Hey, I'm considering having an AuPair when I start med school also (we currently have a nanny part-time, but she's $10/hr so that would seriously add up for full time) The Au-Pair programs that I've looked into have a weekly fee of about $140, plus you pay an annual fee of about $7000, so they say that it averages out to about $285/week for 45 hours of childcare. That of course does not include the room/board, so you have to include the expense of feeding another person, and I believe that they have to have access to an automobile as well.
The only reason that we are considering still paying for the nanny is that our nanny does some housework, like vaccuming and doing the kids laundry and dishes. I don't have time for it now, and I know I won't have time for it later!!!
Hey Noelle and Kateb
about the au pair...yeah, what she said. That sounds about like what I have heard. I'm getting ready to talk to the two agencies in our area, but the scoop I have from current med student mommies is that this is THE way to go if you have space in your home/hearts for another person. They do expect to become a part of the family. One of my husband's colleagues has a private guesthouse and their au pair DID NOT want to be separate from the family (at first...). Now she likes having her own space.
A couple of other considerations:
tuition (they need to be able to take a couple of classes, and I'm not sure if the tuition is part of the fee or if we have to pay for that).
the car thing: they don't need their own car, but they do need "reasonable access" to one. I think it depends on what she wants to do in her time off.
hours: if you want/need them to work more than 45 hours a week, they can choose to accept that, but you need to pay them an agreed-to amount per hour additional
continuity: it used to be that they could only stay in the US for one year, but it's changed so that they can decide to stay for one more. They can stay with the initial family or apply for a new position. If you have a great thing going with your au pair, you might get two years out of her, and that could be good for everyone. But, it might not work out that way, so you can't plan on it. Have to expect breaking in a new one each year. Might seem like a good idea to get one that is on her second year applying for a new family (already accustomed to the US) but then there is no way she can stay for an extra year, and there are the questions raised by the fact that she did not stay with the initial family despite wanting to stay on as an au pair...is she burned out? did they not like her? etc...
housework/cooking: I'm not sure what the rules are about this, but I'm guessing that she won't be responsible for cooking or cleaning for all of us, but that she will probably be able/expected to take on cooking/cleaning related to the kiddos...kids' laundry and meals, basically.
I'm talking to the agencies next week, so let me know if you have any other questions.
Go mommies!!
OneB