Yaya ranting: A certified Mom with 5 yaya experiences...

It was just this morning that i was sending ym to a friend telling her that i can now go back to work because my new yaya seems okey for elle. I ym'ed too soon! Around 6:00p.m. my new yaya for one week left me.

It was around 4:00p.m. my yaya approached me and asked permission to go to Payatas and stay there overnight. I was surprised because it was late to ask permission for a day off. Added to that, I need somebody with Elle tonight because I have to finalize my presentation for the workshop that I will facilitate next week and Noy is out of town. I asked her why the urgency and she shared with me that her boyfriend has a headache and has been insisting that she go to payatas to nurse him! Tumaas kilay ko! She continued that her boyfriend instructed her to look for another work if I don't allow her to go. Dito, tumaas blood pressure ko!

I calmly told my yaya to go back to her room and think about what she is saying. I don't think there is any urgency with a headache unless he had an accident or in a hospital, i will allow her to go. But the fact that he can still text, he can still go out and drink paracetamol. If I allow her to go tonight, he will ask her again to take a day off anytime he wishes. And, I don't like that idea! She can start looking for a new employer if she wishes.

After a few minutes, my yaya came back to me saying that she wants to stay with me, she just needs to see her boyfriend tonight. I told her go, i will not stop her. She cried and went packing...

This yaya is already my fifth yaya since I gave birth to Elle. She has the shortest stay with us-one week.

Yaya 01

My first yaya was Noy's distant, distant, distant relative. She is older than me by six years but smaller. She joined us three weeks after i gave birth to elle. She was okey during her first few months but started to deteriorate when her friend gave her a phonepal. She started using her cellphone 24/7! There was one time that she forgot to turn off our electric stove and nearly burned our apartment!!! Good thing my sister was left home and saw the fire!

One fine day, I asked her to dress Elle with her pink jeans over white shirt. She dressed Elle with a black leggings and blue tops. When I saw what Elle was wearing, I asked her if she knows the color pink and what jeans mean... I think she got offended and started to answer me back in a very loud voice. We ended shouting at each other inside the car on our way to Quezon City until Noy told her to stop!

When we got to my aunt's house in Quezon City, she told me that she wants to leave us and I said you better but after christmas (it was December 21) because we are having a christmas party at home and she is part of it plus she won't be able to get a ticket that soon back to Bacolod. She said (and I will never forget this line) "Ate, walang makakapigil sa akin sa pag alis, kahit kaladkarin mo pa ako!" The guts! So I told her to leave at that very moment! I told my husband to bring her back home to pack and I don't want to see her when I get back from our shopping!

She did left but it never ended there. She stayed with my sister-in-law's house in bacolod and took P20,000 cash. After one month, I also realized that she took away my old nokia phone. She called my neighbor's helper and told her that I am "bruha". That helper told my then new yaya which she also shared with me. So I told my neighbor about what her helper has been doing. She ended up crying and banned from talking to my then new yaya.

Yaya 02

My second yaya was from La Paz, Iloilo City. It was my father who recommended her to me. She is educated (reached 2nd year college) but had to work because they are having financial problems. She is nice, jolly and playful. I love the way she dresses Elle and the way she arranges Elle's hair. The only problem is that she has hearing problem and keeps on doing things different from my instructions! I had to give her up because we learned that she has a big cyst at the back of her waist which makes it impossible for her to carry heavy loads. I need someone to help carry heavy loads for me because of my hypertension that time. We still see each other in Iloilo and once in awhile text text text.

Yaya 03

Among my five yayas, this one is the worst! I never liked her the first time I saw her but was forced to get her. That is one greatest mistake I had to pay dearly. When she first came to our house in iloilo for an interview she brought her 3 month old baby and mother. The whole interview her mother kept on talking and talking... She even told me that "sana di ako magselos sa anak nya kasi yong dati nyang amo nagselos sa kanya"... This turned me off! In fairness, her daughter is not that physically pretty for my standards! I don't think Noy will ever make a second look on her (I know Noy's taste!) And for goodness sake, why would i be jealous of her?!! I am confident that Noy has eyes only for me!

So, I brought her with me to Manila. All day long she would talk and talk and talk and talk. If not talking, she would backbite my Yaya 02, which is supposed to be her bestfriend! I can tolerate her talking and talking but one thing I cannot tolerate is using my personal things.

It was Elle's birthday celebration in Pangasinan. We are having a party and I sent her off ahead of us because we would not fit inside our pick up. When I finally arrived, I saw her wearing my black, havaianas imitation slippers! I bought that slippers for P49.99 from Market! Market! (I also have a white slipper just like that one.) Price doesn't matter, what matters for me is that those are MY SLIPPERS! My sisters would not dare use it because I would not dare use their slippers! I really got mad! Funny, I still did not asked her to leave! BUT just a fews days after that my loving husband did.

It was her birthday. She did not ask for a day off so I told her to go with my aunt to divisoria so that she can shop for her baby. She did but called around 6:00p.m. saying that she is with her cousin in Sta Cruz and could not come back home because she is not feeling well. The good Ella in me told her to take a cab and I will pay for her fare. I could also fetch her from where she is if she is really not feeling well as long as she comes home because I don't want her to sleep anywhere I am not familiar with. She said yes. Then 10p.m. came... 12:00 midnight... no call, no text, no nothing. I was worried that she fainted on her way home. The next day, 12:00 noon came, 3:00p.m. then 7:00p.m. she arrived.

I promised Noy I will leave the talking to him when she comes home but failed because I was alone when she arrived. I told her to pack her things and go to wherever she wishes to go. She cried but that's one major no, no that she did to us. She was with us for only one month.

Yaya 04

This yaya came and go as swiftly as her weight. She was recommended by our neighbor when she saw me doing the laundry. This yaya cooks VERY bad! She cleans VERY bad! Worst, you cannot leave Elle with her. Noy's hypothesis: Elle is afraid of her because she looks like an alien. (We are exactly not the best looking people in this world but that's just our realistic hypothesis) She has big bulging eyes that could almost fall out from her face, really thin body(malnourished looking), and long thick curly hair. I can tolerate the bad tasting food because it makes me loose weight, the cluttered house because I am used with it BUT the fact that Elle doesn't want to look worse hold her is different. Good thing she asked permission to go home to Bohol so that she can take good care of her mom. Our hypothesis: she heard us talk about changing her because I am very frustrated that she could not help me with Elle. We let her go with a smile:-) and Elle was very happy. She stayed with us for one month (take note, during her first two weeks, it was not evident that Elle doesn't want to go with her because Hargy was with us. He is Noy's inaanak from Pangasinan. We asked him to jon us so that Elle can have a playmate)

This is my life... These are the yayas that I have to go through just to stress the point that yes! i am a certified mother because I have yaya blues! Since our project completed in August, I accepted a few part-time jobs but have been taking good care of Elle. Yes, I am faithful that God will eventually bless me with a good yaya. Someone trustworthy to take good care of my dear Elle Marie...