All About Full-Time Maids

[funfantastic4]

Let me share my experience...


I just sent back my maid of 2yrs in June. We wanted to renew her contract but she wanted to go home. She was really a good maid.....she practically ran my household from looking after the kids to cleaning the house to keeping track of my \"inventories\" at home. She was more like our butler than our maid! :lol:

So then I had no other choice but to get a new maid as my mum cannot take are of two young children, a toddler and a newborn with no extra pair of hands. I had the new maid for about 4mths and I finally gave up. She had no clue on how to do housework nor control the kids! We found out later that she used to follow her husband travelling as he is truck driver. That explains why she doesn't know how to run a house! :roll:

Then we recently got another maid who claimed that she has worked in M'sia for 3yrs and HKG for 1+yr. But she is super slow! The good thing about her is she can control the children. However, she lacks common sense. Just the other day, I lost my temper @ the supermarket! I told her to get salad while the kids and I get other dry stuff and we decided on the meeting point. She couldn't find the vege section! The frustrating part is that she went looking for me instead of asking the people around where the vege section was!!!??? I mean DUH! :shock: I thought that was it...then the next wave of frustrations sets in. She went off to look for a basket and then came back and ask how many I wanted?? I was like \"HELLOOOOOOO!!! How many ppl in the house eats salad?\" AARGHHHHH!!! :x

Sometimes I just wonder is it just me??? :? My hubby said that my expectations are high. But my most basic criteria was to just have common sense! Is that too much to ask for? I can live with one being slow but I cannot stand it when someone doesn't use their brains!

[onhindsight]

Am I blessed. You decide.


Actually, my first and last helper lasted for 9 yrs.
On the first day home, she told me something like that
Helper: “Mdm, I don’t know how to cook”.
Me: \t“Can u fried simple veg?”
Helper: “Yes mdm”
Me: \t“Good. Let’s try. If really no good, we will think of something”

Thereafter, we have home-cook food. (of course, you can guess our expectation of food is very low. Definitely not restaurant style but it gets better).

First year, hardworking, a little-bit forgetful but quite smart. Hey, we are not looking for a degree holder to do the job. If we need, mum needs to stay home lah!

In all relationship, it requires a lot of give and take.
She is officially the house-manager and child-guidance. Initially, I had two kids and she has to manage everything from house to getting them ready for school.
My hubby told her that our priority is the kids. If she cannot finish housework, so be it. (I do not know if she sweep the house daily but I know my children are safe and their stomach are fill).
Sometimes, she does things in a certain way and I will try to find out why. Just have to change my mindset if it is not harmful.

To me, all things are like a circle.
Respect her and you have a happier friend in the house.
In turn, your children are happier too which gives you a better peace of mind to work.

Of course, my helper is no angel. Neither am I and my family.
We have our up and down. Sometimes she forgets to do some important task and I will comment “huh, big brain goes holiday again”). She will laugh and say “sorry mdm”

After she left, it was quite heart-breaking and decided to stop getting another.

The nightmare starts: ---------
Kids – bad habit – do not pick up after themselves. (should make them do even when dear helper is around). Expects mum to pick up after them. The funny thing is that one of the kid can prepare coffee for mum. Hmmm…. Not bad – thanks to helper's training

Initially, use disposable (not environment friendly huh -- nobody wants to wash up lah!)
Decided to tingkat. Due to location -- horrible timing (came at 3pm plus), food turns bad.
Change to packet back.
Now, twelve years since and all of us got used to outside food. Only cook on weekend (evening).

Hey, one final note for all.
Strongly recommend (not selling lah!) all to equip a fire-extinguish in the kitchen and other parts of the house. A big Thank You to my helper quick reaction, she managed to put out the stove fire (cannot remember how it got started). Three cheers to my hubby insistent. He insisted that all kids plus helper must be trained to use the fire extinguish as they are at home all the time…… (Oops, I am not train, better start learning…….)

Oh, for those who are interested.
Initially, the first 6 months, no off
7 to 24 months – 1 day off
Then, every Sunday off.

[Belle]

[Moderator's note: Threads merged.]


I am thinking of hiring a domestic helper, either from Myanmar or Burma.

Appreciate any comment or feedback from parents with maid from either one of these countries.

Understand that in terms of communication wise, filipino maid can understand better.

[winth]

Hi Belle,


Not sure the reason why you are considering hiring a maid.
But you can check out the thread http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=903

[hmsg]

how come u did not consider indonesian helpers?

[Belle]

My second child will be due in a few months. My mum is currently looking after my daughter from Mon to Fri. I think I would need to have an extra hand to help with household chores.


It’s tiring to look after 2 kids and have to take care of house work…

Btw, would also need to hire a confinement lady. Anyone has anybody to recommend or has any one used an agency that provides good confinement services?

[caroline3sg]

Belle

You can try Lily Confinement Agency:
62939381 / 98188703

[winth]

Hi Belle,


Have you considered putting your girl to childcare for a full day, while your mum takes care of the newborn? If your girl is already of schooling/nursery age, it may be quite boring for her to stay at home.

If you have read about my story about 2 months short-term maid hire, I would strongly suggest that you might want to think of alternatives. Having a maid around is not cheap and might end up giving you more problems than solving your headaches. My nightmare ended very swiftly but it cost me alot more than paying for my boys to go school and childcare.

Feedback about myanmar maid:
My friend is currently using a myanmar maid (transfer case), it’s the first time she’s hired this nationality. It’s for 6-8 months already, her communications skills is very good actually. She speaks Eng very well. But after 6 months, her performance slackened and she started telling lies after my friend allowed her to carry handphone. The lies she told are not very serious ones, it’s just that she wants to use handphone, so my friend close one eye and kept her as she can take care of the 2 children very well plus she’s really very gentle. She doesn’t want to risk having a worse maid.

Having maids is not new to my friend and she has tried filipino 2x and indonesians 5-6x. One filipino had a lover, another stole money from the house. Was very drama when she had to send the ‘thief’ back to agency, bec though she admitted to the multiple thefs (when she was under my friend’s employment), she actually denied everything when she reached the agency and accused my friend of ill-treating her by giving her overnight rice and smelly food to eat. It really made my friend regret bringing her to restaurants and allowing the maid to cook as much rice as she wants in fear of starving her.

[Belle]

Hi Winth,


My gal is now in K1. Previously, I put her in a day care. She was in a daycare for 1 and a half years and she did not enjoy it. During the last few months, she cried everytime I wanted to bring her to there. Later, I switched her to a Kindergarten school with nursery classes of 4 hours daily. She like the school and the teachers very much and now she has progress to K1 with the same teachers.

I think in a day care, the teachers’ turnover rate are pretty high. The teachers are loaded with many tasks, like taking care of the children’s meals, baths and etc.

My mum is going to 70s and I would not like to burden her with another young kid. Moreover, I want her to take a break during the weekends. I will have to look after my children then during the weekends.

[Mummy Koala Bear]

Belle:

[Moderator's note: Threads merged.]


I am thinking of hiring a domestic helper, either from Myanmar or Burma.

Appreciate any comment or feedback from parents with maid from either one of these countries.

Understand that in terms of communication wise, filipino maid can understand better.

I think luck plays a big part in hiring of maid, whatever the country.

My first one was from Indonesia, worked in Taiwan & HK before. Can speak Mandarin relatively well, smattering of Cantonese and barely any English. Thot it was a good catch 'cos my parents can only speak Malay and Chinese, and very little English. She started off fine, but then began having a lot of phone calls from her family & bf, then started trying to borrow money from my parents (who came over to my place daily to help take care of my babies). Tried to persuade my dad to buy phone cards etc without paying him back. Always trying to eavesdrop on our conversations. Sent her back before her contract ends ('cos she said she didn't want to work for other employers).

Tried going without maid, but tough for my parents 'cos my twin gals are so young. So hired a maid from Myanmar a few months back. Speaks very little English, but able to follow instructions quite well. Timetable very helpful for fresh maids like them. She picks up new stuff pretty fast, but didn't do more than what she's told to do. Maybe she was afraid she'll do something wrong....

But when she first came, she ate a lot! Bf at 7am when she woke up, tea break at around 11am, then lunch at around 1pm, tea break again at about 5pm before dinner at abt 8pm (2 servings). She finished all my canned drinks and titbits in the fridge within 2 weeks (which I stocked up for some family gathering a couple of weeks back). She has put on about 10+ kg since she arrived less than 6 months ago. I was so worried with her appetite (and her tummy from all the eating, thinking that she was pregnant) that I called the agent to query if all Myanmese maids are like that. Agent assured me some are like that for a few months, then they'll cut back and it's back to normal appetite again (which it did recently). But now she like to snack on our chocolate, yakult, etc...

But we're okie with her appetite as long as she does your work well and do not play punk with my kids & parents. But we still have problems communicating with her. Must go step by step, plus some gestures, to let her get the picture.

Lucky so far? No complaints, I guess, especially if you close one eye and your agent is okie. But agent did share that some girls who came together in the same batch as my maid simply cannot make it, even though they pass the MOM test.