Work-shy on Sundays, our house is quiet until about noon when my husband and our six-year old would stretch, talk and finally leave bed. My circadian rhythm has programmed me to wake up not later than 9 a.m. so I wake up ahead of the boys, grab whatever book there is on my bedside and work hard on falling back to sleep and failing. Sometimes I go out to have a cup of coffee and get a little sunlight from the veranda.
Last Sunday, I found a note on the table. It said:
Sir/Ma’am,
Pasensiya na po di na po ako nakapagpaalam. 8 napo ako umalis. Hindi ko na po kayo hinintay gumising. Pasensiya na po. Ingat ho kayo. Cole I miss you! Take care and God bless! TCIC!
Love,
Via
For anyone who has answered those colorful books called ‘autograph’ in grade school, you’d know that TCIC means Take Care coz I Care. Just to remind you a bit, JAPAN means Just Always Pray at Night. And if you’re not too sick to barf yet, here’s another one: ITALY-I Trust and Love You. The note left me smiling and later when Cole discovered it, he smiled as he read it too.
The note, after an hour when I read it, was followed by a text message from her telling me that she has left and didn’t wait for us to wake up anymore.
Our obsessive-compulsive housekeeper is named Via Villanueva. The note, she explained later on, was to make sure that “we would know that she has already left and for us not to wonder where she was and so I would not get mad at her”. So first there was a note, then a text message, then a verbal explanation. The night before, I told her that she needed not wait for us to wake up so she could leave early but she still waited for “a little bit” to say goodbye the following day.
We were for a time hesitant to get a housekeeper because we hear a lot of scary stories about them. But a housekeeper was the only solution to our problem with the schedule, fatigue, and Cole’s companion when he goes to school everyday (which is a two-minute walk from our house and we made sure of that when we were looking for a house). So we called up the Admiralty Agency based in Makati and spoke to the owner Mr. Singson. We had very basic qualifications for a housekeeper. She just needed her updated papers from the NBI and Residence Certificate. We also wanted somebody honest, clean, free of any disease, has initiative, honest, honest, honest. Although I didn’t require it, I said I would appreciate at least a high school diploma, which fortunately Via has plus a certificate for a vocational course after high school.
After a long interview with Via, we decided to give her a try. On her first day on the job, I was happy and had the gut feel that this person was well, worth it. Being the OC mom that I am (and don’t point a finger at me because I know you’re so like me) I like everything in order: front of bottles facing outward, very clean floors, bathroom well-scrubbed, beds well made. With Via around, the entire house is squeaky clean and I come home to it feeling relaxed…something that I have missed out on for quite a while.
Just recently, I read a post of this young mother who had problems with her yaya whom she described as irresponsible. It makes me really sad because as moms, we already go through a lot of stresses in life and to have a house help whom you want to trust but can’t, it adds up to the daily hell that we experience. I sympathize with you and I hope you find the super yaya that you deserve.
I have not raised my voice on our OC little housekeeper. There is no need for that. Most of the time we’d have to jokingly threat her to stop wiping, scrubbing, cleaning whatever it is that she gets her hands on, and rest. This is one of those cases when the OC-ness of the housekeeper becomes an advantage to the boss.
Meanwhile, Via, whom we jestingly call Ate Vi after who else?, has been doing a really great job not only managing the house but doing things conscientiously, like reminding our son to study, putting aside money that we forget in our jeans or on the table, and reminding me politely about what I need to get from the grocer. These are little things, I know, but to find someone you can trust to do the job correctly even when you’re not around (and in a place where there are more foes than friends) is priceless.
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