Shy of hiring a full-time nanny who would push out my fantastic mother-in-law, we're looking at au pairs. As I told her, "They only work 40 hours per week, and you work much more!"

Here's the question:

We don't keep regular hours. I know we'll have to work around that. But we NEVER have a scheduled dinner time. Do au pairs have to eat with us, or just have food available? Is this a ridiculous concern?

Thanks for your input.

Hi. This isn't a ridiculous concern. I'm just sorry I haven't been around to read this post sooner.

We had an au pair for 2 years, until our kids were really too old for a live-in. Anyway, we often didn't eat dinner with our AP because of our hours. (I'm a med student, husband works) Anyway, we had a scheduled "family dinner" on Sunday nights where we made a point for everyone to eat together. I think it's important to have meals with your AP, but it doesn't have to be daily by any means.

I'd be happy to answer more questions and I'll be around more in the next few weeks.