Week in the Life of an Au Pair

It's been a while! It's hard to find time in the midst of laziness to write a blog post, I'm not gonna lie. But here I am, several weeks later, with blog post #3!

I'd like to take you guys through a typical week in the life of an au pair. It is by no means glamorous, and you'll probably find that life in Paris isn't what it seems from the movies, especially for those of us on an au pair "salary". I watch three kids, named Charles* who is 12 years old, Lousie* who is 10 years old, and Colette* who is 8 years old. I normally concern myself with the two girls Louise and Colette, because Charles is older and a bit more, I use these terms lightly, responsible and independent. They live about a 10-minute walking distance from my apartment, and most places I need to take them are between our two homes so it's easy access!

Monday: Mondays are good days! They're nice and busy to keep me out of my bed and off of Netflix. I wake up around 8 and get ready to go to my French class across town near Notre Dame. I take two metros to get there, and I love getting to see a different part of the city. After class, I'll usually grab a bite to eat with some classmates, and then return home to prepare for work. I have to be at the kids' school at 4:30 to pick the two youngest girls up. I take Colette home as quickly as possible and then hustle with Louise and her friend to get to the metro to go all the way to the end of the line to her prestigious singing class. I leave her there and get back to their house to start preparing dinner, checking homework and getting Charles and Colette into the shower. 7:00 pm is dinnertime, and after that we just hang out and play games or do some last-minute tidying before I get to leave at 8:00 pm. I walk from the family's apartment to mine, and then it's Netflix time for me until I sleep!

Tuesday: Tuesday is my one designated lazy day during the week. I don't have to be at work until 5:45 pm because Louise and Colette have a study hall session after school! So during the day, I try to clean my apartment, catch up on Youtube, do some yoga, cook something, or do some shopping. This would be an ideal day to go explore the great city of Paris, but more often than not, I end up staying home! It's a hassle to get on the metro and deal with the stress of big-city life outside, plus a lot of things cost money that I don't need to be spending (see au pair "salary" above). But I do want to utilize my time better, so I've created a list of things I want to see in Paris (which I'll include in a later post) before I leave so that I never run out of ideas! 5:45 pm comes along, and I pick up the girls from school, get them home, get them some dinner and double-check homework and showers, and then I can leave.

Wednesday: Wednesday is the only day during the week that I work full-time because, in typical French school fashion, Louise and Colette don't have classes. Charles has school only in the morning. It's also laundry day, so I bring my laundry to work so I can do it at the family's house! Their mom is also home on Wednesdays so we tackle things together. I pick up Colette from dance class at 10:00 am and bring her home. Then we clean up and do homework until lunch-time. After cooking and eating lunch, I bring both girls to their church school (kind of like Sunday school but on a Wednesday) and I race to my home to have an hour of peace. I usually catch up on my dishes or make myself an espresso during this time. Once I pick up the girls from church, I either take Louise to her weekly appointment with a doctor or return home with the Colette. The afternoon is a lazy time unless they have scheduled activities, like a birthday party or shopping with their mom, and then once 6:00 pm hits, its showers and dinner-prep. I leave at 8:00 pm as usual.

Thursday: On Thursdays, I have my French class again! So I repeat my Monday morning routine and pick the girls up late from school study hall again at 5:45 pm. Repeat the Tuesday evening routine.

Friday: I am always happy when I get to Friday! While my responsibilities may seem minuscule, the hours that I do spend with the kids can be very tiring, preteens- am I right? I have a slow wake up on Fridays, and then around 11:15 am, I head to the grocery store to pick up things for the lunch I make for the girls. Louise and Colette come home for lunch on Fridays, each with a friend from their class. I go over to the family's house and start preparing the lunch, sometimes with their mom, so that it's ready when I bring the girls home at noon. After we eat, they have about 20 minutes to play, and then I bring them back at 1:15 pm. Cue in more free time for me! I have 3 hours to do as I please, and most Fridays I try to get to the American Library in Paris to return and check out more books. I pick the girls up from school at 4:30 pm and bring Louise and her friend to her singing class across town again. The mom sometimes helps out on Fridays, but it's not a guarantee, so I usually plan on proceeding as if I were alone. Homework check, clean room check, showers, and dinner, and then I get to leave for the weekend!

Weekend!: On Saturdays and Sundays, how I spend my time varies. Sometimes I'll go out with classmates from my French class, sometimes I'll binge-watch a new series, sometimes I'll play chef and try a new recipe. It all depends! I definitely try to utilize this time to call my family if I hadn't had time to talk to them much during the week.

Overall, my life here in Paris is fairly easy. It's a great opportunity to reflect and see how I'm spending my free time, and how I can grow with all this lack of responsibility. I am happy to have this time in my life and happy that I am achieving a goal of mine in the process (learning French and living in Paris). If you've been to Paris or have heard of some cool places to check out let me know in the comments!

bisous,

Kaitie

PS: * means names have been changed for confidentiality

Cover photo was taken and edited by me- if reused, please give credit!