All About Full-Time Maids

[omgmum]

jtoh:

I see. My home not as windy as yours. I had a maid who used to iron sitting down.

My maid irons sitting down too, with the fan on full blast. I told her to do that because her room is quite crammed and stuffy, and there's really no space for her to stand and iron.

For the first week, she took hours to iron 5 pcs or less, but I close one eye as long as other things get done, and she doesn't cut corners too obviously.

But one forummer said that her standard is about 1 hour for 10 to 12 pieces, cos that's how long her part-time helper used to take. I think that's quite reasonable.

[Admummy]

:thankyou: all who responded to my post...here's some update:


Had a heart to heart talk with her tog with hubby....told her that i am not satisfied with her performance since she is not fulfilling her duty as stated in the contract. Told her that she cannot cook, take care of my children (esp no. 3) and I don't feel her presence is helping me in anyway.

She was quite \"shocked\" (sort of like wake-up-call) and kancheong, requested us to give her another chance. Told us that she is happy working for us, will try her best to learn cooking and bond with the kids...I told her if she is not happy with me, i can always let her go since I am the BOSS here (thks to pointers from mummies, got to let her know I am the boss NOT my hubby...so here it goes, establishing my status here)...she immediately said no, m'am nice and said she want to continue with us since she need the money...She appeared quite sincere and geneuine...maybe she is too insensitive to feel that her performance is not \"up-to-standard\" until this meeting...

I am tired of the agony of reselecting maid and numerous trip to the maid agency...besides, i am not confident that the next one who comes along will be better...actually to be fair to hubby, he is not really \"siding\" her...in fact, he said if the maid is causing alot of unhappiness to me, he respect my decision to let go of her...However, he highlighted to me that I should not compare her with the earlier maid who has worked for us for 4yrs. This one is relatively young (although biodata stated 23 yrs old, she could be under 20)...Being young, she may not be as thoughtful, considerate and sensible than the previous one (married with kid and 27)...She is like any youngster out there, carefree, straight-thinking, impulsive, etc, hence she needs more \"pushing\" and must give clear, direct instruction... Should not expect her to take initiative or take for granted that she will consider safety of kids (e.g. like the toilet incident where she left my kid alone). well, i think what my hubby said make sense. so fine, my conclusion is to give her another chance..

After the meeting, i can see a lot of initiative from her, she will try to play with no. 3, try to take over no. 3 when i'm busy, etc. He seems to be a little receptive of her...of course, \"warnings\" from mummies about bb's \"gut\" feeling about not so nice people do make sense...so i will pay extra attention and make sure no harm is done to my kids...

i hope my decision is right :xedfingers: ...in any case, i have another 4.5mths to decide whether to change her i.e. free replacement within 6 mths....

[Funz]

I allow my helper to turn on the aircon when she is ironing but so far she doesn't do that. When I iron, I will bring the board to the living room or the study and turn on the aircon there. She will do it in the yard which I find too stuffy.


I have no complains cos she does the ironing much better then me and much for efficiently as well. :razz: I hate ironing, especially men's shirt.

[Admummy]

oh yeah, forget to add on, when we confronted her about her "vanity" (i.e. changing clothes frequently)…she explained to us that the previous family she worked for is very concerned about appearances and will want her to look "presentable" wherever she is…so we put of message across that in Singapore it is different, T-shirt bermudas will do (unless going to special places) and only change once when bathe or dirty…from what i gathered the jakarta family that she work for could be someone reputable? no wonder she so good at table manner and can eat so elegantly…

[hquek]

hi admummy,


Glad the meeting went well and that benchmarks are set.

Sometimes, it could be due to their previous experiences or their culture, that's why they do the things they do. Eg my current maid used to hum to herself and we thought it a bit scary becos we're not used to it.

Continue to monitor her, I'm sure she'll do better. Just keep at back of your mind that there may be times she may slack. A gentle talking to should help. My ex-maid used to show me black face after some years on a few occasions - after I talked to her, everything is fine again.

Yes, it is a chore and scary experience for me to choose new maids. i rather live with flaws of existing one (unless she doesn't want to work for me) than have to brave a new one.

[omgmum]

good for you, admummy!


hquek, the process of choosing a new maid is quite a PITA :censored: for me as well. I'm actually quite tempted to try this maid for another month, but I really don't know how to keep her contented. I've told her my expectations many times, and I don't scold her.

I'm fine if she hums or sings to herself cos I do that too! I tahan her black face although I've told her to tell me if there's anything she needs or is unhappy with. She's those passive-aggressive types that I can't tahan. She's bored with the chores that she has to do. I can't read her mind, and there's only so much that I can change my schedule and requirements to suit her. And she's been complaining of aches that don't go away. Sigh!

But then again, maybe if I kenna a worse maid the second time round, then I'll learn my lesson. :nailbite: I think the prob is that I am a SAHM, and she was prob expecting to have the house to herself the whole day without interference.

[jtoh]

bigsnoopy:

jtoh:

I see. My home not as windy as yours. I had a maid who used to iron sitting down.

Wont it be difficult to iron while sitting down? :scratchhead: Just curious how long does ur maid use to iron the clothes... Mine use 3hrs for 3 days to iron a week of laundry which include DH and my clothes.. Is it too long?

Dunno leh. So long as she gets the job done and my clothes are ready in my cupboard when I want to wear them, I'm fine with it.

[jtoh]

admummy, glad to hear that your maid is putting in effort to change. Hope it works out for you.

[jtoh]

omgmum, I had a maid who sang very loudly too. I tolerated it for a while but it really got on my nerves coz she sang indiscriminately, even when I'm on the phone. Finally I decided my home was my sanctuary and I shouldn't need to feel uncomfortable in my own home. So I told her no singing aloud while I was home. She probably sang when I was out, but that was fine with me.

[hquek]

jtoh:

omgmum, I had a maid who sang very loudly too. I tolerated it for a while but it really got on my nerves coz she sang indiscriminately, even when I'm on the phone. Finally I decided my home was my sanctuary and I shouldn't need to feel uncomfortable in my own home. So I told her no singing aloud while I was home. She probably sang when I was out, but that was fine with me.

So maybe the bad neighbour who does loud karaoke someone was talking about in the other threads is your maid? :evil:

I'm just wondering if pp will be worried when they suddenly hear singing floating in the air around your neighbourhood. The basis of many a scary story.