All About Full-Time Maids

[24hr-mum]

but b prepared she may play songs or cds in her native language or channel. i used to play eng channel for my ex maid. then she start to dance n sing aloud. n one day she use my player to play her own cd wfout askg me first

[hquek]

I gave current maid a radio to keep in her sleeping quarters. She has plenty of free time. Figure it is better for her to listen to music than stare blankly at 4 walls. But one may want to set some boundaries, eg using it only after chores are done. No blasting at unearthly hours.

[nms1]

Our maid uses an old one of ours with a broken CD player. She listens to it when she’s doing ironing or other work in her room and after she had finished at night.

[beanstalk]

A radio’s good. It gives her some entertainment and keeps her company when she’s working alone. Feel you should give or lend her one. It’s not worthwhile buying a radio, especially on her salary. Also, since phones have FM on them, it’s not really necessary to get a standalone radio these days.

[DesertWind]

We bought our maid one radio for her use in her room when she first join us. Then we put another one which we won in some lucky draw at the kitchen so she could listen to it while doing chores. Sometime ago I found that she played the Malay/Indonesian channel quite frequently and quite loudly at the kitchen/dining area. There was a short period of time when she did it even when I was at home and around the house, seems a bit slack on her part ie. like she own the house and disregard my presence. So I told her directly that I don’t like it and when I am not around the house, she is to strictly just play the CHINESE channel especially those with DJs talking so that my kids can be immersed in a Chinese speaking environment! Not even English channel. Furthermore, strictly no headphones, earphones. She is free to listen to whatever she wants in her room after she retires for the day. I have to be very specific to her since I am not around the whole day and she is the only one with the kids at home.

[homeworkmummy]

Thanks all for sharing your experience. I am hesitant giving her a radio because my ex-maid asked me for a MP3, I bought one for her. At first, she only used it at night. But after a few months, I noticed that she kept going to toilets very often and each time lasted at least 10 to 15 minutes. We found out that she has been going to toilet to listen to her MP3. So for this maid, I have become more careful. I will probably learn from some of you, look for a used radio (without any hand phones) and give it to her. I am still thinking if I should be keeping her radio during the day and only pass it to her at night after she finishes her chores but again it’s a hassle for me as well. Just worried that she will be "addicted" to listening to radio and become slackened as she loves to sing when doing the housework.

[24hr-mum]

u jus discreetly turn on eng channel for her if u wan when u at hm but off it whn u go out. my ex maid hide in toilet to sms i suspect

[24hr-mum]

my exmaid used to even sing when sittg nx to Sir in the car whn radio on

[peapot]

Ha…yes ex-my maid sings in the garden early in the morning! Actually it sounds not too bad. I think Philip maid has music in their blood.

[HAPPYH]

Hi


I did not read the entire thread but I browsed thro few pages randomly.

I just want to get some suggestions from you all.

The problem I am facing with my FDW is if she does something wrong and it comes to my attention (of course, she wont tell me), she will straightaway say that she could not manage so she wants to go back to her home country (without me asking/saying anything). I just feel I should be the one getting angry if she does things wrongly. However, it happens in the otherway. She will show long face, wont answer if I ask something, etc etc for a while. She will be ok after a while.

How to respond to her?

I usually keep quiet as I dont want go thro the hassle of training another FDW according to our needs.

These few days, I really feel she is exploiting too much.

Thank you