Nice people thread part 7 - a thread in its prime

Generali

Oh, one more thing. She swears blind that between 9 and midday she was with the kids, and the kids were off the computer and so was she.

How, in that case, was 2.5GB of data downloaded from the internet and 100MB sent back up the wire? The kids watch youtube videos, although not at that time supposedly, and they don't talk back to it.

Sigh.:mad:

michaels

vivatifosi wrote: »

I quite like what you are not allowed to do in your car there - the rules are very much set to you drive, and you take that task seriously.

Well I guess it is a novel form of birth control...

I agree with Gen on this one, it is a trust issue and when the person is in sole charge of your kids then you need to have that trust...say she had 'fallen asleep' when she was supposed to be picking the kids up from somewhere?

Also we are certain that you will do the right thing for her rather than casting an innocent on to the streets.

Finally I agree with PN - an au pair is posh - may be it is a cheap form of child care but it is nonetheless a solution to a problem more likely to be even known of by those who are posh. My sister has had a few but with variable success including one guy who managed to get a ticket driving the 1.0 clio they gave him at almost 100mph - I would call that an achievement.

vivatifosi

Just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who mentioned getting out to do the shopping earlier in the week. When we got off plane, I was mindful of what you had all said, when straight to M&S food and equipped myself with the basics like bread, bananas etc. I can easily get out from here, but looking out of the window don't really want to.

Having had the heat on for a day now, the living room is a decent temperature, but the kitchen has still only risen from 6 degrees to 15. It is always the coldest room in the house as it is north facing and doesn't have its own heater (save a pitiful fan heater on the wall). We're trying to work out what other measures we can take to heat up that area of the house as there's not room to add another heater. Looking at stuff like a door curtain for the front door. If anyone has any ideas for retaining heat rather than warming up - as that's where in reality my options will come from - please let me know...

Spirit_2

Micheals any update on your son?

lostinrates

Viva, I put up a laughabl "door curtain" this winter. It's jut a sari clipped over some interlining....rush job....And the difference that flimsy item makes is amazing. A properly made interlined one would be incredible.

Old style board introduced me to 'window quilts' something I admit I have never heard off. Apparently these are even more astounding.

Generali

michaels wrote: »

Well I guess it is a novel form of birth control...

I agree with Gen on this one, it is a trust issue and when the person is in sole charge of your kids then you need to have that trust...say she had 'fallen asleep' when she was supposed to be picking the kids up from somewhere?

Also we are certain that you will do the right thing for her rather than casting an innocent on to the streets.

Finally I agree with PN - an au pair is posh - may be it is a cheap form of child care but it is nonetheless a solution to a problem more likely to be even known of by those who are posh. My sister has had a few but with variable success including one guy who managed to get a ticket driving the 1.0 clio they gave him at almost 100mph - I would call that an achievement.

How's your boy? Fever subsided or sitting next to you in the waiting room I hope.

Yup, it's all about trust in childcare. A neighbour when I was a kid came home from a night out to find the babysitter had smothered their son and shoved him in the deep freeze. That story has stayed with me ever since. It's the lies. We all fck up or simply have bad days. Some people lie about it and others fess up. I insist my children's carers do the latter.

Mrs Generali used to be a servant so we know about au pairs by coming at it from the other end.

My FiL got a speeding ticket in an old 850 mini. He asked the policeman to write the speed very neatly on the ticket because his missus would never believe him otherwise!

Anyhoo, bed time for me. Enjoy the snow nice people! Will catch up in my morning.:wave:

zagubov

Generali wrote: »

She believes that she can't drive and having taken her out for a drive on day 2 of her being in Aus (my standard time to do it) I must say her driving is utterly terrifying. She has no idea where her passenger side wheels are, she doesn't know how wide the car is. She drove well above the speed limit in a narrow residential street and missed well over $250,000-worth of cars (1 Audi, 1 Merc, 1 Disco) by about an inch.

I'm not about to chuck a 19 y/o into the street. I don't think she's a thief and even if she was I still don't think I could do it. I've got insurance. I also couldn't see her hurting the kids in the night or something.

I'm not heroic, it's just the right thing to do. Mrs Generali would probably leave me if I even suggested it, not that I would. This is her home for now.



Even if she could do that we'd work a way around things. That is cooking of a sort. She's just clueless. She went on about this amazing lasagne she cooks and then spent $70 (£48) on ingredients and made flash fried mince with mostly raw pasta (didn't soak the pasta sheets, didn't bake for long enough). I still struggle to see how you can spend so little. I made a beef rib roast with all the trimmings and pudding plus also got about $10 of bathroom stuff and spent about half that today!

Our first au pair made some howlers in the kitchen (peeled a huge jacket-style spud and tried to boil it whole! After an hour I finally suggested fish and chips) but at least she learned. The worst thing about this girl is she simply doesn't listen. She says, "Yes" and then just carries on.



I agree. I don't see how you can pass your test anywhere you are properly tested and not be able to drive in Aus.

I think poor driving skills are par for the course. Years ago (mid 90s) I was driving near home and clipped wing mirrors with a passing car. We both pulled over and I was mortified as London teaches you to have a very good awareness of the width of your vehicle. I was relieved that the other driver's first words were "Not again"! She was an au pair and when I spoke to her employer he sounded fed up with her -it was around the time that eastern Europe was opening up. Her car was damaged but mine wasn't.

He clearly thought she was struggling with driving on the wrong side of the road and coping with cars which were probably larger than the average Eastern bloc caron more crowded roads. Plus also I don't know what the driving test was like in Eastern Europe. In the US it's pretty basic.

I'm pleased you're thinking of the girl's situation about accommodation so far from home. I work with young adults all the time and I've got no illusions about how independent, mature and resilient teenagers are nowadays. I sort of don't think people are adults until they're well into their twenties and I can think of lots of 19-years olds who would be out of their depth in a car-park puddle.

PasturesNew

lostinrates wrote: »

Old style board introduced me to 'window quilts' something I admit I have never heard off. Apparently these are even more astounding.

I was going to say window quilts.

I'd do: plastic sheeting fixed to the windows (for the 1-2 weeks of extreme weather when it comes) and window quilts for the normal cold/winters.

If it were me I'd not have window quilts because... I don't have the skills to make them

PasturesNew

Generali wrote: »

... used to be a servant so we know about au pairs ..

Oh dear......

lostinrates

I'm still in bed .

Cannot decide wha to do....if anything. Cannot the world stop for a day ?