Live-in Nanny/Au pair - Would You??

I'm from Germany and came to NZ as an Au-pair for a year but missed my flight back due to my now Kiwi husband!

We are dairy farming (not our own farm) and I'm really keen to start work again sometime soon. We live 30 min from closest town (Balclutha) and childcare is not available.

Would you consider having a live in nanny? It's great in some ways, not so great in others.

* It's cheap ($150ish a week plus board)
* Nanny does light housework (vacuum, maybe dinner, dishes, etc)
* It's great for kids to learn different language
* It's an 'experience' to share your home with someone from another country

BUT

* It's a pain if you don't get on with them, they get homesick, etc
* They live with you
* They are just like a big sister, i.e. mostly not qualified, quite young

I'm really unsure if I should do it or not, even tho you'd think I would know best having been one myself.

I'm worried that they couldn't cope with the remoteness and the long hours etc.....

Do you see other problems other than the ones listed?
Have you got an au pair and would do it again?

We have a close friend who is a solo dad and he has a live in au-pair (he is onto the second one now) and he has 4 children. I think that the concept works really well for them, however the short termness of their stay has a def impact on the kids.

The problems that I "know" of - which can be resolved, but are worth thinking about -

- sometimes a gap between expectation of family (in terms of light housework, cooking etc) and the au pair

- language / communication barrier

- ability to "get away" when its their days off, ie can they travel etc

- issues with maturity level and ability to cope with disciplining children etc

I dont know that I could personally do it, but then I have watched the situation that we know quite closely and I do see some positives. I personally would love the flexiblity of having someone at home with my kids most of the time, so that if I needed to pop out on my own I could!

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I think for the right person & situation it would be fantastic...I have always thought it is more of a Europe thing than a NZ thing, maybe due to the cost & demand.

Personally I would not use one, but then I don't need one but if I was a high flying get setter I might. Or a solo parent working every hr I could.

It reminded me off a movie call "The hand that rocked the cradle"

I would consider an au pair if I had a big enough house. I think it is important for them to have their own space so when it is their time off, they can escape the family a bit.

But I am in Auckland and the remoteness of your situation may be a major factor.

I would try contacting local nanny agencies etc...you might find there is someone local who wants this type of work but doesnt want to live in.

Sorry to go off topic, but ...
Do you speak (or try to) exclusivly German to Nina? And what language do you speak to your husband?

So i'm the rouge kiwi chick who got knocked up to a german?

My only 2c is my (american) friend who went to spain for 6 months as an Au Pair - now she HATES children with a passion, absolutely has no interest in them but being an au pair was a great way to see spain so feigned interest enough to get a placement, and she had a fantastic time seeing the sights, her host family had an older child about her age and they went clubbing and did all the fun activities, she has millions of photos of all the great things she did......but never heard anything about the two children under her care and when asked about them she'd complain how they are brats or annoying or she hates working with them.

I would assume her host family was just a bit negligent in the interview process or something and she slipped through but for her it was definatly a cheap way to see the country and absolutely not at all about the children.

I love the au pair scheme and would have one, and would do it myself absolutely no questions.

When I lived in Feilding the Deputy Mayors wife had an au-pair she has them regularly for a year at a time, I'd imagine Feilding isn't any more exciting then Balclutha.
She run's the local Cinema and the au pair helps with the children, her children are pre-school aged not sure if this is easier.
How much room do you have on your farm/property?

I had thought of having a homestay having only one toilet put me off.

2 of the ladies in my baby group had au pairs with mixed experiences.

They both had a bad one each. One of the aupair's really wasn't into kids and just wanted to go off with all her friends all the time. I used to see them at playgroup and she basically just ignored the little girl and looked bored out of her brain by it all. That is 6 months of your childs life to spend with someone who doesn't give a damn, was sad. She also wouldn't do the chores she was required to do by contract and used to come home late all the time. This really mucked up my friends work as she'd be late for work waiting for the aupair to come back.

The other bad one was just a bit dim and lazy by the sounds of it.

I used to be a nanny and my advice is to really communicate a lot with a few of these girls and try and weed out a good one. Also be really clear about duties, it sounds prescriptive but then everyone knows where they stand. Have it written down and she should agree to that. It always goes better when expectations are closer to reality, so yes as long as she knows you are rural and nearby is a small town.   

We have a German au pair and it works fantastically for us. We are just outside Oamaru and dairy farming. She is our third, the first stayed 4 months but we never really clicked with, Talina, our second was with us for a year and now we have Julia, who is great, she will be with us for a year.
We went through an agency, Au pair link and I would recommend it. They replaced our first when it didn't work, and the girls that they have helped us select have really become members of the family. Both Julia and Talina are fantastic with kids and they had to have 200+ hours of childcare experience and drivers licence.
Because au pair link is accredited we get the 20 hours free and we have an educator who visits once a month and is our contact if we ever have any issues.
I love the flexibily of it and the close relationships that the kids develop.
Feel free to message me if you want any more info

The girls we have had have found the agency great, our educator organises trips for them in weekends and those in the city also have an organised playgroup. Julia stays with her when she goes to Chch. They all stay in touch on FB.
Their website is https://www.aupairlink.co.nz/
The 20 hours is just for 3+ (we just started getting that in Aug).
Julia works 40ish hours a week, we are pretty flexible, and we have a really good give and take relationship in terms of working hours. I don't milk but if I am helping out in the shed for preg testing, herd testing etc my three year old knows to go and see her in the morning when he wakes up and I just give her the monitor the night before and turn it on when I leave so she can hear when Tessa wakes up.
She takes them to playcentre once a week and we both go to swimming. She is basically an extra set of hands and spends heaps of time outside with them, which I love - safe and I can get the office work etc done with no interruptions and it will be wonderful when number three arrives in the next few weeks. I just made it realy clear that we are rural (although only 10 min from town. I encourage them to get involved in activities as soon as they get here so they can meet people, they also usually have the use of a car for the time off