[quote=scaredyclassic]True story. I actually worked as an au pair in Paris for a year in the 80s.. I escorted a 10 y.o. ballerina to L’Opera every day and picked her up watched her at home did some shopping and other stuff.
I got paid….
Zero. Just room and board.
Why the hell they trusted me I have no idea. But they were right to trust me.[/quote]
You were floating around, exploring a foreign country. I’m sure you had a fair amount of free time.
For this opportunity, you exchanged some services (and I’m willing to bet you only did a tiny fraction of what most SAHPs do). Did you have to share a bedroom and bathroom with the parents, as almost all SAHPs do, or did you get your own room? Did you have to cook the meals for the family, clean up afterward, and do their laundry, too? Did you have to have sex with your employer in order to justify your value to him/her? If the parents were sick, did you have to clean up their vomit, bathe them, and wipe their asses (as a spouse would for a sick spouse)? What if they were completely disabled…would you have stuck by their side to care for them for the rest of their lives for “free”? If you had to do all of this for your “free” room and board, would you have committed to doing all of this for 20, 30, 40+ years?
