Issue on Providing food to APs

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Q:     I am a 5 time host mom, recently I have heard from other au pairs that their host parents are not providing food beyond what is prepared for the family. For example a family went on vacation and the au pair stayed home, no extra food was purchased for the au pair. I was under the impression that "board" means food. I think it would be a good idea to have this explanation be a part of the discussion when the Lcc comes over for the 2 week meeting. Also, think e-mails to all the host families addressing concerns from the APs during their monthly meetings is a good idea. That way it is more anoymous. Most au pairs don't want to complain.

Some good ideas:
4 V% r/ n2 m' K- h" [* G" S. H5 Y; Q1.we have our 7th AP right now :) we have always allowed our AP to choose within the categories of family meal planning. For example, they can choose which type of breakfast cereal they like or what kind of bread or cheese. Each member of my family, AP included, gets to choose a dinner menu each week. Obviously, if the AP does not eat fish, I would prepare a separate piece of chicken or a burger on the "fish day". We eat very healthy foods in our home and I cook every night. We have had issues in the past with APs wanting excess sweets or soft drinks. I explain to them that they are role models for the children so Mountain Dew for breakfast is unacceptable in my home. We had an AP that liked smoked salmon and Brie cheese. After the second time that these items disappeared in one day, we had a sit down about what was going to be purchased each week that it was to shared by the entire family.

7 e% I( g$ n* C+ B9 mI had 4 different au-pairs from South/Central America. Each one gained 15 lbs during the first 3 months. These girls were used to eating their main meal of the day in the afternoon. At lunch time, they would prepare a huge meal and then eat dinner with the family, another huge meal. Point this out to your AP and save then some grief. We have been pretty fortunate in that all of my AP's have enjoyed my cooking. I have sent many a recipe to Mexico, Colombia, Poland and Costa Rica.

! T% k8 ], y4 A4 M$ F3 n2.Our last aupair ate alot and by the end of the week our two weeks groceries were reduced to 1 week. We did not have this problem with our first aupair. To avoid going over our food budget this time around, we installed a mini refrigerator in the aupair's room so that she can buy her own snacks and drinks and keep it in her room for her own consumption. There has to be some type of control or else you will be spending 3x the budget you have for weekly groceries.
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3.When the AP arrives, we ask her what she likes to eat, and I take her with me to the supermarket for the first few weeks so she can see what kinds of food we have around here that she would like or that closely match what she is used to. If those items are reasonable, I will try to keep them in the house. Just because she likes double chocalate haggen daaz doesn't mean I am obliged to stock it, but something like nutella that we don't eat and will last 2 months, no big deal. She is also welcome to eat anything in our pantry, fridge, etc, unless i tell her otherwise (like a dessert i am planning to serve on a holiday). our AP's apartment has its own fridge, microwave, toaster oven, kitchen sink, dishes, etc. so anything that is specific to her taste she is free to buy herself or for her friends/houseguests. Most APs have very little money, so i try to make sure that there is always food available if I don't cook, even if its not her favorites. Honestly I have had moments of "annoyance" when I see that something i was looking forward to eating myself is gone when i get home, but then I remember that I should have told her not to eat it, because the rule is that "unless otherwise told, anything in the house is fair game." Bottomline is that most problems, including food, comes down to communication. If you think what she is doing is not quite right-just talk to her, and ask her to do the same. Neither of you can fix what you don't know is broken! He/she is an adult-even if they are only a teenager you feel they are adult enough to care for your kids-so treat them like one. Weight gain is a personal problem, i will not interfere or comment--they'll figure out how to deal with it.
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7 {* e6 j) n3 x, J/ e4. I was finding that a huge thing of Feta from Costco was going in a week or so when it usually lasted us several mos. I hid the next one in the back of the freezer. Lol. Our au pair is a big eater and I just had to stop buying some things. She was also eating all the kids cliff bars, that I buy for just the kids to have. We still need to have that conversation; but she is rarely her to do so. that's another topic.
I did tell her that on weekends she is welcome to eat what she wants but if she is not here or she is sleeping than I will not plan on her when I am cooking. I started preparing dinner one evening and we had asked the neighbor boy to join us and she and a friend showed up. They were in her room and she came down and asked if she could join us. I said that I wasn't expecting her as i hadn't seen her for 7 hrs and had no idea she would be showing up for dinner. And I certainly didn't plan on feeding her friend. I told her later that if she did plan to be around for a weekend meal to just let me know.
" H4 ]* B; P& k/ qWe are a family of 5 , 6 w/ au pair and there is plenty of food in the house. Fruit, lunch meat, cheese, veggies, crackers, eggs, etc.
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Yolanda

呵  这一日三餐还真是个big deal。
这方面我和家庭比较和谐，食物几乎共享，美国家庭都有个食物柜，里面有很多罐头啊袋装食物面包等等。我和我的host mom几乎每两天去一次超市，反正没事干，缺了个啥都赶紧去超市买回来。我一般不主动要求给自己买什么，家里有啥吃啥。hm很细心，会记住我爱吃的东西，有时候问我要不要买。我都只是建议她一些家庭需要的东西，最后都是她做决定。
自己吃东西要注意度，我一般不吃孩子的零食，那些奥利奥啊糖果啊颜色鲜艳的饼干啊都只是孩子吃的。贵的水果像蓝莓黑莓我一般不吃，便宜的像橘子香蕉葡萄可以吃一点。
话说我是个巧克力狂，hm有次买了包HEYSHEY'S的榛子黑巧，我超爱，忍不住几天内吃了好多，后来赶紧找了个机会自己买了包搁回去。