okay. so we had our meeting on Sunday to get the process started to kick the au pair out. She was so strange. she was sitting there on the couch next to the counselor, but she wouldn't make eye contact with either of us...she was sort of staring off toward the tv (had it turned on to keep the kids occupied), and every time something was said to her, she would say "huh"? and it would have to be repeated. whatever. anyway, the counselor sort of lit into her about taking the car and not having a license and not knowing where the kids were and she was completely unfazed. Like "and? your point?"...unbelievable. then the counselor said something about how no other family was going to let her drive w/out a license and asked when she intended on getting it, and she said "I don't know." So the counselor said, well when I talked to you last Friday you told me that TJ was taking you on monday to get it and she blew up..."I DID NOT! You are making things up! I never said that!" on and on and on. So, the counselor, who kept her temper pretty well, said "well, you know, I DO take notes when I talk to au pairs, and I have it right here that you said that and then I said I found that strange because neither D or TJ had mentioned that to me". So she yelled at her some more (which, hello? this is the person that is going to get you into a new house...wouldn't you be smart enough to be NICE?) and then said, "no, I told you he was taking me to get my social security card" to which I butted in "NO. You've had that for 2 months." Bitch. (that part was in my head). So, carrying on, counselor asked her if she was serious about being an aupair...did she want to go to another family. She said no. So counselor said "well then you go back to Thailand", so then she pretended she didn't understand the question the first time and said that she did want another family, but one with one or two children only. So then counselor said "I have to be able to tell these prospective families about you...what are your good qualities?"...and she said "I don't know". so counselor said "you can't tell me anything you're good at?" and she said "no." So counselor turns to me and asks me, and I have to rack my damn brain to come up with something nice to say about someone I don't like and didn't take good care of my babies. Great. So then at the end, counselor says that according to our contract, she has to stay and take care of the kids until I find a new aupair...so I said, "If it's all the same to you, she'd rather stay with her friend, and we're uncomfortable and tense with her here, and we've already made other arrangements, so she can just move out now." So she packed her bags. Right before counselor left, she said to her "make sure you have a nice goodbye with the kids, since you've been a big part of their life for 6 months and we want to make this a smooth transition..." So, her friend pulls up in front of the house, she takes her bags to the porch and she says to me "thanks for everything" and slams the door. No goodbye to the kids or anything! Bitch. (that one was out loud, but she was already gone)

So, fast-forward to Monday morning, 7 AM...

Regional corporate manager calls me...sorry for the early call, blah blah blah...apparently she got an "emergency phone call" that was patched through to her last night at 10:30...some guy she didn't know claiming that the agency "kicked out an au pair and left her homeless"...turns out, au pair never mentioned to the friend she was staying with over the weekend that she was going to MOVE IN. Friend is also an au pair...when the host family saw that mine was still there, they asked why she hadn't gone home yet and she said "oh, because I'm moving in here for a few weeks till I find a new family" to which they replied..."Um, no you're not." So she spent the rest of the night calling other au pairs, having them call their counselors, and then when she couldn't get any takers, she started calling people she met in her English as a second language class...finally ended up on the doorstep of her teacher (wife of the guy who called) with a sob story about how they left her homeless and penniless, and could she stay for a few weeks and borrow some money. WTF? So, Regional lady says "you've been fed a load of crap" to the guy, and he tells her, "well she can stay here tonight, but she's not moving in with us." SOOOOO....since I'm contracted to her until I find another, and she has no where to live, I had to let her move back in. Counselor told her to stay in her room and out of our way since we'd made other arrangements and she didn't want her bothering us. So far I've seen her once. Although she did ask my husband if she could have her cell phone back. Um. NO.

So Monday, she was supposed to call us and tell us what time she'd be moving back...she called and said she would be home at 9:00 that night. Fine. So, I left oldest boy's last baseball game of the season to be home sort of on time...got there at 9:10...put the kids to bed...did some homework...cleaned the kitchen...went to the garage w/husband to finish the table I'm making...she finally showed up at 11:00! No fing phone call, nothing. So I called counselor the next day and said "this is bullshit. she has no respect for my time, I left my son's game early to be there, blah, blah, blah...tell me realistically, what actual responsibilities do I have to her? do I have to drive her to school? etc" and she said "um, I guess you sort of have to feed her, but other than that I wouldn't do a thing." So she's sort of an unseen creature that inhabits a room upstairs. She leaves us alone and we leave her alone. I imagine it will only be a short time before she completely loses her mind.

So, my way out, is to find a new girl as soon as possible. As soon as the new one is here, the agency has to provide other accommodations for this one. So that’s what we're working on. The one we're calling tonight is German, and, on paper, looks great...we'll see.

TOO. MUCH. STRESS. MUST. ESCAPE.