All About Yaya

Or household help in general (I’m not sure if it should be in this category, though).

Let’s talk about our beloved yayas. How long have they been with the family? Any quirks? Funny stories? Do they get along well with their alaga? Unusual demands na napa :horrified: kayo?

Our yaya’s been with us for two years. She’s just 20yo so parang panganay na anak na namin sya. Kahit minsan matigas ang ulo, we loooove her. She’s the Brosia to our pugad :biggrin:

Share your stories away! :happy:

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Our Yaya is Chinese and she’s been with us since my son was 4 months old pa lang. We have a separate helper for the other stuff.

The yayas here are called Ayi or auntie. She and my son get along well. My son actually learned to say the word Ayi way before he said Mama. Our Ayi is in her 50s.

Super bait nung Ayi namin with our son. Ayis here don’t usually stay in and they have a schedule to come to your place. When she first started with us, her schedule was in the afternoon. There were times I had to rush home and just reschedule anything later in the afternoon kasi she has to leave exactly on time to go to her next family kasi she picks up the kid from school.

When we moved to another apartment after my son’s first birthday, we rescheduled her to morning and that has been her schedule up to now. Nung lockdown in early February, she was in her hometown up in the mountains and we called her from time to time kasi laging hinahanap ng anak ko. Late March we were allowed na to have other non-residents enter our apartment so we had Ayi registered to come to our apartment. Balik na sila sa regular playing outside routine nila. Ayi cooks from time to time. Fave namin nung egg and tomatoes niya and my son loves her noodle dishes and steamed egg thing.

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Ayan silang dalawa. Ngayon si Ayi na natutong mag-English dahil sa anak ko. Ayi talks to my son in Mandarin and my son understands her. Now, cause my son is learning more English words, Ayi would be calling some words in English like “banana” and “cookie”.

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^aww your son is adorable! :heart_eyes:

Wala kaming yaya :bawling: the daycare workers who take care of my son during the week are so amazing though. Yung primary caregiver niya since he was 5 months old ay si Ms. Maya siguro early to mid 20s lang. She loves my little boy and favorite daw niya. LO also loves her excited pag nakikita niya si Ms. Maya pag drop off in the morning. Sabi nung other teacher sa infant room ay under my son’s spell daw si Ms. Maya at alam ni LO yun kaya he takes advantage haha.

I sometimes wish na nasa Pinas ako kasi my sister has 2 yayas for her 2 little boys and one of them works on Saturdays so she actually has a “weekend off”. Nakakainggit.

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^She looks like a doting grandma :smiley: no wonder your son likes her.

I guess that’s the big difference ng yaya here and abroad. Dito, stay in talaga. Ang laking bagay nun especially when I travel for work. It also helps that she’s young, medyo tech savvy, so we do videocall.

Yung una naming yaya, was 50ish yrs old. Ok na din na nung baby pa anak ko nung naging yaya namin sya. Kasi hindi sya nagsasalita, tapos later on na namin narealize na no read no write pala. Ang hirap bilinan. I was just so desparete then because i need to go back to work (nag extend na ko ng 2weeks from mat leave dahil walang yaya :crying: )

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Hirap when I travel kasi I have to book her or another yaya if hindi siya available. Hubby works din kaya kailangan talaga may bantay pag wala ako. Luckily, Ayi steps up naman. Pag wala naman kami, she takes care of the dog.

Aside from my son, love din siya ng dog namin.

Yaya teaching kiddo animal sounds with flashcards, kiddo was prolly 15months old
Y: Ano ang sound ng cow? Mooooo.
Picks another card
Ano ang sound ng dog? Arf! Arf!
Picks another card
Ano ang sound ng… ano ba to’ng otter? Wag na yan wala naman yan Pilipinas.
:rofl:

She was so efficient, at pati ako alaga nya (she was there when we caught my ex cheating) kaya lang whenever she takes her rest days, hay naku pihado hindi babalik sa araw na napagusapan. Lagi may dahilan. Also, she has a family in Bicol, pero may jowang iba sa Manila (based kami sa Clark that time) NKKLK.

She passed away in 2011, due to pregnancy related high blood, 2 weeks after giving birth to her 8th child :frowning: (nakamaternity leave si yaya the entire time na buntis sya, she found out 4months na pala sya preggy)

Hay yaya, sumalangit nawa. Thank you for being there while i was going through some shitty stuff in my life.

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My first yaya was a nightmare! She would lie to us, take advantage of our kindness. After I fired her, I found out about all the lies she spread about us with the neighbors’ yayas. Then they told me she would take my son in his stroller, leave the condo, disappear for hours, yun pala she was meeting her boyfriend who lived nearby, and sometimes the boyfriend would visit her during lunch. Oh my goodness!

Sa mga may yaya, how do you determine salary increases?

@UniquelyMe omg hassle ganyan.

In 2017, the rate package of my yaya na ang trabaho lang ay bantayan ang junakis and konting walis walis
4K/mo, with 13th mo pay
All expense / food co household
Sss, philhealth c/o employer
Tapos 5% merit increase yearly

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Thanks! :blush:

@ninibeLLes 4K a month so talagang focused lang sa mga kids. 4K per child ba o madadagdagan pag more than one?

OnT: Wala kaming Yaya ever, sariling sikap sa US :lol: Medyo luxury din kapag meron kang Yaya (Au Pair) although we never really looked into it kasi hirap magtrust ng ibang tao pagdating sa mga anak (it’s just me, maliban na lang kung kilala na talaga namin dati pa o kamag-anak).

@abbymaria, feeling ko ang charming ni Ms Maya :smiling_face:

Haaay, nakakatakot yan. At ayoko talaga yung sinungaling. Ok na yung medyo slow, pero yung sinungaling, mahirap na. Madaming kasalanan ang pwedeng magawa ng sinungaling.

Fixed yung increase annual increase ni yaya. Na set to nung umpisa pa lang when we hired her. She gets 3weeks paid Christmas vacation plus I also pay for her 2way airfare. Minsan when she wants to buy something (mobile phone siempre), we buy it for her tapos kaltas sa sweldo.

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Hirap talaga mag-trust. For my second yaya, at sya pa rin yaya ko to date, I “stole” her from my mom. She joined our household straight out of high school, and now she’s with me (I’ve known her for 20yrs), watching over my two kids. She’s the most highly paid yaya that I know of, kasi forever na sya sa amin. Kaya I don’t know rin what’s fair in terms of salary increases. A few years ago, when I realized she wasn’t saving any money for herself, I opened a sunlife investment account for her. Every year, I ask her if she wants her bonus in cash, or if I’ll invest it for her in an equity fund na lang. She always chooses the equity fund. If and when she leaves my employ, may peace of mind ako that she’ll be financially ok, may naipon naman.

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Ate isa lang ang junakis, at that time, she was already 8yo. Di na alagain, hatid sundo ng school bus. Literal na sasamahan nya lang ang bagets sa house.

Kaso, umalis siya agad, na homesick ata. Kakahinayang lang kasi pinagbayad ko ng pamasahe, ng medical, nbi. Haha!

May yaya kami dati nung nasa clark pa ako, mejo bata pa siya. Weekly ako maggrocery nun, tapos at the end of the week, laging wala na kaming powdered anything- milo, kape, asukal, creamer, pati anlene ko. Syempre alam mo naman ang consumption - so anyway, weekly ganun so pirmi ako maggrocery to refill.

I later found out, sinusupot pala nya at tinatabi niya para ibigay sa nanay nya tuwing bibisitahin sya. NKKLK. Hindi naman pinagdadamutan pero wag sana ganun na itago di ba? :lol:

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^ @ninibeLLes that is stealing and nakakainis yan kasi niloloko ka. Nakakawala ng tiwala. Kahit maliit na bagay at basic needs na masasabi parang sinamantala nya amo niya. I guess one of my deal breakers sa staff ay yung dishonest. Kasi pinapapasok mo sa pamamahay mo eh.

^ @abbymaria We had to let her go kasi every 2 weeks, pumupunta nanay nya at nag va vale. Hanggang sa i lost track na kung ano na bang month ang nai advance ko na. Malayong kamag anak kasi ng tatay ng anak ko kaya pinagtyagaan na.

Nung HS ako, may nakuha kami yaya galing probinsiya. Pinagluto ng nanay ko ng sinigang. Awa ng diyos, puno ng sabaw ang kaserola, lasang nilaga na ang sinigang. Nung tinanong namin bakit ganun lasa at sana sinabi na lang na di siya marunong, sa bahay raw kasi nila puro sabaw para umabot sa lahat. 14 pala sila total sa bahay, eh kasama sya, 4 lang kami. :lol: tambling si mudrakels!

Sayang yun kasi papag aralin sana sya ng nanay ko kaso yung tiyahin nya sa maynila, kinuha siya after ilang months. Modus ata yun, after paluwasin at pamasahihan ng employer, biglang kukunin ng kamag anak.

Wow. Almost the same with our yaya as I was converting the rates ha. Wala lang 13th month but we only increase once general market rates increase din. Since 2007, wala pang increase dito so same rate pa rin around Php7-8,000/month, tapos up to you to give the Chinese New Year :red_gift_envelope: bonus or red packet. Benefits ng yaya, either the agency will cover if you went through an agency or they pay on their own if direct hire mo.

Word of mouth and references are super important here before you even hire. Yaya was referred to by my retired yaya and then I had to ask around the community as well before ko pa siya pinag-start. May trial day din kami for them if we will like them or not.

I think I’m super lucky with yayas while I’m abroad. Lahat naging yaya ko super honest at magaling sa work. Nakakalungkot when they leave to retire or move back to their hometowns kasi they need to care for their grandchildren or other relatives. On the other hand, sa Pinas, we had yayas who stole from us kaya we are weary of them. Traumatized pa rin ako when I was in high school at ninakaw ng yaya ko yung Swiss Army na watch ko. Special na gift yun ng parents ko that can last ages tapos ganun lang.

Our ate has been with us since she’s 18 and she’s 33 na this year. We love her because she is kind, patient, honest and hardworking. Though medyo bumagal na kasi tumanda na din at lumapad. Hahaha.

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We encouraged her to go to college a few years back as part of preparation pag wala na siya sa amin. She wants to be a teacher in Bicol daw. Buti gusto mag-aral. Awa ng Diyos at sa sipag at tiyaga niya pagsabayin ang chores sa bahay, part-assistant ko sa plants business at school stuff, she graduated from NCBA (near us) after 6 years. So proud of her. :slight_smile: She’s supposed to take LET this March, but COVID happened so pause muna plans niya. Dapat last year alis na siya kaso sabi namin mag-LET muna siya at makapasa para hindi siya gumagastos while waiting to pass the boards.

To be fair to us, 85% of the time naman dalawa silang househelp usually. Though mahirap talaga makahanap ng honest/hindi pala-cellphone/hindi makajowa/masipag/hindi pala-utang. Laging may sablay kaya in the end, pinauuwi ko na lang kesa ma-vertigo na naman ako sa stress (like the last one we had about 2-3 years ago).

May time na love/hate relationship kami. Ako kasi ang nagdidiscipline sa house (mapakids man or househelps) so medyo asar din siya sa akin. Hahaha. Pero lately, knocks on wood, okay na siguro kasi less na ang pressures on her: naka-graduate na siya, less din gawa namin sa plants business dahil we pulled out of a greedy retailer, mas mabait na ako, mas malaki na at helpful ang boys, and most probably dahil happy din siya sa kitten namin na parang baby namin (well, lahat kami masaya don sa pusa namin, haha).

Super close sila ng bunso kasi since pagkapanganak hanggang ngayon, nandiyan siya at mafifeel mo na love niya talaga yung bata. My son also says ”I love you” to her.

She’s earning 6K sa amin, plus 6K sa plants biz ko (she voluntarily lowered it to 3k this year dahil nga less na daw ginagawa namin sa plants biz). She has SSS, Philhealth and Pagibig, 13th month pay.

She eats whatever we eat, she travels with us locally and abroad, and she loves cooking and baking keto meals with me this quarantine. We’re so lucky to have her!:heart:

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our angel of a helper has been with us since 2012. umalis lang nung 2014 when she got pregnant but returned to us a few months after giving birth. dati dalawa sila but when the other helper left, she said she’s ok alone. her tasks are to just look after the kids pero dahil me kusa at wala naman daw ginagawa when the kids are in school, she still manages to get other household tasks done. hindi sya madalas mag day off so we let her go on long leaves pag kailangan as long as she informs us at least a week before. ang (minor) issue lang namin sa kanya, parati nya inaadvance ang sweldo nya para ipadala sa kanila.

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True, ang hirap pag advance sila ng advance. Ako yung nagwoworry kasi usually ayaw namin kinakaltas ng isang bagsak ang mga utang. So kung P300-500 lang kaltas every other week (kasi need pa rin magpadala on other weeks), kailan matatapos di ba?:sweat_smile: