Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood: (The Last of Two Parts)

Even the strongest of us parents, could be no match for…

This is just a continuation of Part 1 of Divine Secrets of The Yaya Sisterhood.
ClICK HERE for Part 1…

The NGNs or the New Generation Nannies.

Seconde Partie.

…Parents like myself, just had to keep up, with these kind of nannies. It is all, for the love of our children.We needed the nannies, so we could continue with our jobs. ( jobs that paid us well, so we might give our children, a better life.) But then, we did not necessarily employ the best nannies, unlike when, we hired an engineer, an architect or a nurse, they had their licenses with them, so we knew, we hired someone legit.

We gambled, we hit and we missed, when searching for nannies.

GOOD EMPLOYERS

We are good employers. We not only get our storekeepers, social security numbers, but the househelps, too( long before, Kasambahay Bill was even drafted.) We helped them open, saving accounts. While, neither had we, ever starved anyone in the household, nor were we, ever late, in giving them their salaries. The driver and the housegirls, I guess, would not have stayed longer with us, had we not been treating them well. As for the nannies, we shared with them our vitamins, while they got flu shots too. We paid for their hospital bills, when they got sick. We never had overworked nannies, for we have a housegirl who does the cleaning and another person, who does the cooking and the laundry.

MOST IMPORTANTLY we DO NOT appear in senate hearings, explaining why our iron, landed on a ” kasambahays ” face.

( Our iron belongs to our iron board, AND the iron board, alone. ) In other words, like many parents I know, we are decent employers, who work hard for a living. We expected them to treat us, the same way we treated them. We are employers, who treated our domestic helps fairly, the way we want, our own company bosses, to treat us. So much so that, we adjusted to the needs of our nannies, even if we knew, that none of these, were fair anymore.

ATTACHMENT.

Among the many sacrifices that working parents, especially mothers, have to take, is the fact that the children, become distant from the parents. It could not be avoided of course. It is part of it all. Sometimes, your child would obey the nanny more, than they would obey you. It does of course, hurt really bad for us parents, when the nanny leaves,and we see that our child had already, developed a certain degree of attachment towards her.

BUT should these NANNIES add more hurt, to an already painful situation, by asserting their POWER over us, the parents ?

GOOD NANNIES, GONE BAD.

So where ARE the good nannies? Where have they gone? Well, we parents are partly to blame, because we know for a fact, that we have contributed, in the creation of Frankenstein’s monster. We might have given more, than what we should have. But we have our jobs to keep, we do our best to make the nannies stay.

( Or else, we may end up, in Amazing Facts, as one of those seven million or so, unemployed people in the Philippines. )
” Theyzzz täayp of specié, müst háv ēvolved from the present situwayshôn…
the envāyr-önment, of course. ”
–

something, maybe , Bogart The Explorer of Davao City would have said.

Some parents bring their helps with them, to costly buffets in hotel. Some would even include them, in their shopping sprees and out of the country, vacays.

( that is how vulnerable and needy parent can be sometimes, they play St. Nick.)

We sometimes are, overly generous to our children’s nannies. But we, as parents, must also bear in mind, that even if we may have the means to be extravagant, it still does not add up. These New Generation Nannies still, do not have our loyalty. And when they change employers, they too become extravagant themselves.

While they become, major sources of stress, to their new employers, -parents like myself, who could only afford so much. But of course we need them to stay, so yes, we give them more than what is required.

SHORTAGE

And since there are more working-class parents, there is now a huge shortage of nannies.

” Ayan, anak ng anak, tapos sa yaya, iiwanan.”
HUWHAAAAT?

( Don’t you R. H. bill me…that is beside the point.)

Many working parents, residing in this country, spend fifty percent of their waking moments, thinking, on how to get on with their jobs, when no legit nanny, can be found for their kids. Here in the Philippines, there are no nearby decent daycare centers, to leave our child with, unlike many of those working parents, living abroad.

( daycare centers are not just as abounding as those in other countries.)

Therefore the nannies, are whom we resort to. But, do we really deserve this? Do we have to settle for NGNs? And just because there is a shortage of nannies, it would be alright to accept and employ these new generation of nannies? Do we have to settle with rotten tomatoes, because the need and demand for salsa is high? Can’t we have the quality-inspected, finished product?

Don’t we deserve the authentic pico de gallo, the tastier Tex-Mex cuisine and the best of Zorro?
( Ok fine, figure of speech had to be something mexican, after the Manny and Marquez fight.
PLUS, segúe to, ” ampalaya is a ” BITTER ” vegetable. I shall miss my chimichangas. Get well soon Manny! )

But those types of characters, coming in to our homes, should be stopped. They should be thoroughly sifted, while strict laws should be implemented, so nannies and agencies alike, know their limitations. Average persons like us, are being overlooked. Parents like myself, may sound as impossible, as maybe that of a boyfriend, with bulging muscles, repetitively crying out foul. While, declaring unbelievably, that he was abused, by a dimunitive girfriend, thus, NO ONE bothered to listen.

As I have said, we have the money, but the POWER? Na-ah. It’s like Vietnamese Warfare. Mental torture has long lasting effect than physical pain. Some might have smirked and laughed on this piece regarding new generation nannies. ” Shallow “, they might have said and maybe, ” blown out of proportion. You have not pass this road yet .

And be even more grateful, if you will never ever tread this path. MANY parents by the way, were kind enough to drop me a line and shared some of their experiences. They thanked me, for having been able to write, what they so wanted to articulate, yet hesitated upon,thinking others might judge it, as petty grievances and of no importance. (like some urban legend.)

Nothing can ever be minor, when the safety, security and well being of your family is concerned. My experiences even proved, to be more pleasant, than those with other parents, who had experienced the worst kind of abuse from those type of nannies. Yes, the things I went through could have been mild, for I still found humor in them, poetic license and all. So may I introduce……

__________________________________________________

4.) Yaya Cy ( Say )

( ” Akala mo naglalaba lang, o! ” )SURF. The Cyber Space Nanny. Yaya Cy’s priority is her cyber profile and not your child. And she has to look good for her future husband, local or foreigner. Who are we, to curtail her dreams But can she please, not pursue her dreams, during the hours, when she was being paid to do her job. She can do it on her free time, like during her ward’s naptime or at night time, when all the chores are over and done with, and/or maybe, on her days off.

Try imagining, yourself, at the office, suddenly receiving a phone call from the school, informing you, that your small child vomitted all over his clothes. You wondered of course, why they called you, where was the nanny? And you found out that, the nanny, whom you assumed, was in the waiting area, during those hours, was nowhere to be found. She was in a cyber cafe. And when asked later on, as to why she went there?

” Kc Kuya, Ate, walang WIFI dito sa eskwela or Mahina. ”
“Ano ba ang job description mo, ‘Ya?…WEB BROWSER? WEB CRAWLER?”

Many of us, must have already heard, about housegirls and nannies trying on, the clothes of their female employers, while they were away. I am familar with that storyline. A relative once shared a tale of that kind. Besides, didn’t Jennifer Lopez’ character, in Maid in Manhattan tried on and snuck out, in an immaculate white, $5,000-Dolce & Gabbana jacket and pants, owned by one of the guest in their hotel?

But take this mommy-friend’s story, which she unknowingly went through, and found out, only after, her Cyber Space Nanny had long left, her employ. So, one day, it was revelation time, for one of the housegirls, since nanny was not anymore, part of the household.

She clicked open nanny’s facebook page and showed mommy, what the nanny had been up to, while mom was away for work. ” POSER ALERT “: ( literally .) All of nanny’s profile pictures on facebook, showed HER, ” POSING “, and WEARING Mommy’s sunday bests. ( ” gang, maayo nimo no, posing-posing, sanina dili imo! ” )

…including the cocktail dresses, mommy haven’t worn yet, but were saving for a special occasion. ( like maybe that of her parent’s 50th wedding anniversary.) Nanny wore them, for all of Marc Zuckerberg’s creation to display. ( She, well, hit liked and shared mommy’s clothes. ) Nanny had over three hundred friends on facebook, while mommy had but a hundred. Perhaps, ’round about three hundred people, whom mommy did not know, had seen mommy’s dresses, worn by nanny. ( including nanny’s penpals, perhaps, from General Trias, from General Santos and some, randomly hailing, from General information, through Google.)

Therefore, hypothetically, based on those stats, nanny had already staked out, ninety percent ownership, on those dresses. This was because, first, more people, on the social network ( for sure ) had seen nanny wore them, than, they have ever seen mommy. And second, nanny had even worn, some of those dresses, FIRST, even before mommy did.

” OFFICER, DON’T YOU SEE, I’M THE ONE BEING VIOLATED, HERE? ”
( And violet, has neither been my shade nor my favorite color.)

” Ate, may wifi ba kayo, dito sa bahay? “

” Wala.”

” Router? ”
” Wala. “

” Internet? ”
” Wala.”
” Eh, anong meron kayo? “

” BATA, – na aalagaan mo. ” ( BOOM!)

5.YAYA PIN

PINdot ng Pindot sa kanyang cellphone. For certainly, taking the job of a nanny, should equate to,

” Do not leave your eyes from the kid.”
” Boses ng bata, ang dapat inaabangan nyo.”
( And not the sound, of incoming messages and your oppan gangnam style ringtone. )

But still, they keep on placing their cellphones inside their pockets.

” Kindly use your cellphones, only when it is an emergency. “

” Please do not use them, while at work.”

” Kanino bang text votes ang hinahabol mo, ‘Ya? “

“Ay Ate, ano, type,
EB(space)POGI#(slash)
Your Name and Address and send to 2344 for Globe or 367 for Smart.
Para kay Raymart, Mr. Pogi ng Marikina City.”

Thus, nanny would be busy texting, while your son, for all you know, would be on top the drawers, ready to plunge into Neverland. ” Yo, ho, ho, ten gold doubloons. ” You of course, came home to a son, disguised as Batman, wearing bruises and bumps. And it was not even Halloween, yet. All because, Nanny’s eyes were on the phone and not on your kid. You ALMOST believed this:

” hindi ko kaya, sobrang likot ng anak mo, ‘te,
tsaka nanakit ang anak mo. “

As I quote my Mom who nurtured eight children:

” Natural, they are malikot, they are children, they are active.
And not hyperactive as your nanny, made them sound, they are.
At kung mananakit man ang bata, either sinasaktan din siya or kailangan niya ang attention mo.”
( ” Asaan nga ba? ” )

” Yaya, mahihirapan ka talaga, kasi, DALAWA alaga mo eh,

isang batang mobile, at isang MOBILE,

isang batang smart, at isang SMART. “

6. NANNY HOUDINI

1. These Nanny Houdinis , make THEMSELVES , appear and disappear from your house, like magic.

a. DISAPPEARING ACT
Act One : BELLA

In the evenings, while all nanny duties and other chores are done, Yaya Bella would say,

” ‘Te, BILI LANG ako, ng chichiria dyan sa tindahan. “

Of course she did not mention which ” tindahan ” she went to. But since she still has not come back, after three hours , you may safely assume, that she went to a ” tindahan ” far from the usual. Too unusual perhaps, more like, later, in the line of,

” …saan ka ba tindahan, talagang talaga, pumunta, Ya? ”
“… dyan sa tindahan lang, ‘te, … -sa may SAGADA, BENGUET. ”
– nag bus, na trapik.

Then of course, she told you the next day, that she came in, exactly a few minutes, right after you retired for bed. You of course knew, that while you and your whole household were in deep slumber, nanny came in, at WEE HOURS in the morning. Yep, that’s BELLA alright, – breaking ( the ) dawn!

( Dare mention the danger involved,
had team jacob, a.k.a. akyat bahay and salisi gang, followed and came in, with her too? )

Act Two : SALVEE
Yaya Salvee.

Yaya Salvee, leaves ( anagram alert )
for a day or days off. But then, she did not come back, on the day that she was expected to. Worst, was of course, you also could not get through her phone. Nothing.

Earth calling Mars. ( Earth now is totally pissed of…)
” The Sun is the center of the universe, and around it, revolve the planets.” See, it is not the Yaya. ( But, why did it seem so?) Then later on, after having not heard, from nanny for seven days, while you were, of course also, seven days absent from work , (- without pay ) you held your breath, as you heard Mike Enriquez on your T.V. screen, said,

” Pasintabi lang po sa mga kumakain, sa may riles, kaninang madaling araw, isang bangkay po, ng di nakikilalang BABAE ang tumambad sa mga residente duon. “
(You did not exactly know how to use ” tumambad ” in a sentence, you just inhaled.) You also did some mental notes and visualized your nanny, as Mike Enriquez began enumerating, the description of the, ” Di Nakikilalang Babae”,

While you most certainly had lost this certain percentage of oxygen in your brain, you were still thankful that none of which, fitted the nanny’s description. THEN, you went back, to MURDERING her in your mindWhy shouldn’t you? You got reprimanded by your superiors at work or maybe castigated by your bosses and maybe fired out. ( fire at will! )The Nanny went AWOL and so did you. You most certainly had, used up all your vacation and sick leaves. You were, out of your work and out of your mind. And you had a nanny out there, whom you were not sure, was dead or alive. Yan si Yaya Salvee, ‘kala mo, na -SALVage, na.

You could have thought, she ended up in a dumpster somewhere with no life, left for dead, like a mutilated cow or half masticated beef. You will always be responsible with people who lived with you, in your house.

And these Yaya Salvee-types just do not give a care. So, when someone, who lived with you, in your house, supposedly did not come home, on the time or day expected, you do get alarmed, don’t you?

You lose sleep, wondering:
” Where is Waldo?”
” Where is Wally? ”
” Nasaan si Jennifer? ”
” Si Bulak nawawala. ”
” or Where in the world, is Carmen San Diego? “

Or, finally,
” Eponine, where is Cosette? “

You get zombified. The ” konting kaluskos ” , made you call out,
” Ya, ikaw na ba yan?”
( “hindi, Ate, pusa lang ako, meeeow.”)

It is stressful to be up and about all night, wondering whatever happened to that someone who lived with you.Now you see her, now you don’t. She would appear, after a few days on your doorstep, like nothing happenedYep, out of nowhere, like a ghost from Scream.

What an interesting pair, your employer and employee relationship, would make.
” Multo sya, Zombie ka naman. “

” Yun, ay ika nga, ang tunay na, malakas ang DATING. ” “Kasi pag tinanong mo, kung bakit nuon lang dumating?
” Ate, Kuya, …”

” At kararating lang n’yan ha? “

2. And sometimes, these Nanny Houdinis, make PEOPLE AND THINGS around them, disappear, as well.

a. DISAPPEARING CO-WORKERS

The laundry washer, the cook and the housegirl who have been with you for a good two years or so, would suddenly cry foul and ask permission to leave your employ, in other words,The Other Woman/The Mistress/A Secret Affair, lang ang peg…

” ATE, PUMILI KA, KAMI, o Si YAYA? ” ( all caps. )

Multiple choice.
Bilugan ang titik ng tamang sagot.

a. Ate na tagalinis
b. Manang tiga luto
c. Manang tiga laba
d. o si Yaya

One Million Peso Drop- sa house girl, sa cook, sa laundry woman or sa yaya?

For the good of the many, visavis, quantity and quality.

Sometimes you also get a call from the home owners association, or the barangay tanod,
” Ma’am, nagsabunutan po kasi yung yaya, tsaka labandera nyo, ayaw po kasi magsi tigil, kaya, tumawag nalang po kami, ng bombero.”

HUH? BOMBERO?

Ah, mga nag aapoy na mga damdamin, lumiliyab! At aaaaaah, si housegirl pala ay girlfriend ng driver, na boyfriend ng yaya. Ano pa nga ba? Driver: sweet lover. Some companies do not allow relationships in the offices.
Shouldn’t it also be the case with domestic helps?

b. DISAPPEARING THINGS

Yaya Iskat. Ang Yaya ng mga nawawalang bagay. This of course, is one of the worst kinds.A Kate Spade purse suddenly went missing. A Mac eye shadow you thought you have misplaced, or a bunch of lipliners that a cousin sent from the States, did not anymore show up ever again. Or your son’s white gold bracelet turned copper, duh, Copper-field. You may never have any proof actually, as to who took the items from your abode.

But what are the odds, that the phenomenon of ” missing things “, began only after, you have employed a new nanny. And of course, stopped only, after the nanny, was not anymore in your employ. This type of nanny, for the sure, do not have your loyalty. But your things, maybe.

Who DID IT or HOU-DINI?
But whose to BLAME,
and whose to BLAINE?
DAVID BLAINE.

And since you cannot prove it, the nanny left and went iskat-free. ( scott free ) Bye, Yaya Iskat.
Bye, Things. ( See you in a parallel universe. )

6. YAYA SEN ( COPY )

For some reason, you tolerated the feeling, like that of, the girl in ” Single White Female ” You had your hair rebonded, Yaya Sen got hers too. You had your nails painted pink, she had hers too.

” I’m so pretty with my pink nails,” – Carmina Villaroel Legaspi

Then she bought, a replica hobo bag of what you owned. While you had to admit the fact, that though they may be a knock off, it did look a lot, like the original you owned, which your husband spent, thousands of pesos on.

( ” Ya, saan part ka ba ng greenhills pumupunta, sino contact mo?, MAKAPUNTA nga doon. “)

You could not of course, do anything, about the frequent occurences of you and Yaya, attending parties and going there, as twins.

( Meanwhile, back at the Hall of Justice, ” Wonder Twins, power activate!” ” Turn me into a mirror. ” )

Both your bags, shoes and the bracelets, looked awfully alike. She of course, took you as her fashion icon.

( Bear in mind, however, though, she paid hers, in cash and got it, at a very lower price from Greenhills.While your fancy bag of course, may be on credit, with a very lavish price tag, from the boutique. )

Although some of your friends, do totally get annoyed by this, – when their nannies, suddenly turned single-white-female on them. You let her be. But, in one major attempt, to spite you, perhaps, she started acting like you.She addressed the other househelps, like they were in her payroll. And then hierarchy among the househelps, suddenly existed, and guess whose on top of the food chain ?

You know you are ” monarchy “, but nanny, she suddenly became parliament.

She began using your expression. She started talking like you. She started talking to your friends, like they were hers too. Honestly, it could be a bit annoying of course. You attended a children’s party and she acted like a guest too. She feasted on the cupcakes, fell in line for the buffet table, first, even before the other guests could.You brought the nanny along, to keep an eye on your kid while you might mingle with your friends. But she left your son with you and your husband, as she went to the party’s photo booth, and tried on the different hats and masks.

So if, by and large, you did not come from the CARIBBEAN ,
nor would your family name happened to be, SPARROW,
it would most likely, leave you perplexed, as to how you got PIRATED, just like that. dBd. dBd. dBd. dBd.

However, you still found humor in being copied and duplicated, so, it did not highly affect youIt should be the least of your worries. If you were the nanny, would you copy, ” you ” ? Maybe. ( Besides, as one very popular senator in the Philippines would say, ” Copying is one form of flattery.” )

So, hey, no worries! However, when she ” EAUS “, just like you, as in ” Eau ” de Rochas or ” Eau ” de Parfum- Joy by Jean Patou, then you know that her ” EAU ” … – OWE you a big explanation! She now smelled, just like youIn addition to that, your diamond cream anti ageing, was fast disappearing, rather than regenerative. ( from , one point seven ounce, to an ounce of tears. )…From Natura Bisse to natura’ pissed . She went through your toiletries, like they were hers. She had been playing make up ( with your make up ) while you were away.

AND THE WORST OF COURSE, you discovered the existence of small container-jars in her closet.
Jars, hurriedly filled, with creams, lotions and facial masks,
that noticeabley smelled and looked the same, as those contained in the big jars, you placed on top of your dresser. Of course pangunahan mo na siya…

NOW YOU KNOW, MANNY, HINDI LANG TUBIG, ANG MAY REFILLING STATION.

7. YAYA MOW.

( ANTM) America’s Next Top MOWDEL. Are you for real, Bryan Boy? Your Nanny was not a yaya. She was actually a model in disguise, sent to you by fate, to torment you and make you pay for past sins. She was there to model – model her painted nails, her hair and her perfume. You were just waiting for the host, of one of those hidden camera shows, to show up and tell you, that you have been had.

” You’re on candid camera.”

While hiring her, you specifically told her to please do the following:

a. cut her nails,
b. make sure she ties her hair, away from her face.
c. and please do not wear any scent or perfume around my child.

It was because your kid, like most kids nowadays, is allergic to certain things around him.

” Yaya, hindi puedeng magpa bango ka, magpahaba ng kuko at iwan nakalugay ang buhok. “

But Mowdel Nanny had to maintain audience impact, to at least bag the best in evening gown competition. She still went on, sporting her long nails, spraying her scent, and wearing her digi permed or newly power -dosed hair, DOWN.

” Don’t you understand, my son has CONTACT DERMATITIS, ALLERGIC RHINITIS and BRONCHIAL ASTHMA? “

” ATE, for me, being Ms. Universe is not just about knowing how to speak a specific language. For me, it is is being able to influence and inspire people, ” ( cheers)

” Ok fine, MAY HIKA YUNG ANAK KO.” ” Tagalog yan para maiintindihan , mo. “

( – Hilda Koronel, in ” The Mistress “. )

You pedia derma-ed, you pedia pulmo-ed, you pedia gastro-ed, you anti histamined, you nebulized, you seritide-d, and you totally ROCKED , your Mercury Suki Card, all for your kid. Whether Yaya Mow liked it or not, her over all impact went with the job. If these Nannies pose as a hazards to their jobs, they should not be anywhere near them.In other words, they should be aware of what being a nanny entailed. And not that, they come from somewhere and decided to be nannies. Or as their agencies, decided them to be.

“Yaya, bakit kailangan ko din, na mag ka allergic rhinitis at ikaw ang maging allergent ko.?”

A very unforgettable experience for me, was when, while in a covered court,
just having gone, from the bathroom and about to go back to the bleachers where I was sitted, I saw a little boy, run across the court, almost being run down by a group of very surprised players, playing basketball. Then the kid suddenly cut across the court and went running towards my husband, who was at that time, coaching on the sidelines. Only then, when I looked up towards the bleachers, where I supposedly left the nanny and my son, that I realized it was my son down there on the court. Our Yaya Mow, was on the bleachers where I left her, busy looking at her handy mirror, combing her hair and re-touching her lipstick. She was not even aware, that her ward was not anymore by her side.

” Yaya, pumirma ka na sa ICONS,
malay mo makasabay mo pa si Sarah Labhati. “

8. YAYA BESS

She would be two types:

1. BESS, ” Best Before Six Months ” ( but not earlier than three months.)

” What do you mean, you’re leaving?
You’re a baby sitter, Babysitters don’t leave.
They sit.
Baby-leavers, leave. ”
– Kelly Preston as Ms. Joan Walden, in the CAT IN THE HAT

For parents like myself, who seek the services of agencies, let it be known, that a placement fee of around P 3,000- 3,500 is expected. The fee, categorically implied that the agency must have sifted the nannies ,who had applied with them. ( n.b.i. clearances and/or x-ray results included.) And in case you would not like the nanny, they provide you with, they may replace her, with another nanny, at the most, three times.

But not beyond a certain period, like one to three months. And should your nanny, who stayed beyond that said period, suddenly decided to leave, of course, you have to pay a new placement fee for a
new nanny. It is on that clause, that some of these bad agencies, thrived upon. Of course with Yaya Bess, as the BAD AGENCY’S pawn. At the very beginning, the nanny is at her best.

She will work, like she planned to stay with you for a long time. She is amiable, hardworking and obliging.
She is patient with your child. ( and she holds two nominations, one academy and one golden globe for the film , ” The Replacements “. )

Then one day, like out of a vacuum bag, with a best before and/or expiration date stamped on her ,she popped out and said: ” Ate, Kuya…”

– Before you get angry at your own kid, your own mother, the cook,the laundrywoman, her parents, her relatives in the province, or the province that she needs to go home to. OR the whoever, the whatever, the whichever, reason she is telling you, for leaving, STOP.

– Before you wonder and categorize yourself, as a bad employer and critically examine, why ” Good yaya turned bad “, STOP.

Do check yor calendar, you’d be surpise, that it has been over three months already, since you hired the Nanny. (Or kaka six months lang niya, -para naman hindi masyadong obvious how the bad agency operated.)

– Before you plead and beg her to stay, in an Ina, Anak at Kapatid sort of way… ” Wag mo ko iwan,’Ya. Hindi ko kayang mawala ka sa akin.” STOP.

– Before you start negotiating, STOP. She wont’ stay. She will do her best, in doing her worst. ( Bye Jean Grey, why hello, Phoenix! ) She would become wasteful, bossy and lazy, in short, she would turn into your worst nightmare. So much so that, you, yourself, will just have to ask her, to leave OR maybe, go ask your nanny for the real reason, on why she was leaving, so suddenly. She might be truthful. And she might tell you. OURS DID. The nanny we had, might either had, genuinely taken pity on us, or her agency did not fulfill a part of their bargain. You see, she was the third nanny, in what my husband and I had coined as,a ” VICIOUS CYCLE, ” of…

parents-agency-placement fee-nanny-three to six months-then gone-
then after, back to…where else? agency…

She confirmed our supposedly, ridiculous suspicion. ( A CONSPIRACY THEORY of the British military intelligence, agency, -MI6 and Agent doubleO seven. )Nanny had been trained and programmed to leave. And my husband and I would realized, WE WERE RIGHT AFTER ALL, TO HAVE NOTICED THE PATTERN. The nanny admitted and spoke to us, that people at her agency actually told her to leave and do whatever it took, to leave.WE SAW THE SMS, SENT BY THE AGENCY, TO THE NANNY. ( which the agency denied, after confronted by my angry husband. )

THE SCENARIO WAS, an employer was presently hiring because his nanny left. And our nanny will replace herAnd the agency was going to send, the nanny, that left from that particular employer, to us, anyway. ( My husband and I, do not even know how to dance, the RIGODON.) ( kaya mag paturo kay Gerald Anderson, diba Celyn? Margaux?) So they reshuffle their nannies, reshuffle the brains of the parents and reshuffle our hard earned money. Therefore, our bad agency, sat happily, with our placement feeeee-ssss, ( plural ), on their hands. This bad agencies, use us, our children and our homes as training grounds for their workers. (Nasaan ang hustisya, Gat Jose Rizal?) (Punitin ang mga sedula! )

As what Vic Sotto might have said,
” Pasyal, pasyal nalang, ‘ Ya! ” I wish there really was a bill, that could protect us from this kind of abuse.
So that, those kind of nannies and agencies, who are in cahoots like that, will be discouraged.

2. BESS, is also,

” Best ” before the employer finds out…
that she was not who, she claimed she was and she was not a nanny at all.

ONE FINE DAY, my very good friend, since gradeschool, happily married to a handsome lawyer, a beautiful mother of two ,who practically leads a very happy life, gets her kid, a new nanny. My friend, Marica , ( who was alright with naming her, here.) called an agency, interviewed a nanny over the phone and asked her lawyer husband to pick the person up, somewhere in Guadalupe. In short, she hired her, without seeing her. ( which naturally is the case nowadays, when hiring from the agencies.) She saw the nanny, the next day. And as my friend looked at her, two things didn’t go amiss. First, the nanny’s face appeared to be puffed-up or too bloated. Second, she was noticeably, wearing a man’s shirt – a size, obviously way too big, for her. But perhaps in having a need, for a nanny, my friend silently dismissed the nanny’s swollen face as allergies and her way of dressing, as in correspondance to her body shape. Thus, she continued on, to asking of course, for her other credentials, especially her x-ray results. But a few hours later, when she saw nanny, try to pick up her then, nineteen month old daughter, she COULDN’T help but ask,

” ‘Day, buntis ka? “

” Ma’am… ( distressed ) …di po nila alam, kasi tinago ko po kasi ng binder, yung tiyan ko..”

( which of course is hard to believe, – the agency not knowing, that is. ) It was shocking for my friend to have known, that the nanny was pregnant, but my friend also, coudn’t get over the fact, that the agency had her, gone through an x-ray machine.

” Ma’am wag po ninyo ako palayasin…tatlong araw na po ako sa agency, ang kain ko, isang beses lang sa isang araw…”

As my friend would tell me, ” Anj, binigyan nila ako ng BUNTIS at nakapag pa x-ray pa? “Why would they do that? How could they ( the agency ), not know that? Is it not that we went through agencies and gave them placement fees, which was roughly around P 3,000 – P 3,500, for them to sift those nannies? Why didn’t they screen, the nanny? A SEVEN MONTH-PREGNANT WOMAN , AT THAT. ( ” And my friend is not even an OB-GYNE, for crying out loud. “) But , my friend’s sisters in laws ARE.
( how could they have known, that ? :D. )

SO, my friend’s ob-gyne sisters-in-law, checked the nanny up and gave her prenatal medicines and vitamins. While her lawyer husband, had to use his connections with someone at DWSD to bring the pregnant woman to a women’s center. It was of course a benevolent feeling for them, to have helped. They bade adieu not only to the pregnant nanny, but to a pay’s worth of a week’s salary. BUT for an encore, upon the nanny’s departure, as my friend checked the nanny’s bag, lo and behold what was found: (…as my friend, puts it: )

a. ” Sexy clothes and underclothes which will put the sex bomb to shame.”

b. ” Clothes that were not lace, they were Quad S -rated. As in Sequined -Scanty- Skimpy-Salacious. ” (using my friend’s exact words, actually.)

c. ” An album which was not your ordinary Kodak and Hallmark moments.”

( A portfolio of sorts, containing pictures of a scantily clad nanny, suggesting her olympic prowess, which obviously, did not belong to the nanny department.) (My friend did call up the right agency, did she not?) ( Did she hear it wrong ? Did she hear, “nanny ” instead of “randy “, agency?) So why did a pregnant lady arrive in her home?
Why did it seemed that the previous job held by that nanny, was far from babysitting? And so when yaya’s parting words were,

” Ma’am balik po ako dito sa inyo, pag nailabas ko na ito ha?. Mabait po kayo ni sir…”

My friend could only afford a smile. But of course running in my friend’s mind was this…

” OMG. OMG. Anj, I can imagine her doing the laundry in sequins and rhinestones. ”
” or serving coffee to my husband. ”
– Marica.

( ” Sir, coffee, tea or me.” )

9. Yaya Assist

Eversince my kid was born, my husband and I made sure that, either him or I, would be the only ones, who should give our son a bath. ( reason of which would be further explained in #10) While I was helping my husband in the store, I go home to feed my son myself, I give him a bath and I sometimes take a nap with him. But one nanny, to my consternation proclaimed,

” Walang ginawa si ma’am kundi mag computer lang ng mag computer…magbasa ng magbasa. Hindi man lang niya ako tinutulungan..!”

( kailangan ni Yaya ng assistant.) I couldn’t react to that, for I didn’t know where it was coming from. And all the more when that Nanny told people around, to make me look really bad. ( like I was the worst mother there was, and whoever chose to believe her would have lost good fortunes that were supposed to be theirs. ) It certainly blew my husband’s top:

” Kaya nga kumuha ng Yaya, para may free time yung asawa ko,
AT wala kang paki alam kung anong gagawin ng asawa ko sa free time niya.
Ni hindi lumalabas yan, manood ng sine o lumabas ng gabi…”

( Kuya, kailangan ng P. A. ni Kim Chiu. ) And my stats would be something closer to 6.2 rebounds and 5.3 ASSISTS per game, I bet you! ( parang Jordan, lang. ) Now that my son is five years old, it is peace time without a nanny. Now, I have all the time to blog…. Or as my previous nanny declared ” mag computer-lang ng computer “.

Now, I have read numerous books more than when I used to, when I had a nanny around.

Now, I have learned different recipes from the net and learned to cook them for my husband and son.

Now, I have spent more time on the phone asking for pieces of advice on how to rear loving children.

And now, I am truly enjoying, more than being stressed by somebody else.

10. YAYA… ( I could not even name her. )

Yaya, Her-that -cannot-be -named. She is the one who would really HURT your children. She starts out as a nice looking nanny that could not hurt a fly. Never settle for ” mukhang mabait.” Never be sidetracked with appearances. Then later on , just when you assumed she is trustworthy and she can be left with your children, her fangs unfold. I actually see nannies pull their wards’ ears. I’ve seen these nannies shout at frightened kids, while telling them to “shut up “. I feel so much repugnance towards these nannies, whom I encounter at school and at the mall. And I would actually walk up to them and/or look for the parents of the child. It is because, I would also like others to inform me, if I had nanny who hurts my child.

And as my mom too would say, make sure you give your children a bath, it is only without their clothes on, would you see, if your child was physically abused. How ever do parents, like myself, appear to these people Do our foreheads have signs, written in luminous ink which screamed, ” Here Stands Vulnerable Parent.” ( free for the taking, nannies, attack!)

How could they be so bold, just like that? What made them think, they wouldn’t be found out? As I have mentioned before, we are but just parents, working hard for our children Like many of us working for a living, we most definitely lead ordinary lives. They need not make it EXTRAordinary by bringing forth those lies and personalities. While counting in, the mental and emotional strain that we parents, endured. And I realized that I had not only spent most of my time watching my son grow up. But I have also wasted it with too much paranoia, watching over those abusive kind of nannies, who breezed through my life.

Of course, there is a law that protects, domestic helps from abusive employers. But pray, tell me who protects us parents, from those kind of abuses It may not obviously appear, like we are abused employers, for we are not physically abused.

BUT WE CAN BE FINANCIALLY AND EMOTIONALLY BLACKMAILED. All solely because, of our strength and weakness: OUR CHILD. We, on this side of the fence, just cannot remain passive and gobble these, all up.

Just as labor laws protect workers, who or what protects us employers, from these personalities, SHOWING up in our doorsteps? Someone has to be the voice in the wilderness. Or the blog piece in the internet.

These experiences are some of mine and some of my friends’. And for those of you parents, who fortunately have loyal and faithful nannies in your employ, and have never encountered the kinds that we had, consider yourselves very blessed.

BE THANKFUL TO GOD, EVERYDAY.

This is just a continuation of Part 1 of Divine Secrets of The Yaya Sisterhood.
ClICK HERE for Part 1…