GITTE

We are a Danish family of four living in the most attractive suburb North of Copenhagen close to the woods (5 minutes) and the ocean (5 minutes). In 20 minutes by train you are at the centre of Copenhagen. Both mum and dad are lawyers with very busy work lives. We have a girl aged 9 and a boy aged 11. Both kids are in school during the weekdays. In order to spend what little free time we have with out kids we have had au pairs for the last +8 years from Brazil and Hungary to help us with practical house work and with the kids. The ideal au pair for us is someone who understands our busy work life and who makes our life easier by relieving us from daily house tasks and logistics with the kids so that we can focus on our work and on our kids. For that reason we are a very disciplined family as otherwise we are unable to joggle/combine our work life with family life. As a consequence of our busy work life we need help with the following tasks: - cooking 4x a week - picking up our daughter from school and taking her to sports activities - cleaning and general housekeeping - laundry and ironing We have a 400 square meters house divided into three floors. We offer spacious and private accommodation to our au pairs on a separate floor (approx. 35 square meters) plus own bathroom. Your bedroom and bathroom are nicely refurbished. We live in the most attractive suburb just North of Copenhagen (Gentofte) with proximity to the woods (5 minutes of the Tier Garden), the ocean (10 minutes from the beach) and 10 minutes' walk (5 minutes by bike ride) from the train station which provides you with easy access to Copenhagen (20 minutes and you are in the city centre). We spend most free time together as a family doing stuff the kids like or hang out with friends. We play tennis and use the gym and travel. In the summer time we spend most of our time in the garden or by the sea and frequently have barbecues. Our au pairs are invited to participate in family occasions and events (birthdays etc.), but are not required to participate and have no commitments in relation to these events. You are not expected to join vacations. We get up at 5 - 5.15 am and I shower and dress while my husband dress the kids and make breakfast for them. Then he showers and dresses and take the kids to school around 7 - 7.30 am. Our au pairs start work at 6.30 and prepare lunch boxes for the kids and tidy up after breakfast. Our au pairs have picked up our daughter 4-5 times a week at 15 pm or earlier if after school sports activities start earlier. I get home around 5:30 pm and my husband at 5.45 pm. We eat at 5.45 (because of the kids). Our au pairs have prepared dinner 4 times a week from Monday through Thursday. We then play with the kids until its time for bed. The au pair is expected to tidy up the kitchen around 18:15ish. After this, the au pair does not have any other commitments. The kids go to bed around 7:30 pm. Under the Danish au pair scheme, au pairs in Denmark may work up to 30 hours per week, which matches our needs. The monthly allowance is DKK 5,250, in addition to food and accommodation. You are also entitled to five weeks of paid holiday per calendar year, as well as paid Danish language classes. We need help in the mornings from 06:30, when our au pair prepares lunch boxes for the children and tidies up after breakfast. This is followed by general housekeeping. On Mondays and Tuesdays, the duties include laundry and ironing, while Thursdays and Fridays are allocated to cleaning. In the afternoons, duties typically begin around 15:00, when our daughter needs to be picked up from school and taken either to sports activities or home. Dinner should be prepared around 16:30, and after dinner the kitchen is tidied up. The working day usually finishes around 18:30. We are happy to provide more detailed information about the specific household tasks and the schedule followed by our current au pair. Our current au pair is also available to answer questions! We are a very organised and tidy family, and we are looking for an au pair who shares these qualities, has a strong eye for detail, and approaches her work with diligence and care. Ideally, we are looking for someone who would like to stay with us for 24 months. We are looking for someone who takes pride in her work and has a strong work ethic. It is very important to us that you enjoy being with children, are able to communicate well with them, and are a responsible adult. In general, you would not be expected to work in the evenings after 19:00. It is important to us that our au pairs take part in our everyday life. For that reason we eat dinner together 3-4 times a week to check-in with one another and talk about what is going on and life in general ;-) We have enjoyed the cultural input, ideas and perspective that our au pairs have brought to our family for the past 8 years. We have focused on having a clear and direct communication and a respectful relationship. We focus on having aligned expectations and be very transparent about what we offer as a family and what we expect. We make use of a weekly schedule (which is the same every week) so that there are no surprises and extra work to allow you to plan your free time. We are the ideal family for someone who likes structure, transparency, people with high ethics (rule abiding people (we are lawyers ;-)) and who does not like surprises in terms of extra work. We value an au pair who is conscientious, thorough, and responsible in carrying out her duties, and for whom it is important to perform her work properly and with a strong sense of quality. For this reason, we are looking for a mature and responsible person who is able to work independently, takes initiative, and has prior experience with cooking, cleaning, and laundry. It is also important to us that she has a good sense of hygiene, as we do ourselves.