The Au pair
Colin and Camille are a family with five kids. Camille is a high-power attorney and works long hours. Colin is a commercial real-estate agent and has more freedom and flexibly to be on deck for the kids but couldn’t keep up with all the daily needs. They hired an Au pair to help manage the household duties and the children. They couldn’t have found anyone better. Jeanne was great and the kids loved her. Everything was terrific until Camille was on a court case that kept her away for a couple of weeks. When she returned she felt like she was on the outside looking in.
Family dynamics - 3 in a Relationship.
Colin and Jeanne were in-sync with all the children’s extra curricular activities, homework and everyone managed just fine without Camille. She tried to brush it off but struggled with her feelings. Finally one night, she brought it up to Colin and he became defensive. He was feeling proud of how they managed when she was away and heard it as criticism. Colin was resentful and felt like it again, nothing is ever good enough for Camille. Camille threatened to fire the Au pair and Colin retaliated with disgust.
Okay, I am sure you are probably assuming they fired the Au pair to get rid of the problem and quite honestly, that seemed to be the way the situations was going to unfold. During the sessions they realized they were not addressing the underlying issues they struggled with as a couple in prior situations. Camille and Colin’s relationship was contingent on not rocking the boat until it’s sinking.
Camille took a looked at her trust issues and how she needed to let off control. Colin was able to see how he fell short as a partner and was able to step up his communications skills with his wife. They decided to have a discussion with Jeanne in order to be transparent about the roles in the house. Their life has resumed back to their family’s hectic schedule and are better together because of the relationship work they did.
“Great program, well worth the time and money.”
