Of Yayas..

Ever since I gave birth to my eldest child AJ, there have been nine yayas in our household excluding the two that we currently have now.

This is michelle montenegro, she has been with us for more than a year and she is very capable, kind, intelligent and doesn't need much supervision.  But she left abruptly with Yaya Merlyn who has been with us for only 3 months.  I suppose, they do not like to be saddled with an additional baby to watch over.  I can understand that. But to leave us with unkind words? Ha, i am not such a good judge of character.

Yaya Grethel is liked by Abby but hated by AJ.  Abby likes those who conforms to all her whims.  AJ dislikes her because she can't watch her favorite shows on cartoon network and disney because Yaya Grethel likes to watch willie's wowowee.  And she has a tendency to spank AJ even when i already told her not to lay a hand on the kids and leave the disciplining to me.

They go with us whereever we go, they sleep in hotel rooms and in proper hotel beds whenever we go out of towns.  They eat what we eat. We send them to the dentists and OB-Gyne when they complaint of pain, free because that is what we are.  We treat them with kindness, hoping that they would also treat the kids and us kindly and faithfully and because that is the Christian thing to do.  And yet...

These are the yaya's who left without honoring the verbal condition that they give us one-month notice when they no longer want to work with us.  Regardless of the plance fare, i spent for them coming to Manila.  I think, I am a generous employer and understanding too. And they seem happy too, and yet one wonders.

This is Yaya Jhoanne Teopiz.  I am reserving my assessment of her. She's a more open person, a bit loud but i think what she lacks in knowledge she makes up for in kindness. Hopefully. No one is perfect after all.

I do understand that these kind of jobs are merely transitory considering the meager salary that they are receiving compared to the responsibility that goes with the job and the emotional investments on both our sides.  So when any of them tells us that they want to leave already, there really is nothing we can do except to ask them to respect our agreement that they give us one-month notice in advance.  They leave for different reasons, some pregnant, or going to school, or they had saved enough for business.  It's commendable for them to aspire for a better life and i encouraged them in that direction.  We never hold on to them, not that we can.  Most leave with kind words for us, but there are those who just leave and invent stories regardless of the kindness we have extended to them. I don't waste my time anymore with that kind of people. So yeah, they are important to me but i can also managed without them.

Yaya Mary

Yaya Mary has been with us for more than a year now. I have no complaints yet. She is a level-headed kind of girl who is attached to his father for reasons only a daughter can understand. I heard stories that about her father that isn't good at all. But enough of that.

There has been 7 other yaya's before mary. They stick for a while and then left for the usual reasons, better offer and marriage. When the first yaya left, i cried and hubby was angry because i cried that she left. He said there are others who are more than willing to work and said there are no shortage of hired help. I shouldn't waste any emotions on them. He is right, of course. I have a tendency to get attached to people. The second yaya was vivlyn, she was pretty and really mabait. She spoiled AJ too much. She stayed for more than a year. She was the yaya at the time of the accident. I have nothing bad to say about her. In fact, we would have send her to school if not for the fact that her elder brother took her to romblon. And then there were the processions of other yayas.

I brought mary along for the two-months vacation in manila. She stays with the kids at the condo and so far, she has mastered the use of the elevator. She doesn't go far. She goes to the ground floor to have the water galloons refilled, laundry services and sometimes buy food during lunch when they don't feel like cooking. I also bought her a new samsung cellphone with a camera and radio already as she requested because there's no landline in the condo and she fears not having anything to use just in case. I don't mind at all, I'm good to those who are good to me and to my family. She has been to starbucks, haha although i don't think she knows what starbucks represent. She's with us everywhere we go and so far we have been to montevista resort in laguna for an overnight stay at the hotsprings resort, visited fantasy land in lemery batangas where a membership cost P187,000, had lunch at talisay batangas and sipped coffee at starbucks tagaytay.

After office hours, i normally call on her to wait on the lobby so that we could do groceries at Rustan's Supermarket. The kids love her. I hope she really stays with us for a long time.

Yaya mary as usherette during Uching