When I first found out I was pregnant I thought about the other moms in the office and immediately assumed that I would take my maternity leave then go back to work pronto. Over the course of my pregnancy I began to feel more attached with every little kick and nudge. I took a look at my current situation of a 1BR condo in Makati with hubby and wondered if I could really leave my two month old son at home with a yaya while we both went to work.
It was obvious that we’d have to move. There just wasn’t enough space for a baby’s crib and a place for a yaya to sleep. More to the point, I didn’t even have a yaya yet. Was I willing to trust my son with someone I barely knew and leave them in our home for 8 hours a day? The answer was no. Not when my son would only be two months old.
It was a difficult decision to make since I had always assumed that I’d head straight back to work after maternity leave. I discussed this thoroughly with hubby and we both agreed that I could take time off from work – resign even to make sure that our baby’s first few months would not give us cause for worry.
Bad Yaya!
When baby J hit the two month mark, I was relieved I made that decision. He was still so small and the yaya that my MIL found for me just didn’t fit in 100%. She knew how to take care of babies but her attitude left much to be desired. I would give her instructions and she’d follow them the first few times then do what she wanted. The longer she stayed with us the more my dislike increased.
I have magazines in our room since hubby brings home several that get sent to him. Imagine my surprise that she was reading several that I haven’t even opened from the plastic. Aba binuksan niya at nagbasa siya. First of all, ok lang sana if she reads our magazines but opening one from the plastic wrapping is kinda assuming.
I normally have snacks in our bedroom since I get hungry all the time breastfeeding. I came back one time and found her eating our popcorn! Nakita lang daw niya, wanted to try it and she only ate 3 pieces naman eh. Of course I was shocked since none of the maids in our house would even think of doing that. I reprimanded her and told hubby to do the same but he inevitably forgot.
She asked if she could go to the grocery to buy supplies so I agreed. After several hours, (with the grocery being two streets away) I texted her. No reply. Finally I called her and then she claimed she met up with her cousin in SM! She didn’t reply because she had no load. I really though to myself that she’s lying since how could she meet up with her cousin in SM without any load? They wouldn’t be able to find each other. Worse of all is from the grocery she ended up in SM without asking me if she could go. That’s just plain insubordination. It really hit on me that I could not rely on her. So I agreed with my mom’s advice that we would need a yaya and a maid when we moved to our new place. I would stay on until the maid (from my lola) could transfer to us.
The final straw that made me fire her was her day off. I specifically told her to be back by 7pm and she said she’d have to leave in the morning to do so and wanted to give baby J a bath first. His bathtime kasi is usually 11am to 12nn so that he doesn’t get cold. I insisted that she needed to back by that time and hubby said she could leave in the morning just to make that curfew. 6:30PM I told hubby to remind her she had 30 mins. 7:30Pm yaya R texts that she missed the bus and she’ll only be able to come back tomorrow. I find that another lie. If she really did miss the bus she would have texted us sooner. My suspicions were confirmed when the maids in my mom’s place said yaya R brought clothes with her when she left and claimed she was allowed to go overnight! Argh! We’re too nice daw sabi ng maids and ayun inabuso. She misjudged how reliant we were on her and trust me I did rely on her. But there was no way I wanted to have someone like that in my employ. I knew I would break my back taking care of baby J but no way did I want to even see that liar again.
It has been so difficult without a yaya but thank God we’re currently living with my family. My mom helps me take care of baby J when I’m tired and even my little sister burps him and puts him to sleep. Even our maids can be counted on to watch baby J while I sleep.
Although living with my family has increased the drama level in my life I cannot help but appreciate how we are taking care of baby J together. He recognizes my mom, his lola and even cooes at her. My dad and other sister feel their stress melt away when the spend some time with him. The privacy and independence of living with hubby alone is something I miss sometimes but I cannot begrudge the impact baby J has had on my first family.
Tags: infant care, yaya
