Let me explain. As agencies, we all strive to have the best families – those that are the most prepared, the most welcoming, the most wonderful! It’s our job to make sure we find families who are ready to welcome an au pair into their home, right?

We invest countless hours vetting, preparing, and supporting our host families to ensure they’re equipped for a successful placement. But let’s be honest—there is no such thing as the perfect host family.

Yes, we have families who go the extra mile to make sure the good chocolate is always in stock, or who have their kids create a heartfelt “Welcome to our home” sign for their new au pair. Some families are incredible communicators and take the time to prepare their au pair in great detail. Others invite their au pair into everything—from weekend trips with the grandparents to family holiday photos. But even these families aren’t perfect.

And you know what? I’m glad they’re not!

Stay with me. Of course, these qualities are amazing, and we hope every host family strives to be welcoming and accommodating. But perfection? That’s not what makes a host family truly great.

It’s the little imperfections that make a host family real. Maybe it’s the host mom forgetting grocery day is tomorrow and so it’s breakfast for dinner… again. Or the host dad running late for a child’s soccer game, leaving the au pair to entertain the kids with a game of Simon Says that, in the end, becomes a beloved family tradition.

Saying that the au pair experience is unique is an understatement. No two experiences are the same, and a big part of that is the distinctiveness of each host family—imperfections and all.

What makes an au pair’s time with their host family special isn’t always the moments when everything goes according to plan. It’s those unexpected, sometimes challenging situations that, with a bit of creativity and positivity, turn into memories that last a lifetime.

It’s the shared imperfections between the host family and the au pair that create a genuine connection—two imperfect parties working together, learning from each other, and becoming better versions of themselves. And this, at its core, is what the au pair program is all about.