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Does the punishment fit the crime here?

First off, let me just say that I am not a fan of judging the decisions or policies of other host families. What works for me might not work for you and vice versa and that is your business and ultimately only you can decide what your family is comfortable with and can/will tolerate. But… since this AP admits her mistake and wants to poll the group for context on how other families would view this situation and react I figured we could hear her out if she is willing to accept the feedback! 🙂

“Hi. I’m an au pair and have been with my family for about 7 months now.
Recently, they went on holidays for a weekend and I stayed at home alone. I asked them if my friend who was coming to visit from my home country could sleep here. They said no and I understood their decision. However, during her visit, the place I arranged for her to stay in, didn’t open the door at around 4am. My first instinct was to bring her to my house and let her sleep here and we’d be both gone in the morning. I did that, texted my HF right away apologizing and explaining the situation. That my friend had no other resources and I couldn’t leave her out on the street.
When they came home from their holiday, they told me they were extremely unpleased and they want to fire me for breaking their trust. I apologized, explained my regret and poor handling of the situation and they still didn’t care.
Help me try to understand if I am the one who’s absolutely wrong here, or if they are overreacting. – Not Home Alone AP”

Did this AP make the right decision bringing her friend to the host family’s house? Is the host family overreacting in deciding to transition over this (assuming this is the only issue)? Does the fact that she notified the family, admitted the mistake and apologized make a difference here? What did this AP do right? What did she do wrong? What should she have done instead in this situation?

Source: Visit AuPairMom.com

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