All About Full-Time Maids

[Anna Ng]

peapot: i guess you r right and hope u r right too. We are willing to give her a chance as overall her attitude is consider good. We need to hasten up her learning process as time not at our side. Yesterday we commented that her cooking is lousy and we cannot believe that she is mother of 3, she admitted that normally her hubby is the one who cooks at home (more good life than me). By chance my hubby meet the agent just now, the agent asked us to bring her back to agency and they will talk to her. How your think? i worry we overdo and she may feel more stress.

[Anna Ng]

peapot:

my maid is not renewing her contract. So I m out looking for a new maid. Any recommendation of a reliable maid agency that don't charged an arm and a leg?

Dear Peapot, i won say my agent is good but just share my exp. My 2nd maid worked for me for a week then requested to transfer. By right (the contract we signed), we suppose to pay $10/day lodging fee, but the agent wavied (of course upon request, not auto one). We paid extra $100 for my second maid as she is experience maid, the agent also refund to us. We also requested to waive $40 work permit fee for my 3rd maid but not sucessful.

[The Little Cheng Mommy]

My helper had her off day yesterday and she came back at 10+ pm! She’s been with us for half a year and she knows that we expect her to be home by 9pm on off days. She went out with my mom’s helper, who was able to reach home at 8pm from Lucky Plaza to Bukit Panjang. Mine claimed that she ‘took the wrong train’ which caused her to take 2hr+ to reach home (Orchard to Tiong Bahru). The best part was, I called her on her mobile when she was at Outram Park station & expected her to reach home in 15 mins. She had the cheek to still buy Mac fries (for snacks) and reached 30 mins later. She’s really testing our limits. She had 2 previous employers, but she claimed work was too hectic for her so she left. We signed her as we urgently needed an experience maid to replace our then Indonesian one (who claimed to work in Saudi for 3 years but didnt even know how to wipe table properly and can’t speak English despite teaching her for 4 months). Our house so small, we seldom cook, the place is dusty I also close one eye since her main duty is to look aft my sons (baby sleeps with her on some nights) and light cleaning (in fact I have to always clean after her). Most of the week she and baby go to my MIL house (there’s also a helper there. My mil says she goes there like guest like that, people cook lunch/dinner for her, she reads newspaper, watch TV). I’m also always home to look after the kids so she can do housework. She doesn’t need to wash car. No need to clean windows. Never even ask her to clean the fridge (to preserve my frozen breastmilk better). Like that still wants to push our limits. Recently I also feel that whenever I’m near her, she’ll always make sounds like having flu or touching her head as if feeling unwell. 1.5 week finish one packet of 3-in-1 Nescafe (30 sticks). I drink 1 cup/day, she drinks 2-3 cups/day.


When she first started work, we told her she can use phone, but only at night after work and must let us know once she buys a phone. She secretly got one and tried to hide it from us. I kept quiet for a month even though I saw her using. But the last draws were when I find her constantly sms-ing while holding the phone DIRECTLY ON TOP of my son’s head. Then when she saw me walking into living room, she tried to hide it by placing it ON my SON’S HEAD and used her hands to cover the phone. I told her phones are BAD for infants with all the radiation and stuff. I told her to use the phone only after she put my son in the cot not when carrying him.
I can’t understand why all these helpers these days are like this. They come here like for holidays like that . My first maid really doted on my 1st borne and cleaned very well, but was always on the phone NON-STOP day and past mid-night. So we didn’t re-contract her. When we are lenient to them, they just like to take us for granted. Sometimes I feel that my current maid thinks we can’t go on without her as she used to be the only one who could feed my baby (he could only be dream fed). Yesterday my hubby hinted to her that we can cope even without her. And today, as I’m writing now, I do feel that my bedroom is slightly tidier then it normally is. Or maybe it’s just my imagination? Haha.

[Breadandmuffins]

Hi


This HP thing is very tricky …some people thinks its ok as long as the work gets done , that is, they just look at the output. if things that are supposed to be done is done to our satisfaction, then its ok to some. For me, I find it hard to draw the line esp when they are looking after young children who cannot really tell u what happened. A typical sight u see along the streets are maids with one hand talking on HP and doing whatever other stuff they are supposed to do esp those walking the dog. I really cannot stand the sight of them talking on phone all the time. More often than not , they got so carried away and talk till things not done, midnite etc, then how to do a proper job the next day? If I want to transfer my maid it will be becos I do not like her to use the phone behind my back despite us telling her not to do so several times all these yrs…Yes, at one stage her work was affected and she was impatient to the kids as she was very tired fr talking till midnite. Also my DD too young to tell but I saw thru her baby language and realised that she had been using when I am not around and when DD wanted attention, probably didn’t get it.

As for the time your maid is late, u might want to give her the benefit ofdoubt for this time and remind her to be punctual next time.

Otherwise, if she treats yr baby well, thats more important.

[LOLMum]

some of the maids in my tiny condo estate are very nice and obviously very good with the babies and young children (some in sec). you can tell the kids are close to the maids just by the body language and mannerism whenever they are together.


wish i can get one of them to work for me but definitely
:nunchuk: :spank: :spank: :evil:

[Anna Ng]

This morning when i woke up and i was glad that my maid already prepared breakfast for me 2 slides of bread with a bowl of cereal. However, she FORGOT to prepare breakfast for my son. This is my maid, she can only remember half of her duties. For cooking part, last Sat i commented to her that her cooking part was lousy and my children refused to eat, guess what ? today she fried egg, prawn and onion, my hubby commented got restraurant standard ( i feel so so only but the outlook is good) and my children also finished their portion. My conclusion is a periodical review & feedback is a must and you can see improvement, this is especially important when you get a new maid.

For HP part, i told my maids that they can use it but not in front of me and during "working hours" and 3 of them follow the rules hence i got no issue with HP problems.

[LOLMum]

she can only remember half of her duties, can she remember to take only half of her pay? :evil:


good maid is rare, so if you got a gem, better keep her especially if she is treating your kids well. other chores, close one and half eyes.

[The Little Cheng Mommy]

Ya, we didn’t scold her. We just told her that we were ‘worried, knowing that she had lost her way and concerned about her safety’. But my husband said it in a way that hinted her we knew she’s lying through her teeth. Just reminded her to be punctual or at least give us a call to inform us if she’s going to be late next time. Our kids are in her hands. So must be very careful with words and actions.

[Lynn2010]

Anna Ng:

today is my hubby on leave to train her. My hubby said she is slow and not smart (stupid lor), she needs lots of training and reminder. But i can see got a little (really a little) improvement. I worry \"stone\" is \"stone\" then headache lor!

When my hubby and i at home, my one year old boy will cling on us and refuse to let the maid carry him. However, my nanny and housemate told me that my son is ok with her, they can play together and let her carry. How your think? she got hope or not? don forget she already been here for 1 mth, should be able to catch up lots of things already. (still cannot cook well, housework ok). When i asked her what do she eat for lunch, then she think and think and said cannot remember. then my hubby said chicken rice lor, she seem like \"don believe\" she was having chicken rice for lunch, then she said she really cannot remember as she focus on her work and worry she cannot meet our expectation and transfer her again. I really don know whether i should be patient to her or hard to her, cannot find the balance point.

Hi Anna,

I think your this one really cannot. Better change one early. If it's me, no choice - change. Maids are here to help & relief us, not give us headache. At least relief a little lah.

I had one, very very slow, not bright (quite stupid loh). I thought i just need to be patient. Teach her one dish, the same dish - sphagetti with canned sauce, every day for 6 weeks. At the end of 6 weeks, thought she should be ok (I thought the most stupid person repeat something for 6 weeks should be ok) and told her to cook sphagetti for dinner. At 6 pm, i hubby phoned me and asked \"What is for dinner? Why did she cook sphagetti?\" - She really cook sphagetti - just the noodle, no sauce!!! :stupid:

When i told i need to send her back to agent, guess her reaction :slapshead:
She smiled and said \"can i call my friend\". I allowed her to. She phoned her friend, told the person on the line happily \"I need to transfer again!\" (smiling away) :siao:

[LOLMum]

Lynn2010:

[


When i told i need to send her back to agent, guess her reaction :slapshead:
She smiled and said \"can i call my friend\". I allowed her to. She phoned her friend, told the person on the line happily \"I need to transfer again!\" (smiling away) :siao:

maybe she is here to do an onsite interior design course. by going to various houses, she has a lots of ideas she could put to good use in her hometown. interior design consultant.