This is what happens when you employ someone whom you need more than she needs you. The househelp we have now used to work for my mom when I was still in high school and college - she left us about 4 years ago to get married and get pregnant. She now has a 1.5 year old kid, whom she and her husband had to ship off to Davao so that she can come and work for us. My and my mom's spiel to her to convince her to come under my employ is that she will be able to save money for her son's future education. We reminded her that the work involved in being our maid is not that big - our condo barely needs an hour's worth of cleaning per day, and she and her husband will still be able to see each other every weekend (yes, I let her go home every Saturday morning and have her back by Monday morning the following week).
It took some discussion for her and her husband to finally agree to this arrangement. They had to take their son to Davao to leave him with his parents, and then she finally started with us about 3 weeks ago.
This morning, she tearfully told me that her mother-in-law reported that her son has been having a hard time sleeping at night, and even has on-and-off fever, presumably from missing his mother. He would cry out at odd hours at night: "mama!" Her husband is also facing some changes at work, and after some thought, might end up earning even less from his current job. Hence, they're now entertaining the idea of just going home to Davao and settling there. Either that or they bring their kid back to Manila and just find some other work here that will enable them to be together as a family.
As much as I feel for her, especially since her baby is still so young and she's a first-time mom, I also can't help but be a little selfish in this instance. I know I don't need a full-time maid, and can even manage with a stay-out, but I need someone I can trust.. someone I can leave my home with during the day and trust that nothing will go missing. And that's the part that's tough to find.
Oh well. We ended our talk with me telling her to discuss December plans with her husband this weekend. I ended up allowing her a week off in December too - told her to pick between the week of Christmas or the week of New Year's. I hadn't run this through my husband yet, but I figure at her current state, I had to make a concession to allow her to see her baby. I also told her that I can allow her another week off in April when her baby turns 2.
Any tips? :s
2 comments:
It really is hard to find good help these days. I remember a night in August when my son's yaya told me that she'll be going home by September because her uncle is going to put her through college. She didn't think she'd have the chance to actually get a college degree, so she thought she'd be with us for a long time. Long story short, I had to look for a replacement and she went home.
Being a mom, I can't imagine how it feels like to have to leave your child so you can work. (In my new yaya's case, she left her sons to take care of my son.) I guess you'd have to weigh how much you really want her to stay with you. Then maybe you can discuss with your husband the possibility of having her and her son stay with you. That's the only suggestion I can think of now. Because you have to be ready to that when she goes home in December for a vacation, she might not come back.
Thanks! I know what you mean - I only need her as househelp, I can't imagine needing her to care for my child while I'm at work :s
At this point, all we can seem to do is wait for her final decision. I just hope a solution can come up whereby she gets to still have her kid nearby and still work for us. Let's see. Hopefully God will provide for our need in this situation :)
Post a Comment