Gone in [what feels like] 60 seconds

As you may have already guessed, my pregnant yaya spent her last Christmas with us before going back to her family.  Based on our last conversation this morning (yes, breaking up is soooo hard to do...) she is due to give birth anytime now.  Vito and I have survived our first week without yaya, thanks to Clara, my house maid (more on her later) and Nonoy, my driver-turned-yayo.  This arrangement will have to work until I get someone qualified for the yaya role.

Last night, my mother-in-law was able to get 2 girls from Zambales, aged 18 and 21, who were to be given to me as yayas-in-training.  I wasn't enthusiastic to hear that they were so young.  Based on my experience, our house help of the same age would either end up getting pregnant by their boyfriends or worse, the family house boy or driver.  But as the saying goes, beggars can't be choosers and I was desperate.

One look at them and already I had this sinking feeling that they wouldn't last.  The older girl was slightly taller and darker, spoke slowly with a low voice and a slight lisp. The younger one was so small I swear she could fit in my pocket... like... a... pocket maid! She was better looking than the older one, had more confidence and walked with a lighter gait.  I took them home last night, fed them and oriented them with their tasks for the next day. The older one was to be assigned to do household chores while the smaller one would accompany Clara as assistant yaya.

Today went by without any major hitches.  I felt I was over staffed but I thought, better over than under.  When I got home tonight, I gathered my staff for a review of the day's work and assigned tasks for the next day.  Thirty minutes into the meeting, the 2 finally tell me that they have decided to leave.  I knew they wouldn't last but I didn't think that they would leave after 1 day!  To cut the long story short, I let them go tonight.

I was surprised that, for first-timers in Manila, they had quickly and readily made arrangements to be picked up by a "cousin" at the nearest jeepney stop.  They were also all packed and ready to go within the same minute I had given them permission to go.  And when I brought them outside the village to drop them off, I was amazed at how fast they got out of the car and scurried away.  It was like they had propellers for feet.

My conclusion is that they used my poor mother-in-law as their free ticket to their Manila holiday.  So I end the night with the same situation as the night before--desperately seeking yaya.

Help Wanted

     I have 25 days left (gasp!) before my yaya leaves us.  I am desperate.  I am taking this to the internet hoping that a kind soul would reach out and help us find a yaya for Vito, the cutest boy in the world.

1.        He loves music and can be kept busy for hours singing songs (literally!  Mommy’s last videoke session went on for 5 hours.  Mommy sang herself hoarse and had to call in reinforcements.  Ninang Carla saved the day by taking the last hour singing Vito’s favourite nursery rhymes), playing musical instruments like the guitar and piano, or videoke-ing in lolo’s bar. 

2.       He is easy to feed the food he likes—anything with soup like nilaga or arroz caldo, lola’s special longganisa, spaghetti with sweet meat sauce (minus the hotdog, McDo is good too), Olsen’s Spanish bread, loackers quadratini and graham crackers. 

3.       If he seems to be starting a fit, there’s two easy ways to change his mood to happy—give him a banana to peel (but you have to do the eating, he only likes to peel them) or present some M&Ms for him to snack on (lola’s trick).

4.       He naps at 1pm to about 4pm which gives yaya (and the entire household) the much needed timeout to recover for when he wreaks havoc again by the time he wakes.

5.       If you want to get him tired (which is almost always the goal everyday) take him outdoors for a walk (or a run), or to the neighbourhood playground for some slide and see-saw action, or fly his favourite helicopter till the batteries run out.  Hopefully his batteries run out before the helicopter’s does.

6.       He’s soft and cuddly like a living teddy bear and he blows kisses, gives high-5s and warm hugs as much as there are stars in the sky.

7.       He isn’t toilet trained yet but the upside is he loves brushing his teeth and can be easily motivated to take a bath since he loves the water.  So this kind of evens things out.

8.       If he gets too hyper, it’s easy to calm him down.  Just give him his favourite books and he can leaf through their pages while you identify the colourful pictures.  He also loves puzzles and blocks but make sure he doesn’t get frustrated with them.  If he does, refer to number 3. If that doesn’t work, number 10 should.

9.       When he gets bored or antsy, just put him in a moving vehicle—a golf cart, a bike or a car.  Driving around aimlessly is one of his favourite pastimes.  A duyan works like a charm too.

10.   When all else fails, only one thing can save the day—BUBBLES. So mommy always has a bottle packed for emergency situations.

     So will someone please take pity on this little boy and help find a yaya for him?

Day 1

     Today, my supposedly fifth yaya left us after a total of 12 days in training.  She had "borrowed" my sister's phone charger without permission (technically, taking something without the owner's knowledge is called stealing, right?) and now the charger has gone missing.  Without getting into the petty details, suffice it to say that she has trouble in the values department as she explained that she only took it because she had every intention of returning it anyway (insert confused emoticon with ? here).   So, following the same logic, if she took my son Vito out of my house without permission and brought him back after 4 days, that would be totally acceptable because she will have had every intention of bringing him back anyway, right? I don't think so...

     In spite of this, I didn't ask her to leave.  I had wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt being a believer in second chances and honest mistakes.  But she made the decision to leave anyway, since she couldn't take the heat from the other maids in my house as well as those at my mom's house where the entire fiasco on my sister's phone charger happened.  Only after she left tonight did I hear about the other back stories on her pakialamera ways.  As my mom would put it, better finding out this early that she couldn't be trusted.  This may well be a blessing in disguise.

     This wouldn't be the first time that I experience another domestic tragedy in my quest for a competent, nurturing and honest yaya for my son.   I punch the "Reset" button on my imaginary time clock yet again.  It's Day 1 of my search for Vito's yaya. I wonder how long it will take this time...