One of the first and most important questions about being an au pair is what your usual day would look like. Everything else could be just fine, but if you can't cope with your daily routine you won't be of any use, as harsh as that sounds.
Now, the thing about being an au pair is that it can differ a lot depending on the country and the family you are working for. How many children are there? What is their school schedule? What are the parents working hours?
There are families that need you because they are expecting another child, which means one of them will be at home but needs you to pick up the other kids because they will be too busy. You may have to work with one or with three or four kids. Maybe you will have a pet to look after, too.
Some families have cleaners and others don't. You may have to drive the kids to school or you are lucky and live close enough to walk.
Families from the USA may be more liberal and open-minded than families from the UK or China. Or they may be more strict, you never know.
Like I said, there are a lot of factors to be considered. You should talk about everything with your potential au pair family before you make a final decision.
My daily life? I'm lucky. It's rather easy.
I found a home in London, UK. It's a nice, quiet neighbourhood, a lot like where I come from which is probably why I feel happy and at ease and not homesick. There are two small cities just a short bus drive from my place (Kingston upon Thames and Putney), which means I can go out anytime I want. And I only have to take two buses to get to Central London!
In theory I have two kids to take care of (a seven and an eleven year old), but the older one goes to and from school on here own or gets picked up by her parents when she has after school clubs or sports training. I have no idea what kind of eleven year old I was, but she is rather independent.
The younger one is my main responsibility. She gets driven to school by her mum, but once I week she has judo before school. I take her by bus and usually jog back if the weather is good enough.
Then I'm free to do whatever I want until 3:35pm when I have to pick her up again. I have to cook something if there isn't enough leftover or do the laundry once a week. I pick up toys from the ground and clean the kitchen including dishwashing. This however can be reduced to almost nothing if you remember to do it right after you cook or put everything in the dishwasher as soon as you are finished eating.
If I don't have anything to do I either hang around in my room watching Netflix (not a euphemism, sorry guys), reading books or go shopping. I could actually go to CL and be back in time with enough planning and good timing. I also have pilates lessons once a week and go jogging every once in a while. Other au pairs have English lessons which means they continue to get child allowance, but this courses aren't cheap usually and if you factor transportation costs into the calculation you are almost down to zero. I decided not to do that and will instead reapply once I go university.
Later I pick up the younger one and we drive back home by bus. While she changes, which can take a while, I prepare her meal. She eats and then we do her homework. This can either go really quickly or be really frustrating when she has a bad day and can't concentrate or throws a tantrum. On a few occasions I had to give her over to her mum because she just wouldn't listen to me. Then a quick bath, brushing her teeth and off to bed she goes. Of course she doesn't fall asleep immediately, but that's not my fault. Kids are just way too active for their own good sometimes.
And that's it. Sometimes I play with them or read them a story or we go out into the nearby park, but during the week we usually don't have time for that. Evenings and weekends are free and even though I usually don't make real plans in advance I'm always on my feet, either in CL or out with the other au pairs or on trips to other places in the UK.
I'm not gonna lie and talk about how easy and fun everything is and that they love me like their older sister. It is difficult. It is challenging. Sometimes you doubt yourself and your decision. There are days when everything seems to go wrong and you feel like a failure. Some people can't stand to be homesick or have bad luck with their families and are therefore forced to either find a new one or stop it altogether. But I'm also really happy to be here. I know I will gain a lot from this experience, and if it's just the knowledge how to work a washing mashing and cook more than three meals.
