Things I Wish My Yaya Would Stop Doing

So our yaya's here to stay, at least until the semester ends and until she's finally able to pay her debt in full. I explained last time that before, we decided to let her off the hook, but because of her "offenses," we decided to make her pay.

Unlike most of the comments I received, no we're not being too kind employers to let her stay. We just really don't have a choice for now.

And to be honest? I can see Honey's effort to improve herself. Who knows? It's not yet too late for her to change, diba?

Now, I always say that I'm very contented Honey as Yuri's yaya, Honey, and that's true. That's primarily because she really loves and adores Yuri as if he was her own brother. So I'm hoping she'd change the other flaws in her character.

Since it's possible that she'll be remaining with us until the end of the year or early next year, I want to make it as pleasant as possible. For that to happen, there are things I wish she'd stop doing. You must be wondering why I don't just go ahead and tell her. Simple. We tell her about these things many times but she doesn't really follow!

I wish she would stop:

1. Taking up an hour in the bathroom in the morning for bathing.

2. Taking up another hour in the bathroom in the evening for "beauty rituals."

3. Using the bathroom each time she gets her hands free not to pee but to - can you guess? - use the mirror. (Because of her obsession with the mirror, she actually broke a full-length one.)

4. Taking selfies while lounging on the sofa with her foot propped up.

5. Using too much detergent on Yuri's clothes.

6. Using too much Joy to wash her plate.

7. Using the knife to scrape the insides of our stainless steel pans and casseroles.

8. Refusing to have her long hair cut.

9. Refusing to tie her hair up in a bun when she's not holding Yuri.

(This is one of the worst. She only ties her hair when she looks after Yuri. When she gets her hands free, she unties her long and masamok hair. It's a hygiene thing, you know. Plus, her hair always manages to get on our faces, etc. One time, I caught Yuri with her hair in his mouth!!!)

10. Going with the neighbors' yaya to their house to "watch TV." Until 5 in the morning.

11. Using 10-15 minutes to fix herself up when she has to go buy something at the sari-sari store.

12. Refusing to eat fish and native chicken and unrefined rice.

13. Using the word, "boring," around Yuri. (i.e. Wag muna tayong pumasok sa loob kasi boring masyado.)

14. Comparing Yuri with the "alagas" of the other yayas. In public. Right in front of the other kids' guardians.

15. Beginning cleaning the table while we're still eating.

16. "Threatening" to stop schooling.

17. Forgetting to clean Yuri's living room potty chair.

(I'm in the charge of all the comfort room live-action. All she has to do is remember if Yuri peed in the living room and flush it.)

18. Riding on Yuri's ride-on car.

19. Leaving her bed messy.

(Yes, we check her room after she leaves not to poke around but to check if everything was turned off.)

20. Crying or making "emote" whenever she's reprimanded.

But even with the pet-peeves above and the major issues I told you about, I still feel pretty thankful because I know these are nothing compared to issues with other yayas like stealing and violence. Also, she takes care of Yuri not only because she has to but also because she's grown to love him. After all, Yuri was only 4 months old when she started working for us. Yuri's now 29 months old.

And, honestly, despite her issues, among all the household help we've had, she is the best. Only she (and our first helper years ago) proved to be trustworthy. Despite her many shortcomings, I still thank the Lord for sending her to help us raise Yuri.

So for now, while we're in this "period of waiting," pikitmata nalang ako to the things I wish she would stop doing. :-P