[jluetjen]

My daughters are 7 and 11, and we've gotten Au Pairs from Cultural Care each summer. It's worked our really well once our girls figured out the routine. I travelled about a week after the first au pair arrived and got a phone call from the poor girl who was at wits end. I clued my wife in to the situation and and spoke via phone with each girl and reminded them of our expectations for their behavior.

By the end of the summer, the girls were almost in tears because it was time for the au pair to go home. Since then the girls have been really helpful with getting the au pairs settled in. A couple of hints...

1) Include your children in the interview process with the au pair. They shouldn't have veto, but they should have some ownership of the decision.
2) Make sure that your wife doesn't have a problem with a 19 year old female living in the house. We've heard a number of stories of conflicts due to that.
3) Make sure that you don't have any issues with a 19 year old female living in the house. You only need to pick up a People magazine to understand the issues with that. Always "keep it in your pants" or you'll be in a world of hurt.