Hi there

We have truly loved having au pairs become part of our family and are looking for our next one right now. We are a laid back couple in our late 40;s who have 3 lively and fun little children and we are looking for our 5th au pair. We have had au pairs from Canada, Germany, Argentina and the United Kingdom and have had a great time with each and everyone of them. Our current au pair has loved living with us so much that she has extended her stay and we will miss her when she goes. We have three gorgeous little children: Lola aged 6 (girl) currently at school, and Rufus aged 3 (boy) who goes to preschool 2 days per week and a 2 year old daughter Freya.

Our home in Sydney is a modern 5 bedroom home - that has wireless internet access - and you have your own comfortable large private bedroom with a TV. We have a lovely garden with a fenced swimming pool. The children spend a lot of time out there in the sunshine playing in the cubby house, or on the slide or playing in the pool in summer. We have a large covered outdopr play area where the kids spend a lot of time playing.

We live in a suburb called East Lindfield on Sydney's North Shore - and we are a 20 minute car drive or a 30 minute bus trip from the inner city (Sydney Harbour bridge/opera house etc). Our community area is filled with young families and you would get to meet lots of other au pairs as there is an extensive network of au pairs. I always have made sure that our au pair gets hooked up into the social life of the neighbourhood au pairs and they all have an amazing lifestyle - planning weekends away to see different sights of sydney and learning to surf, or boogie board and things like that. We have 3 parks nearby - all within 5 minutes walk - and there is a cafe, children's playground, bakery, delicatessen and small supermarket only 5 minutes walk away. A much larger shopping mecca - called Chatwood Chase/ Westfield - is a 10 minute bus trip or car ride away - and I travel there almost daily to go to the shops and view the fashion and get groceries etc.

My husband Hugh, travels into the CBD (central Business district) every day by car - and we have a second car as well that I use with the kids.. He always tries to come home before the kids go to bed - and helps with the story reading - but sometimes he has to work back late and once a fortnight stays overnight in another city for business.

The kids are lively, happy, noisy and well adjusted. They get on really well with each other and are always laughing and giggling.

The au pair job is basically to be another pair of hands around the house. She will need to help dress the youngest children, tidy their bedrooms, make their beds and clean up their dishes after their meals. The au pair then helps out with the laundry (folding and putting away) - and generally helps me with all the care associated with the children.

Lola and Rufus havfe their meals at 5.30pm and then both kids watch a little TV for an hour or so before bed time at 6.00pm. Our au pair would either cook her meal for herself to have with the children or could choose to share the evening meal with the parents. This is mainly because my husband and I often dine out or my husband works back late. Our au pairs have always been sort of treated like daughters or younger sisters - and we have had such amazing experiences with them. If you are interested in the role, I would really like you to skype with our existing au pair before she leaves - so that you can truly get an unbiased view of our household and what it is really like living with us as I truly understand that it can be a bit daunting to join a family in another country.

I hope this tells you a little more about our family. But your role would basically consist of lots of play and care of the children. Some evening babysitting while we go out and responsibility for keeping the childrens room clean and their laundry done - as well as generally helping around the house.

I look forward to hearing from you soon. Warmest wishes. Samantha

Duties: Dressing children Changing nappy as required Preparing meals for children Cleaning up after childrens mealtimes Walking children to park/ playing with children Unpacking dishwahser as needed Assisting with daily laundry, folding, ironing, puttintg away of clothes Cleaning up childrens bedrooms in the morning while making beds Vaccuuming carpet in play room when needed Picking up toys from garden at the end of each day and packing away Assisting Mother bathing children at end of day Making preschoo/school l lunches and snacks Taking kids to park and playing with them Running errangs for mother to fruit shop and local supermarket Supervise swimming time at the beach Babysitting at night when parents go out Most of all...loving, caring for, enjoying and playing with my gorgeous little children.

Working Conditions: MINIMUM AUD$300 per week BONUS: Return plane ticket from Sydney to any capital city on the Eastern coastline: Brisbane, Melbourne, Gold and Sunshine Coasts only. at end of agreed employment term. Extra hours on top of 45hours per week paid at $10 per hour on top of weekly salary Hours vary according to desire of au pair to earn more 2 and a half days off per week. Hours determined a week in advance (this is because the parents often have social engagements which mean that you mightt have a late start in the morning. Or a split shift. (For example - working in the morning with the day time off and then working again in the evening) Any extra hours on top of the 45 will be paid at $10 per hour Free WiFi in house for use of au pair to skype their family and friends till 11pm at night. No music or movie downloads permitted though :-) We travel to our beach house in the summer (Late December/ January) for a holiday and the au pair would join us. Sometimes we travel to Bali or Fiji and have taken our previous au pairs with us.

If the au pair leaves before the agreed term is up - she unfortunately will forfeit her bonus and plane ticket :-( (But this has never happened before)....but if its not working out - we will do all our best to try and resolve any problems along the way. :-) Please do note that we already have a cleaner that comes weekly, and a gardener so no heavy cleaning duties are required just being vigilant about kitchen hygiene and tidying up toys and the kids bedrooms are a daily priority at the end of the day. Also, you must also keep your own room and bathroom clean and tidy.