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Native French speaker sought for happy, urban family

Laurent & Camille-Luxemburg Gardens	Camille & Katrina

Oakland, CA - Host Family at a Glance

40-something family, primarily American, living in United States. Family speaks English, and French. Looking for a female or male Au Pair or Nanny with previous aupair experience. Our aupair will not need to have a driver's license. Light housekeeping is required, and we will not accept an aupair that smokes.

Contact Information for this Host Family

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Email address	unlock with membership
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City	Oakland
State/Province	CA
Postal/Zip Code	unlock with membership
Country	United States

Au Pair or Nanny job description

Your work day usually begins at 7:30 a.m., caring for Camille. I am still nursing Camille, so I have her periodically throughout the day. Our au pair feeds Camille throughout the day, but your most important job is to play with, talk to, and stimulate Camille. Talking and playing with Camille while you are on her level is expected. Our au pair is to clean up after the children and herself throughout the house. When Camille sleeps, our au pair gets break(s). Our au pair's work day usually ends no later than 6:00 p.m. and sometimes, as early as 5:00 p.m.--it all depends on our schedule. Actual work time is 8-9 hrs, usually Monday - Friday. There is definitely some Saturday work and evening work. We absolutely respect the maximum hours of our au pair agency. We provide as much advance notice as possible when there are changes to our au pair's regular schedule. Our au pair must be flexible, as we are a busy household of four people with a lot happening!

Family's Message to Au Pair or Nanny

The most important thing to us is to find an au pair who really and truly loves to play and be with young children, and understands that this is a critically important job. I can't emphasize enough that we are looking for a responsible young woman who who committed to providing the very best care to our children, and to becoming a contributing member of our family. We have two children: a girl, Camille Josephine, who is currently 19.5 months old [born 8 March 2007 in Oakland, CA] and a boy, Laurent Andre, who is 5.7 years old [born 14 March 2003 in Cagnes Sur Mer, France]. Camille is very big and strong, an excellent climber who loves to run and play and do things herself. She is lots of fun and very sweet. Laurent is also very big for his age; people think he is 7. Laurent is extremely bright, playful, energetic and oral. He attends Ecole Bilingue, the East Bay French American School. Laurent has spoken both English and French from birth, and so has Camille. We are thus seeking an au pair willing to only speak French with Laurent and Camille. We do lots of activities with our children, and encourage them to play hard outside, as well as spend lots of time reading books and listening to music. Any safe, creative activity is very, very good, and it's fine with us if the kids get dirty--they just need to get cleaned up afterward! We do not permit Camille to watch any TV or DVDs at all. Laurent watches very, very little TV or DVDs--only with special permission. Both Camille and Laurent do very well with dynamic people who engage them in activities. With both, it is critical that you take charge. Because Camille does not turn 2 until 8 March, we must have an "under 2" qualified au pair. Ideally, our au pair will become a member of our family and not only enjoy spending time with Camille and Laurent but also enjoy doing a few things with us. We live in an urban area, Oakland, California, in the beautiful Bay Area, approximately 20 km from San Francisco. There are many things you can do with Laurent & Camille that are walking distance from our home. There are parks, libraries, a swimming pool, playgrounds, book stores, toy stores, et cetera. We choose to live in the neighborhood we live specifically because one does not need a car. You may also take BART [the train] and the bus with Camille & Laurent. We do NOT provide a car for our au pair, but there is plenty of public transportation to use. In addition, we will provide a bicycle for our au pair to use. I am a lawyer and my husband is a scientist. I represent American Indian tribes. Greg, my husband, is the CEO of the American ch company. Greg has a Ph.D., is trained as an electrical engineer, and works in medical imaging. I work from home; Greg works from an home. It is not unusual for us to take breaks during the day to be with Camille and/or Laurent, or to have lunch with Camille and/or Laurent. That also gives our au pair a break during the day. We spent almost two years (2003-04) living in France, and I lived in Italy six months when I was 20. We thus know how difficult and exciting moving to a new country is. We firmly believe that it takes at least one year to really get to know and enjoy a country, and for that reason, we really want our au pair to be serious about committing to living with our family for one year. We welcome any questions, and if we talk about you coming to be our au pair, we will try to put you in contact with at least two of our prior au pairs. We are still very good friends and in regular contact with two of our prior au pairs and their familes. Both of these young women live in France, and we see them whenever we go to France. Finally, we will only speak English with you and with Laurent and Camille [our French is not very good but I'm working on it!] but my English is excellent--I will happily help you with your English as much as you wish. I do understand that perfecting one's English is one of the reasons many women become au pairs. If, however, learning English is your main reason for being with us, we are not a good match. We will only accept an au pair who truly loves being with young children. We also have a female German Shepherd dog. We have our house cleaned once a week, BUT you MUST keep your room clean, clean up after yourself in the house, help Laurent clean up, and clean up after Camille. We provide our au pair with a computer and internet connection in her room to use as she wishes.