Saying Goodbye to Your Host Kids as an Au Pair in Paris

Hey Au Pairs, 

Next week, Edwina and I will be in Norway! I've packed my favorite walking boots, a few fleeces and yoga pants. As Norway is extremely expensive, we're attempting to do it on a tight budget, but we'll see how that goes.

I never went to Norway as an au pair as I expected it would be too bank-breaking, but we'll report back and let you know our findings! (Expect for us to be wearing the same clothes in the next few YouTube videos as we're packing lightly.)

Today, I thought I'd share a story with you which we cut from the book. We're having to be pretty vigilant but we wanted to share our experience of saying goodbye to the kids anyway. 

If you're interested in writing a story from your own experiences, we'd love to hear from you! Of course, you'll receive full credit and links back to your own blog or social media. Contact us, here. 

chat to us - we don't bite

What to do if you start liking the kids you look after

I know some people become au pairs because they love kids. But, that wasn't why I personally decided to look after kids. When I told my friends I was moving to Paris to become an underpaid nanny, they thought I was mad and said things like: "but, you hate kids."

And sure, at the beginning of my stay in Paris, I couldn’t wait to clock off and head out with friends, leaving behind the screaming enfants. In the rough few months at the beginning of my au pair stay, I'd certainly agree that I really did not like kids.

retro pic of us back as au pairs! Love to the 17th arr group :D

“But, by the end, I felt so unexpectedly attached to my host kids that they were more like siblings on good days and irritating cousins on bad ones. I wondered, since when did I grow attached to the children who used to make me cry like a baby?”

Whenever the kids began using my English phrases or wanted to play a game I had taught them, I’d feel warm and tingly inside. By the end of my stay as an au pair, I was downright sad to be saying goodbye to these kids.

Of course, saying goodbye is such a strange experience. You’ve known this day was coming for a long time, yet suddenly it’s upon you. Your new friends are waiting outside and you hand over the au-pair-flip-phone (which you’ve, hopefully, cleared, but have nightmares about for the next few months imagining your host mum read about all the French men you had on speed dial) and you pick up the kids for the last time.

This experience is either going to be a quick bisous and a sigh of relief. Or, like me, you’re going to feel such a pang of sadness for this place you’ve called home for a year and these children that you regularly referred to as “my kids”.

I guess, the only real thing you can do if you feel an overwhelming amount of sadness is to go back to Paris regularly and visit the family - even offer to babysit if you’re not leaving the city for good.

“But, no matter how attached you felt, when that inevitable Facebook add comes along after your kids went from a sweet eleven-year-old to a social media savvy fourteen-year-old, you might be tempted to click accept, but it’s not worth it. Trust me.”

What are your experiences with saying goodbye to your host kids? Let us know. 

If you're just arriving in Paris, then become an APOP member to meet new friends! Finally, if you haven't already, check out this week's video all about OFII. 

That's all for now, 
Ciao xo