No yaya again and again

Alam mong DAPAT nang maglinis kung may hinanap ka sa asawa mo at ang sagot nya ay, "Asawa lang ako, 'di ako manghuhula." (You know you really have to clean up when you ask your spouse for something and he blurts out: "I'm just your spouse, I'm not a fortune-teller.")

Our resolve has been tested, and we failed. Again.

Flash back to year 2010, I told myself prayerfully that it will be a no-nanny lifestyle for us. However, I was tempted with the offer from the long-time house help from my husband's side. She has ten kids, and she wants the 7/10, a 13-year old girl, to be our nanny. All of her older daughters are married now. They started the family life in a very young age. Not attending school, they chose to start their own families instead. Yet, they still depend on her.

We wanted to help, that's why we agreed. A month after though, our young nanny was on her way back home. She missed home so much. I think it goes both ways. Her family misses her too?

Plus, our house has been set up in such a way that it really is boring to a typical Filipino teenager. We don't have TV or cable subscription. We work from home. We don't go out much. It wouldn't be so nice to have your boss behind your back all the time?

Coincidentally too, I have been really busy that I am not able to help her with a lot of the house chores and kid responsibilities. So I guess it really is that way for us. Shoe box living by ourselves.

Love your enemies, for they tell you your faults. 

-Benjamin Franklin

I checked on my kids about their reaction towards this new but familiar set up. My eldest, turned 5 years old three months ago, admitted she prefers having a helper. "It's nice," she said.

I admit. It really is more comfortable. The voice activated service that nannies and house helps provide make life easier. I can always delegate the things I don't want to do, or the things that don't require much high level thinking. That's not a luxury we can afford anymore. We're particular with strangers living with us, and we have exhausted both sides of our families connections of probable yayas.

I choose my friends for their good looks, my acquaintances for their good characters, and my enemies for their intellects. A man cannot be too careful in the choice of his enemies. 

- Oscar Wilde

It's not only me who has decided to go nanny-free. My neighbors did too. Though it seems that they're already looking for replacements. Their works don't allow them to be with their kids.

There are several things that I have noticed about the relationships between amo (boss) and yayas (nannies) do not prosper if the boss stays at home. Plus, if the boss thinks of the nanny as dispensable, it'll be very short-lived.

There have been televised stories of nannies stealing from their boss. Or even kidnapping the kids. I have friends who share these twists. They have vowed to not go the nanny way as long as they can.

It really is tricky. Yet my dream is that one day, Filipino families will not require this set up. Families will send their kids to school. Children will finish their schooling. No need to work as stay-home helpers, worse, go abroad to be nannies.

Words are like elevators. They either bring people up, or down, or nowhere.