I loved almost everything about being an au pair

My name is Chelsea, I recently turned 23 years old. I was born and raised in Florida, U.S.A. and grew up dreaming of traveling to Ireland. Once I graduated college I knew I did not want to just be a tourist - I actually wanted to immerse myself in their culture and spend time there.

I had lots of childcare experience and was so happy when I found aupair-world.net. I divided my year in Ireland among three different wonderful host families and had a fantastic experience with all three of them! In total, I got to mind five children and I would love to maintain a relationship with them (and their parents) for the rest of their lives.

Greatest year of my life!

Thanks to aupair-world.net, I got to travel around most of Ireland, travel to London twice, travel to Paris, Rome, Naples, Amalfi, Venice and Santorini... and I made lifelong friends. This was hands down the best year of my life and the most wonderful experience. I hope to publish a book inspiring young women around the world to do something similar to this! There's a whole world out there - go discover it!! Aupair-world.net can really help find the perfect host family for you!

I had loads of childcare experience before becoming an au pair. My mother did childcare in my home for twelve years so I basically grew up taking care of children. I began babysitting on my own at the age of 11. However, every child is unique and I had to learn how to care for each individual child. I also renewed my CPR and First Aid certificates before leaving for Ireland.

Before I got there...

I was very nervous and had no idea what to expect since I had never been out of the country. I kept a positive attitude and was excited for the experience. I looked at every single host family in Ireland on aupair-world.net that met my needs (start date, etc.) I was in contact with many families before choosing the right one for me. I applied to them, and they gave me a positive response. We then emailed and chatted on the phone and Skype.

During my stay...

I prepared breakfast and lunch for the children, and dinner for the family. My days consisted of playing with the children and constantly thinking of new exciting adventures to keep their minds and bodies active. I also did light housework (such as vacuuming, dishes, laundry and tidying up). Other than that, I had a great social life in Ireland and also spent a decent amount of time traveling around Ireland and Europe. There were no major trips with my host family, just day outings.

When looking back at my time there...

I can't say one negative thing about Ireland and my experience there. I loved nearly everything about being an au pair. Of course there are difficulties when caring for children, e.g. when the children get sick or siblings fight, but overall it was a very fun, rewarding job. Plus, I am still in touch with all 3 of my host families!