An American Au Pair Snuck Out Of Her Host Family's House In Italy After Things Got Ugly (2025)

An American woman moved to Italy for her dream job—a three-month gig as an au pair—only for it to turn out to be a disaster. She left after just five days.

TikToker Ella Reeson (@ellarkatherine) is documenting how she fled from her host family’s home after facing a multitude of red flags.

She met her Italian host family on a site for au pairs. Au pairs provide childcare for a family in another country in exchange for accommodation and meals.

The host mom reached out to Ella, saying that she liked her profile and wanted to get to know her more. Ella’s job duties would include waking up her son, getting him dressed and fed, walking him to school at 8:30 a.m., and picking him up at 6 p.m.

In addition, she would need to heat up dinner and clean up after him. She would have Friday afternoons and weekends to herself.

Ella and the host mom video chatted twice. They agreed Ella would be a good fit, so she booked a flight and left for Italy two weeks later.

She paid for her own flight and was supposed to stay with the family for a total of 85 days. When she arrived, the host mom picked her up from the airport, and they went back to the house. Ella unpacked her stuff, and then they sat down to eat lunch.

At lunch, the host mom started unloading all her work problems onto Ella, which was the first red flag. Later, the host dad showed her how to do all her duties, which was a struggle because he did not speak English, and she did not speak Italian.

After dinner, Ella was instructed to bathe the child even though this had not been listed as one of her responsibilities. Tensions rose on Friday evening when the host mom returned home late and started yelling at Ella for not helping out even though it was supposed to be her day off.

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On Saturday, she accompanied them on a family outing. She spent much of the time minding the child while the parents walked ahead. At the end of the trip, the host mom berated her for not paying attention or putting in effort. She also yelled at her for falling asleep on the car ride home while they were stuck in a traffic jam.

Ella decided that she was going to leave. She did not feel comfortable telling them because she did not feel safe. That night, she packed her bags. The next morning, at 5:45 a.m., she slipped out of the house with all her luggage. She only texted the host mom about her departure after making it through security.

Overall, the experience has taught her how to handle challenging situations away from home. She no longer wants to be an au pair, though.