Finding the right family on the second try
After starting with a British host family where it was not so good, Borja did not give up but instead searched for a new family. On his second attempt he was able to establish a good relationship with the whole family and could have just the au pair stay he was looking for.
If at first you don't succeed, try again...
My name is Borja Nanclares and I am from Spain. I worked as an au pair in the UK with two different families in 2021-2022.
Problems with the first family
My first family was not a very good experience: I started in August in Watford, North London, with a family that had a boy and a girl of 15 and 12 years old respectively. The problem was that they wanted me to clean up the dirt they left behind, plates with food in the rooms, washing machines not hung up for days (unless I did it), shoes scattered around the house... All in all, quite sad.
Thank God, I met a group of friends from the area and on Fridays we would meet up and it was a great way to disconnect. Another positive thing was that one of my duties was that I had to drive, to pick up the kids from school and take them to extracurricular activities, and I loved those moments alone in the car of peace and calm. I remember the first time driving that I almost went the wrong way at the first roundabout.
Time for a change
At Christmas, I decided to change my family. I started looking again on Aupairworld.com and was lucky enough to find a family for the next 4 months. They lived in Portsmouth, in the south of England, and were a lovely family. Two boys aged 8 and 10, who although a bit addicted to technology, loved football and nerf guns.
A big improvement
The parents were super friendly and always very interested in my welfare. Even though the father worked away, we were able to establish a very good relationship with everyone. They have a house in the north, in Northumberland, close to the Scottish border where we went on half terms and Easter Holidays. A beautiful area.
My duties were to take the children to and from school (we walked), do some very basic functions in the mornings, play with the children in the afternoons and cook dinner for them. Freedom on weekends (unless they needed special help, which was rare). On Sundays we all had fajitas for dinner, which were delicious!
In this second stage I wasn't worried about the idea of a group of friends since I was very comfortable with my family and I took advantage of the weekends to go for walks and sightseeing in the city, which is very beautiful.
