Au pair affairs

Last week, we farewelled Alessandra, our third au pair. Although she had a rough start (the Sachi whirlwind effect is a pretty tough act to follow!) both Malcolm and I feel that she has turned out to be the stand out. I was surprisingly sad to see her go. During her time here, she really has embraced all constructive criticism and tried hard to change. The difference from when she first arrived and to when she left is quite astounding. This is a great quality for one so young.

We also welcomed Marie, our new au pair from France. She appears to be a warm and hardworking girl. However, again, didn't quite start off so well. She managed to knock down our brick letterbox with The Beast. This was an inconvenience but didn't turn out to be such a big deal as the car had to be fixed from when Malcolm dinged it against the garage anyway. Luckily for us, the dings are on the same side. What was even more challenging for us was to let her know that she had a strong and offensive body odour.

This topic is one that is often discussed and the general consensus is that yes, you should tell someone with bad BO so they can do something about it. But I bet that's only because they've never had to do it! I was forced to do it when I could start smelling BO on Jonah. It was one of the hardest and most uncomfortable thing I've ever had to do in my life. She was understandably upset but maturely informed me that she was glad I was able to be honest with her. I felt so terrible after the event. She said she'll try "some things". I wasn't brave enough to push the envelope by suggesting she use deodorant. She has a fear that deodorants cause cancer. I couldn't exactly tell her that its a load of rubbissh as the chances of one developing cancer isn't that low these days...so we shall see what happens.

It has been 2 days now since we had THAT conversation. I'm glad that the awkwardness has passed and that she doesn't seem to hate me, well, not that I'm aware of anyway. She is thankfully quite efficient and obviously competent. She managed to get Jonah to sleep without problems on her first night with him alone. And like with Alex, I'm sure we'll get to grow fond of her and that we will be sad to see her go in six to nine months time. If only, things can don't have to start so badly all the time!