Au Pair Life: Covid-19 Edition — On the Go with Hailey Jo

Many of these pictures were taken during my bike rides. Prepare yourself for lots of windmills.

Hello again my on the go-ers! I’m currently writing to you from my home in The Netherlands.

I have now been an au pair for over 10 months, which is absolutely insane, I cannot believe how fast this year has gone. It seems like just yesterday I was attempting to pack my whole life away in one suitcase. Now I’m two months away from repacking it…scary.

A lot of au pairs decided to go home when the virus got really bad a couple of months ago, but I decided to stay. Life is good with my host family and we all agreed it was safer to just stay put. My visa ends in June, but if situation is still bad, I can get an extension and stay a while longer with my family. It’s definitely a strange time to be an au pair, everyone’s schedule is messed up and we all have had to adjust. My mother, grandmother and two uncles were supposed to come visit me during the first week of April, but they had to cancel their trip. My friend Jordan was also supposed to come end of April/beginning of May (hey Jordy!), but she also had to cancel. King’s Day, a national holiday on April 27th has been canceled and the Keukenhof Flower gardens (one of the most spectacular places to see the spring tulips) have been closed. I was supposed to have a busy spring, but instead I have found myself with a lot of free time.

Indy on his way to his new home. He gets his name from another handsome boy, Indiana Jones.

Some updates on everything that has been going on during these last few weeks. Luuk and Julie are now understanding a lot more English then the last time I wrote about them. Speaking English back to me is more difficult, but they are getting better by the day. I think all of us being stuck in the house together helps with that.

Julie celebrated her fourth birthday in March! She didn’t get to have a big party, but she still got cake, which is what really matters. One of her gifts was a new skateboard, and her and Luuk have been practicing it a lot.

We now have a new member of the family! My host parents decided last year to get a golden retriever puppy, and it finally happened! His name is Indy and he is perfect in every way. I’m so excited to have a dog to play with again (don’t tell Frankie though, she tends to get jealous). It’s just like having a third kid to watch. Having a friendly pupper in the house makes social-distancing a whole lot more fun.

Family bike ride! Does it get more dutch than this?

Eating leftover brownie batter turns my kids into chocolate monsters.

We have been spending a lot of time outside. Spring has officially sprung in Holland, and the weather has been beautiful. The kids now have a trampoline in the backyard, and if I’m being completely honest, the trampoline is a better babysitter than I am. They can spend hours on that thing. I have been going on daily bike rides. It’s a nice way to explore the Leiden area and have some alone time. Things can get chaotic at home with the whole family crammed into a house.

We have also been doing projects to keep ourselves busy. We collected cardboard boxes and bottles for a few days so the kids could build their own castle/superhero fort thingy. We’ve been baking a lot. So far the kids and I have made chocolate chip cookies, rice krispie treats, brownies, muffins, pancakes and cupcakes. We have tried planting flower seeds, going on bike rides, and making our own comic books (I’m sure The adventures of Star*boy and Tiny Tot will be available shortly).

To help keep each other sane, some of my au pair friends and I will call and chat on facetime or Zoom about once a week. It’s nice to have some social interaction, even if its from my bedroom. I’ve also been talking to friends back home, since they are stuck inside too.

We celebrated Easter Sunday together. The kids got to hunt for chocolate eggs and I helped them dye and decorate a few real eggs. It is so weird to think about how last Easter I was texting my current host mom and telling everyone that I was actually going to The Netherlands for a year.

I do miss traveling. I haven’t been able to plan any upcoming trips and I doubt I’ll be able to before June. I’m really grateful that I got to travel to so many places before eventually being stuck at home. Being stuck in Holland isn’t bad at all, I’ve been enjoying the time to explore the places close-by. Places I probably never would have seen if I was still able to travel more. I’m really lucky that I have such a nice host family and a place to stay while the world is on pause. I have been trying to keep busy. Besides hanging out with my family and watching the kids I’ve been reading and writing. I cleaned my room, finally caught up on laundry and reached the 300 day mark on Duolingo.

Below are more pictures that show my life during Covid-19. Stay safe guys!