Sabotaged by new au pair

livlovra

Hi Guys,
I have a lovely au pair moved in with us almost 2 months ago. She is from the chech republic and finds our primal diet at home very difficult to adjust to. I have gone out of my way to help her feel happier in the food department and buy her potatoes by the bag full - and boy does she go through them. The problem is if I serve them up at supper I inevitably end up eating some. I am weak willed it is official but that's why I don't keep it in the house. She also drinks tea and I have stopped as I have cut out milk and just focus on cheese and full fat yog. Now we have milk again I find I have the odd cuppa. She has sugar in her tea, so I bought her some. Now I find it sneaking into things. Because it is there!
Then she has the gaul to say to me she is hungry the whole time and unless I buy her "proper food" ie white bread, fish fingers and pasta she will have to leave. I even ended up cooking pasta last night for her . I didn't have any as wheat is a total no no but the kids all wanted it. I have tried to keep them primal too but its impossible when she constantly tried to give them sandwiches for lunch and just can't SEE any other options. I tried to explain there are loads of other things, like boiled eggs, fruit and nuts, ham roll ups etc but she really struggles to actually see this as proper food. She also doesn't like meat on the bone! It is tough and if anyone has tried to find an au pair to look after their kids you will understand how tricky this is. Its not simply a case of saying ok pack your bags. She is great with the kids and they love her. She is no couch potato (no pun intended) either and cycles every night, walks the dogs or goes for a run. She's not skinny, a good weight for her height I would say so not like she would want to go on a diet either and this goes against generations of how her family eats.

Right sorry for the long winded post but desperate for help or advice on how to handle this. (I've even bought her mini pizzas for the freezer!)

runningjen74

1. Assign a cupboard/space for her food, put rice/sugar/pasta/etc... sweets/choc/what ever. but this is her cupboard - so you don't eat from it.

2. Focus on meals/sides for her that can be re-heated or it's easy to make up a single portion. E.g. Baked potato in foil if the oven is on. Coscous - only need to add boiling water. Easy to make up a single portion. There are portions of pasta that can be microwaved - I really wouldn't normally approve of these, but they just might help you.

3. You need to write out meal plans for the kids lunches and get some of the preparation work done. Yes, this will mean a bit more work for you. But you like her, she's good with the kids. It's probably worth it for you to keep her.

I don't have kids but I worked as an aupair years ago and my sister has one. You both need to be happy for this to all work out.

livlovra

Thanks Runningjen, good ideas there.

I've given her a cupboard but I think my planning kinder lunches and doing more prep for them is probably required. I will make a start on that this week.

What's that line? - fail to prepare, prepare to fail.

runningjen74

Yeup, you’re right. If I don’t have a pot/freezer of meals that I can just re-heat in a pot in 5 min I fail on my food choices. Maybe something like that for the littlies. Or some folks boil up a dozen eggs at the start of the week. I don’t really eat boiled eggs so I don’t know how well they keep, but others swear by it.

Another idea, is there a veg that you don’t like that she does. This is a bit weird. But I really dislike mushrooms. If I’d someone living with me and I didn’t want to eat their food I would add mushrooms to it. E.g. a pasta bake that included mushrooms. I would feel no desire to pick at that. She’d probably get bored if you added mushrooms to all her meals, but I suppose I’m suggesting that you make her food less appealing to you.

Frozen pastries/bread products. I used to keep bread in the freezer and could toast it from frozen no problem. Ask her to pick out some nice bread that she would like, slice it up and stick it in the freezer. Similarly, I’d guess that pastries would freeze quite nicely and could be reheated in either the microwave or in the oven.

You should see if you can get her to cook some of the dishes too – just to mix up the repertoire. I’m not talking as part of her job, but more just an exchange in culture. My sisters aupair made them Brazilian food once a month or so. Off course some of the food won’t suit as it doesn’t suit your choices, but I’m sure you would be able to find some common areas. These would help make her feel more at home.