What au pairs actually do — and what they never do

The everyday work

• Waking the children, breakfast, the school or nursery run.
• Collecting them, playing, homework help, reading.
• Cooking simple meals for the children.
• Washing and tidying the children's clothes and rooms.
• Taking them to sport, music or the playground.
• Agreed babysitting in the evening.

What is never your job

The rule behind the list: light housework is only yours when it is connected to the children. Everything else belongs to the household, not to you.

• Cleaning the whole home, bathrooms or the family's rooms.
• Windows, gardening, washing the car.
• Caring for elderly or ill relatives.
• Work in the family's business or shop.
• Heavy household work of any kind.

The grey areas, settled early

Loading the dishwasher after the children's lunch is normal. Cleaning the kitchen after a dinner party is not. Putting the children's laundry on is normal, doing the whole family's washing is not.

Agree the grey areas in the first week, while everyone is still polite, and write them into the weekly plan. Almost every conflict we see started as an unspoken assumption.

Being part of the family

You eat with the family, join outings, and have your own room. You are neither a guest nor staff. Good families make space for both sides of that: your German course, your friends, and your free evenings are yours.

If the tasks drift

Name it early and calmly, with the contract in hand. If it continues, write to us on the platform. We speak with the family. If it cannot be fixed, a change of family is possible and your programme continues.