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The au pairs normally live in the house of host family and hence they are also stated as a "live-in au pair". They provide child care for your family between 25-45 hours and some light household responsibilities per week. They shouldn't be asked for any extra household chores.

Know the best features and types of baby swing which will help you in your daily household chores...

Know the best features and types of baby swing which will help you in your daily household chores...

We been having an ongoing challenge these days in The Daily Kool household. Our boys are at the age when we have to constantly remind them to wash their hands. It's not as if we are obsessive about cleanliness (well, maybe just a little). We do have rules, though. Washing hands after coming in from the outside, after meals and certainly after using the toilet shouldn't be too much to ask, right? Apparently, it just might be...at least for our boys. You should just hear some of the arguments and excuses coming out of our two little guys...everything from "My leg hurts and I can't stand by the sink" to "My hands aren't that sticky from the breakfast syrup." Our favorite of course, is the ever-popular "Hey, we stand up anyway...what's the big deal?" Imagine our embarrassment when our four year old proudly confessed to his grandmother how often he and his brother try to "trick us" into thinking that they've washed their hands (as if we didn't know). Seriously, they expend more energy trying to avoid washing their hands than it would just take to do it already. Sheesh!

The Daily Kool family does a lot of driving. In fact, between work, school and enrichment activities for the kids, it often seems as if we practically live in our car. By the end of the week, our poor Saturn looks like a bomb has hit it...snacks, juice boxes, papers and toys are strewn all over the place. We've seen people recoil from the shock, shake their heads in wonder or, if they're parents, simply nod in commiseration at the mess of our car....yep, it can be pretty embarrassing! So, Fridays have now become the official "car cleaning" day in our household, and everyone has a job. No one ever complains...except whoever is responsible for window cleaning. The fingerprints and dog snot (Pepper loves taking rides in the car) are not such a big deal. The windshield, however, is another matter altogether. Our car has a pretty deep slope in the front, requiring us to drum up our best contortionist skills to clean it deep down. We admit it, our flexibility is quite pathetic...thus, so are our windshields.

Today is the day for cleaning the bathrooms in The Daily Kool household. The master bath is usually not a big deal, but the kids' bathroom? Oh, my goodness gracious! After only one week, the fumes are enough to make us gag, our eyes water and, quite frankly, almost knock us over in a dead faint. But then again, we have boys...and they stand up when using the toilet...and they love to play with their favorite appendage...enough said? All the air fresheners in the world can't compete with that stench. What's a parent to do?

Aiming your home improved is an unaffordable issue in life. Yet, household improvement is as well considered as a must because a home is a family's most substantial and satisfying place in the world. Picking out to employ a contractor to perform the home improvement designs can be a judicious and sensible thing since they have the expertise on how to dress a home projects athe right way.

Okay, we admit it. We are not big water drinkers, and never have been. Trust us...we've given ourselves lectures time and time again about the importance of drinking the requisite eight glasses of water a day, but who are we kidding? We can barely choke down two glasses, and that's with living in hot and humid Florida. While we take responsibility for our irresponsibility just as much as the next person (yeah, right), we wholeheartedly blame the Coca Cola company for our lack of commitment to healthy drinking. How dare they make Coke taste so darn good? We have been obsessed with Coke (the real stuff, not that diet stuff) for as long as we can remember. Scoff all you want, but our Coca Cola addiction has caused a real problem in our household. Our kids are at the age when "do as I say, not as I do" doesn't hold water (had to get that pun in). It's our job as parents to teach our children healthy eating and drinking habits, and the best way to do this is by example. But, we really don't like water. We've tried it all...tap water, filtered water, bottled water (whew, there are a lot of brands out there!), cold water, room temperature water, water with lemon (and/or lime). No matter what we do, the results are the same...blah, blah, blah. Are we prime examples of mature and responsible adults or what?

The Daily Kool family has always toyed with the idea of getting an ice cream maker for our home. As parents, we are often concerned about controlling the quality of ingredients in the food our children eat. Store-bought ice cream often has additives, so we often prefer the premium brands...hey, if we can't pronounce it, we certainly don't want to eat it. But, wow. Premium ice cream definitely comes at a premium price. An ice cream maker may seem like a perfect solution, but since no one in our household can ever agree on one flavor (heaven forbid), we always figured it would be a wasted investment...until now.

Golf is one of those sports that has earned much respect in The Daily Kool household over the years. There is just something about the mental and physical challenge, combined with getting out in the fresh air on a beautiful grassy course, that is both relaxing and stimulating. We admit it, though...our original motives for playing golf were not entirely pure. Yep, we used golf as a front to establish potential (and often profitable) business connections...we're so ashamed! There was only one problem...we didn't account for how hard it is to stick to the green. Oh, that darn Tiger Woods...he makes it look so easy!

We went to get a key copied at The Home Depot yesterday, and came across some decorative house keys...oh yeah, we were all over this idea! This is definitely one of those completely unnecessary items that we can't imagine anyone resisting. Hence, much to our disappointment, the store was sold out of many designs they seem to normally carry. We were able to let each child pick a style for us, though. Our 4 year old selected Mickey Mouse (not a surprise) and our 7 year old settled for the Florida Marlins...he really wanted the L.A. Lakers. Apparently, our excitement over these decorative house keys drew a crowd, because before we knew it, there was a pretty long line of other people wanting to get theirs.

Periodically, areas in The Daily Kool home fall victim to the chaos of a busy life filled with activity, children and pets. Okay, are you ready? We confess that sometimes, we are just too busy (or too tired) to clean. There, it's out. Whew! Don't get us wrong...it's not we spend our time living in squalor. But, at some point, just about every room of our house has seen a period of what we consider unmitigated disaster...except, the kitchen. We are absolutely fastidious when it comes to the appearance of our kitchen...this is our domain, the room held in highest regard. We keep every crevice absolutely pristine, so imagine our surprise, when we realized we were missing the boat with our garbage disposal. Our garbage disposal is like any other...it's a magnet for dirty, greasy build-up and offensive odor. Sure, we'd been using the Plink garbage disposal cleaner and deodorizer tablets every few days, but we really weren't getting down into the nitty gritty of our disposal's grossness. Plink smells great, but its effects are very short lived...plus, it seems to be more of a deodorizer than a cleaner. We've tried it all...baking soda w/vinegar, ice, even citrus peel...all okay, but not exceptional. We really use our garbage disposal a lot, so it was definitely time for a more effective solution. Enter the Fuller Brush foaming garbage disposal cleaner.

Every Saturday, we take our youngest child to a gymnastics class with a group of five friends that he's been with since his four-month old Mommy and Me class. This past weekend, three of them canceled because of influenza concerns, particularly the swine flu. Sure, a children's gymnasium is indeed a breeding ground for germs...after all, we are constantly telling our own children to keep their hands out of their mouths and nose (picky, picky). But unless you are willing to put your child in a bubble, he or she is undoubtedly going to be exposed to germs. As parents, the best thing we can do regarding the swine flu and other influenzas is to make sure that we take reasonable precautions to prevent infection, and call our pediatrician at the first signs of illness.