Playdates

They abound, now, which is great, because otherwise the time between Coco's end of school and Madgie's is near interminable. A friend of Coco's has an au pair from Kiev, a little more than half (HALF!! is that possible?) my age, who taught me to play durak. Those playdates just whizz by now.
Since it's a card game, idle conversation follows, and now I feel that I "must to" (a phrase Coco's friend picked up from his au pair) ask my oldest sister about her au pair time. From the outside it seems such a harmless agreement. But, man, even in the better families (and she got a great one), it's got to be difficult.
A year away from one's country, yet not free because pseudo-employed as a nanny, doing domestic and childrearing duties one is most likely not equipped for, yet, because inexperienced unless one had little siblings.
I say "one," but how likely is it to hire on a young man if one were even to apply.