle we will provide an allowance of $25 per week for fuel if you

choose to use it for the children. Given the size of XXX this will be more than enough to cover

fuel costs.

PAY & VACATION SCHEDULE

What day of the week will the au pair be paid? Friday Weekly, $250 as agreed prior to your commencement. This is non-negotiable. As host parents we provide you with Accommodation (rent), utilities (gas/electricity and water) and all meals as long as they fit within the families budget.

As much as possible, we include our Au Pairs in all of our family vacations. We will give you the choice about whether you want to come or not.

You are entitled to 1 weeks leave during your 6 month stay. Please give us ample notice of when you would like to take your holidays. However, if you are with us during the summer holidays your week off will need to be when the children are at their other parents house. As we are super busy at this time of the year and cannot be left without an Au Pair.

We also encourage you to do a Fraser Island trip and are willing to work with you so this can happen on a weekend the children are at their other parents house. Host Mum can source well priced tours for you across Queensland. Please remember when we give you time off for these tours we are still paying you, we do not mind, but that should be respected and any weekly tasks should be done prior to your departure.

Additional Employment/extracurricular activities:

You are permitted to gain additional employment outside of the house. This employment MUST NOT interfere with your before and after school duties or household duties.

You are expected to walk with the younger children to their class in the mornings. I also expect that you are at the school to pick them up by the time they come out of class. They are NOT to be left waiting.

Anything that interferes with that would NOT be suitable.

CURFEW & HOUSE RULES

General curfew information: On work nights, please be home at a reasonable hour (midnight) so that you are not too tired for work the next morning.

If you need more sleep in order to be rested and ready to start the day at your scheduled time, please come home at whatever time is necessary in order to be fresh for work the next morning.

We would prefer you didn’t have sleep overs on the nights before work, we want to ensure you are fully rested, so ask that you spend the nights at home when you are working the following day.

On nights when you don’t have to work the next day, let us know if you want to stay out later or plan to stay overnight at a friend’s house. If you have not told us that you will be late, we will worry if you are not home.

We trust that you are mature enough to decide how to spend your free time. However, we want you to be very careful about your safety. If you are ever in a situation that feels dangerous, PLEASE call us, no matter what time it is, and we will come to pick you up.

VISITORS & GUESTS

Family policy on hosting friends and family from out of town: You are welcome to invite friends or family to visit. Please just talk to us about it in advance.

Can boyfriends/girlfriends come to visit? During work hours, please do not have any guests over to the house without talking to us about it first. Generally, we do not want guests in the house during your work hours unless they are other au pairs or friends caring for children, who come over for a play date.

House rules on having overnight guests: Please let us know if you wish to have a friend stay overnight. We will not allow boyfriends/girlfriends to stay over as it is not something we wish to expose to our children at this young age.

TELEPHONE & TV

You may call anyone anywhere in Australia from our home phone to their landline or mobile. Overseas calls are not permitted, skype should be used.

It is fine for you to talk on the phone while the kids are in school. When the kids are home you can answer calls briefly, but please pay attention to what the kids are doing and do not talk on the phone for too long.

Please be sure to keep your mobile phone with you at all times, and make sure you keep the battery charged. Please do NOT sit on your phone whilst working using social media.

Please do not watch anything with violence, sex, or bad language in front of the children. You are free to watch more “mature” shows or movies once the children are in bed or whilst they are at school.

We do not allow them to watch shows with violence, sex, or bad language.

We will show you how to use the television in the lounge Room.

COMPUTER & INTERNET USAGE

When is your au pair allowed to use the computer? How often?

You may use the laptop in the lounge room during work hours while the kids are at school.

Note: that if you choose to use the computer during work hours, you will still be expected to satisfy your household duties, either during work hours or during your free time.

During non-work hours, you may use the computer at anytime, unless it is already being used.

When going online, things to consider include:

Do not give our address or phone number to anyone you don’t know. If you have a blog or other website about your au pair year, please do not include any identifying information about our family.

Please confirm with us on posting photos of our children on social media. Also bear in mind that we do NOT have unlimited downloads, if you wish to download

items, please speak to us beforehand.

FOOD

Please remember that all food is supplied by us, please help yourself, but bear in mind there are others in the house.

If you use the last of something or notice it is running low, please let me know so we can replenish it as soon as possible.

There is a white board located in the kitchen where you can jot down items that are running low or we need.

Any luxury foods, or foods that we do not buy in our usual grocery shop are at your own expense.

We ask that you cook for our family a few times a week, usually Host Mum and Au Pair take turns. Please consider your recipes and the costs involved in getting all ingredients. I try and stick to a budget in our weekly shop, so would appreciate it if you take the time to keep it nutritious and budget friendly.

Toiletries are also at your own cost (except toilet paper or usual household items)

Please do not leave open food containers or empty/used glasses or dishes in your room or on the floor. This will attract bugs and mice.

Additional Expenses

We will pay for all activities you do with the children for example outings, snacks, excursions,

etc. If the children go to the town pool I allow them to have $1 of lolly’s each.

I don’t mind if you would like to take them out for the occasional ice cream, just be prepared

to deal with attitude. Our children do react to sugar in a not so pleasant manner.

If you are taking them somewhere always pack a bag of snacks and some water.

Notice Period

If you choose to leave before our agreed end date, we ask that you (if possible) give 4 weeks’

notice so we have enough time to source another Au Pair.

If you feel our family is not a good fit for you then please communicate this and we will work

with you to find another family and ask that you help us to find another Au Pair. We

understand not all personalities match!

Termination may be immediate if any of the children’s safety is deemed at risk. This can

include but is not limited to being under the influence of alcohol or drugs during work hours,

any kind of physical harm towards the children (smacking, kicking, punching) leaving either

Child 2, Child 3 or Child 4 at home unsupervised without prior consultation with either parent.

By intentionally and repeatedly ignoring the guidelines set out in this manual.

If immediate termination applies we will pay for hostel accommodation for up to 3 nights

from the date of termination.

Host Parents Responsibilities

Whilst there are a number of expectations surrounding the care of our four children we also

hold a responsibility towards you to provide you with a safe and pleasant working and living

environment. If there is ever anything you need to make the environment better for you, we

encourage you to talk to us about it and we will always do our best to fulfil reasonable

requests.

If there is any kind of food you would like to have regularly please feel free to let me know

and I will add it to the shopping list, you are also welcome to come with me to help choose

the weekly groceries.

I am happy for you to add any reasonable amount of personal hygiene items at the time of the

grocery shop, however any items brought for yourself outside of this time, be it food or

personal hygiene items, will be your own financial responsibility.

Communication between all parties is essential for this arrangement to work.

Why do we have an Au Pair?

We have an au pair because we are busy and we NEED help, we have you in our home and

share our life with you. We chose an Au Pair over a babysitter for the family aspect.

We CHOSE you and you CHOSE us.

We MUST work together!

We do not want to come home from busy jobs to find the daily tasks still needing to be done,

we want to come home and be able to relax as a family and enjoy our time with our children.

If these jobs did not matter they would not be on the list.

We CHOOSE to have an au pair, rather than an afternoon babysitter plus a cleaner, so the

children can bond with the au pair and have a better relationship with them, we expect you to

ensure this happens. If you have questions on how to do this please ask me.

As much as we want to behave as a family unit it is not to be forgotten that you are being paid

to do a job and this is a position you accepted.

If you don’t want to do ALL the cleaning jobs, please let me know and I will reduce your pay to

the standard Au Pair rate for 25 hours which is $150 and organise a cleaner for the other jobs.

We feel it is important to show you the cost to our family to have an au pair in comparison to

a babysitter and cleaner:

$100 - $150 a week in food minimum

$250 per week in pocket money

$50 a week in electricity, water and incidentals

$20 a week in additional insurance for the car

This equals a Minimum of $470 per week

A babysitter and cleaner would cost approximately $300 per week and all of the tasks would

be done every day.

An additional person in our house means less privacy and less time as a family unit – we don’t

mind this but it also needs to be respected that your position here is a privilege and should

not be taken for granted.

So why do we pay at least $470 a week to have an Au Pair? Because we wanted someone who

could fit into our family and become like family. Someone who would see this as more than

just a job and treat our home and family with respect and love.

We will always endeavour to help you, guide you and look after you!

You need to remember that sometimes mum can be cranky, sometimes dad will be,

sometimes Au Pair can be cranky, it is natural. Sometimes mum sounds cranky but is not, she

is just tired. Please do not take this personally, it is just part of family life and may not have

anything to do with you.

It is important to us as a family that if the children do not behave in an acceptable manner

then we use the tick/cross system. We keep our voice neutral, raising a voice will instantly put

them off side and make it harder to regain the upper hand.

If the children are fighting you add a cross, tell them it makes you sad because you are trying

to have fun with them, but mum has asked for some things to happen first.

The bad behaviour will settle down if you are making fun things happen in the afternoon. It is

when they are bored or do not respect you that they will push the boundaries.

Your role is to make this experience FUN for the children and ensure they remain safe.

When cooking with the children let them help, it may not be done exact but it will all work out

in the end and they will have fun. (If you want something to be perfect do it when they are at

school) or don’t offer for them to help.

If you struggle handling all 4 in an activity split them up so 2 are doing something else, then

swap…

Child 1 is very intelligent and thrives off knowledge, if you would like to know how something

should be done or how something works, ask him, he would love to be able to show you. He

can also be a great help when pulled aside and asked.

If the children won’t listen to you, please write the issues down and we will follow up with the

children in a family meeting when we get home.

We understand that in cultures you will do things differently and part of the reason you are

here is to see how our culture lives. Please do not try to change how our family works to the

way you think it should, please respect the way we live.

Do not speak over the parents if they are disciplining their children, it is not your place to get

involved.

IF THE CHILDREN DON’T RESPECT YOU THIS WILL NOT WORK, RESPECT IS A TWO WAY STREET

As you are a living within our household, we would appreciate your help with getting ready for dinner (pouring drinks, helping with the kids’ plates) and cleaning up afterwards (clearing and wiping the table, sweeping the floor). We do not expect you to do everything yourself, just to help out.

Please try to turn off all lights and appliances when you leave a room. We are charged for our usage of electricity and our bills can become quite costly if we leave the lights on all the time. If we have the heat on in the winter or the air conditioning on in the summer, please be sure to keep the windows closed so we do not waste electricity by heating or cooling a house with open windows and use sparingly.

The kids are not allowed to eat or drink anywhere in the house except the kitchen/dining/lounge room. When you are working, we would like you to follow this same rule. When you are not working (and not with the kids), you may eat or drink wherever you like, but please do not leave any open food containers or empty/used glasses or dishes around as they will attract bugs and mice. Please clean up any spills immediately.

Sick Days

If the children are home from school sick we do ask that you stay home with them as additional hours.

This does not happen very often, usually we ask that the children spend some of their time on their bed, but otherwise they are fine to do quiet activities inside, depending on how sick they are. In a school term we may have 1 or 2 sick days with the children.

If you are sick then we ask that you let us know as soon as possible so we can make alternative arrangements for the children. We do not expect you to work and be happy whilst being sick, please take the time you need and rest to get yourself better.

Daily House Duties:

Children’s Washing:

Day shirts, jumpers and jackets are placed on hangers

o Hang the girls on one cupboard handle in the kitchen whilst you are going

o Boys on the other

o When hanging in wardrobe – Child 2’s on left side of wardrobe, Child 4’s on right,

Child 1 on Right Child 3 on left - If in doubt as to who owns what, ask them.

Hint – Child 1 is in bigger sizes than Child 3 – Child 2 is in bigger sizes than

Child 4

Shorts, underwear and Pyjamas are all folded and placed in their correct pile

Parents Washing:

All items should be folded place Host Dad’s pile on one side of basket and Host Mum’s

on the other side (you don’t need to fold our underwear you can just pop it in the

basket)

Basket should be taken to the end of their bed every day.

Sheets & Blankets:

These should all be folded and placed in the cupboard under the stairs or put straight

back on beds

Towels:

Childrens Towels hung back up on hat stand in bathroom

Parents towels should be placed on top of their washing basket

Cleaning Duties – Cleaning Products are in the cupboard in the laundry

Every day – These duties are non negotiable

Kitchen, dining room and lounge room need to be tidied, floor swept, sink and benches

cleaned.

Washing hung (dryer if raining), folded and put away (children can put their own away)

Bathroom quick Tidy

Once a week (Friday)

Daily duties

Remove all sheets off beds, wash them and remake beds (spare sheets can be found in

cupboard under stairs) – This can be done on any day of the week if the beds are made

when the other clean is done.

Bathrooms should be cleaned including showers and toilets and rubbish bins emptied

o Please use the shower cleaner, it can be helpful to spray it on and do other

cleaning duties to give it time to soak in.

o Please make sure that toilets are cleaned on outside as well as inside

o Bath mats should be put through the wash, dried and placed back in bathroom

(quick wash setting)

o Any mess on the bench should be tidied and put in cupboards or bin

Lounge upstairs should be tidied and surfaces dusted

Sink upstairs should be cleaned

Rubbish bins upstairs should be emptied

All floors should be swept (vacuumed) and mopped

One extra thing should also be done once a week

o Clean Tupperware cupboard

o Clean other kitchen cupboards

o Clean out cupboard under stairs

o Clean out girls room

o Clean out boys room

o Clean some windows

This should take no more than 4-5 hours once a week.

Cooking Dinner:

Mum hates cooking – anything you can do here for meals is very appreciated – this

does not mean I expect you to cook every night. I would be happy to work out a roster.

Meat should be taken out of the freezer in the morning

Children prefer meat based foods to vegetable based

If you are unsure of how to use the oven just ask, Child1 knows as well, or just point all

knobs towards the floor!

If you need any items feel free to buy them and I can reimburse you or ask for cash

upfront

I do not expect you to go to the shops or to prepare meals in your free time, this can be

done with the children or after I am home.

This document is to give you an idea of what we expect so we can avoid any unpleasant

conversations in the future.

We have not set times as we feel that you are an adult and should be able to time manage

appropriately to ensure that everything is completed. However as a guide you can expect to

work the following hours:

7am – 9am – (Mon – Thurs) 7am – 1pm – (Friday) 2.25pm – 6.30pm (Mon – Thurs & Every 2nd Friday)

(Maximum of 32 hours a week, including cleaning – Au Pair Fair Pay document states that the normal amount of pay for this amount of hours is around $150 /$180, you are paid $250 to compensate for 4 children and cleaning duties)

We will treat you as a member of our family, and you are free to join us in our family activities

on Saturdays and Sundays as you wish, however we understand this is your free time.

We are very easy going people and generally if you respect us we will respect you. We expect

that you will enjoy your time with our family and we will endeavour to make it as pleasant as

possible.

We hope you enjoy your time here with us in XXXX and we look forward to sharing an amazing time together