Introduction
I am Eve, 21 years old and I come from France. Before becoming an au pair in the Netherlands, I gained a lot of experience with children by babysitting for various families and studied to become a teacher, during which I also did an internship at a school. When I graduated last year, it seemed like the perfect moment to go to the Netherlands for a longer period. Through the au pair programme, I can combine my passion for travel with work and love for children: ideal! In November 2022, with the help of a local au pair agency and Au Pair Holland, I moved to the Netherlands.
Preparing for the au pair adventure
When I decided to become an au pair, I applied. I submitted my application in April 2022, and since you have to provide quite a bit of documentation and eventually speak with several families, I found my match in June 2022. At that time, my host family already had an au pair, and I also preferred to stay in France during the summer, so I started in November. During the months I was matched with my family, I had a lot of contact with them via WhatsApp so I could get to know them better.
My host family
Upon arriving in the Netherlands, my host family was waiting for me at the train station. They had made a large banner, and the children were happy to see me. The youngest, Fleur, was a bit nervous at first, while her brother Bart adapted quickly. Fleur was 3 years old when I arrived, and Bart had just turned 5. I remember getting a tour on the first day and found it very funny that they had French words stuck up all around their house. Through post-its, the children had already picked up some French vocabulary from their previous au pair, who was also French. My host parents were also very kind; my host father worked 40 hours a week, and my host mother worked 24 hours one week and 32 hours the next. This meant she could provide more support with the children. I had my own bedroom with an en-suite, which gave me a lot of privacy.
A day in the life of an au pair
Typically, I would wake up at 07:30 in the morning and prepare breakfast for myself and the children. The parents were either at work or getting ready at this time. After breakfast, I dressed the children and, together with Fleur, took Bart to school. We usually used the cargo bike, and in the rain, we walked with an umbrella to school. During the day, I entertained Fleur with lots of games and activities. Fleur didn’t need a nap during the day anymore, but sometimes she was still quite tired and would sleep for an hour. During that hour, I would often do some household tasks. When Bart finished school, we would pick him up. Then, I would play with both children until my host mother often came home from work. She would then organise dinner and usually put the children to bed herself. Sometimes, I was allowed to help with bathing or reading stories.
On Tuesday mornings, I often took Fleur to a nearby petting farm, and on Friday mornings, we went to the Storytelling Friday at the library. Sometimes, on Fridays after school, we would do something extra, like visit the playground or go to a ball pit at a restaurant on the corner. Getting an ice cream was also one of my favourite things to do with the children. My tasks always revolved around the children and included some household chores, but I didn’t mind. One of my tasks was to unload and load the dishwasher in the morning and throughout the day. I also had to always leave the kitchen tidy. I had a truly wonderful time with my host family and would definitely recommend this adventure to everyone.
Free time
In my free time, I often went into the city, went shopping, met up with friends, or explored the area. Through the au pair group chat, I quickly met other au pairs, and I knew a few French students whom I hung out with. In my third week, an event organised by Au Pair Holland allowed me to meet many other au pairs placed elsewhere in the Netherlands. I met au pairs from Italy, South Africa, and Australia, and we arranged to go out together a few times. For instance, we all went to Amsterdam and went boating. During my au pair exchange, I was able to see and discover a lot in the Netherlands since I had weekends off. The public transport system is excellent, so I often took the train to a new city to explore. I especially loved Friesland, Delft, and Amsterdam!
Cultural differences
What I really liked about the Netherlands was that everyone here just says what they think. At first, it took some getting used to, but I quickly found it quite refreshing. I was also genuinely surprised by the level of English. Besides Dutch, I ended up speaking a lot of English. My host family actually enjoyed that I spoke French with the children and I was able to teach them a lot as well.
Overcoming homesickness
Halfway through my au pair programme, I experienced homesickness. I was feeling down and missed my friends and family in France a lot. It was really tough, and my host family took me on a weekend trip to Friesland. The weather was lovely, and I did a lot of walking and shared my feelings with my host mother. She helped me a great deal, and I proved to myself that I could persevere. I’ve become much more confident because of it. I also found it wonderful to see my own family again when my au pair year ended!
My advice: go for it!
This au pair adventure has made me much more independent and willing to do activities on my own. In France, I wouldn’t have easily gone somewhere alone, approached a group of strangers, or gone exercising on my own, but I did all of that here! I now genuinely enjoy doing things alone. That’s something this au pair programme has really taught me. I would recommend becoming an au pair in the Netherlands to everyone. Taking care of the children doesn’t even feel like work, you get to see a lot of the area, and you even earn a little extra money.