In this part of the world, it is pretty commonplace to have a stay-in household help who does all the household chores. Apart from a housekeeper, it is also common for moms and dads to hire a full time nanny as well. I am aware that this is not the case in other countries and that is why I am grateful that we have those here. It is just unfortunate though, how hard it is to find household help who do not only do their job well but are also reliable and trustworthy.
We’ve been having household help dilemmas for about two years now. It’s really very stressful because I was used to having housekeepers who would stay with us for years. Over the last couple of years though, the housekeepers we’ve hired never lasted for more than a few months. They left for a variety of reasons. Most say that they need to go back to their provinces already and to their families. There were also some who just up and left without even saying a proper goodbye. It really sucks. It’s also depressing because I am pretty sure that we’re nice employers. The ones who stayed with us for years can vouch for that. That is why I really don’t understand why the recent ones ended up leaving just after a few months.
This wouldn’t be such a big problem if only it was easy to find a replacement. Unfortunately, it is not. Almost everyone I’ve asked for referrals also have housekeeper dilemmas of their own. I don’t want to just get someone who we don’t know because we can’t just trust someone like that with our home, and most importantly with our kids. Recently, I was faced with this problem when I accepted this new job. I am supposed to start working on December 1 already when our housekeeper up and left. She was just supposed to go on vacation but she never returned. All that time I was thinking that the only dilemma I had was to find a nanny for Ziggy because he’s never had one before.
I was extremely thankful to have found a mother-daughter tandem, who we hired to be our new housekeeper and nanny, respectively. They were referred by one of our trusted former housekeepers. We were really happy about their performance and were glad that Ziggy was getting used to his nanny pretty fast. Unfortunately, just a few days ago, they informed me that they plan to leave already by mid-December. What????? Apparently, the nanny (who’s still young, by the way), is scared about being left with Ziggy at night when we go off to work. Her mom (the housekeeper) chose to leave with her because apparently she’s only here to accompany her daughter at work. Ugh!
Now, I don’t even know what to do. We’ve been trying to find replacements over the last couple of days but we’ve been unsuccessful. I have to start work already and there is no use even going to work now if we won’t be able to find replacements. My in-laws and my mom are all busy and won’t be able to help. There is no one else to do the housekeepers jobs, which means that the worst case scenario will be that I will end up not going to work at all. That is SO NOT GOOD! As much as I would like to remain a stay-at-home mom for a bit longer, it’s really not the practical option. So, I am hoping and praying that we find reliable and trustworthy helpers soon. Pray with me!
