The Good and The Bad of Being Nanny-less

We got our nanny from an agency. We paid for the agency fee and everything. And she is supposed to work with us for 6 months, complete with signed contract. Truth be told, our nanny’s salary is higher than the usual pay given to nannies. Even though her pay is really hard on the budget, we decided to take her services because we just couldn’t find any help! Many reacted negatively when we told them that we got the services of an agency, but what are we to do? We were desperate.

Yes, she is the same nanny who gave Bea the chickenpox. Read about it here. Last week, our nanny went out for her day off, she was supposed to return at 5pm. Her deadline came and went, no nanny. At around 9pm, we texted her asking if she will come home because if not, we’re locking the doors and calling it a night. No reply. The next day, we got a call from the OSP agency in Holy Spirit, QC asking innocently if we needed a new nanny. This infuriated us because they knew fully well that we still had a nanny and her contract is still good for a few more months. When we said no, we still had a nanny, that’s when they came clean and said that our nanny went to their office that morning wielding a medical certificate saying that she has a heart ailment and that she is not fit to work.  She will not be coming back to work with us. Really? That was fast! She got the certificate in just a day? She got checked up and got the results in a day? I want to know where her hospital is because their service is UNBELIEVABLY fast!

Long story short, we have no nanny. The agency refuses to replace her, with 4 more months in her contract. (Will do a separate post about the agency matter).  Thankfully, hubby and I are now working from home, in our photography business, with more flexible hours. We are not as panicked as we would’ve been if this happened back when we were still working our 9-5 jobs in Makati.

Thankfully too, we have a reliable cleaning lady whom we called last weekend to look after Bea while we were out covering an event.

Our family

I am trying to look at the bright side of things. Sure our present nanny-less situation will call for more time management skills, but it will also mean more bonding time for our family. The past days, we’ve had to drag our sleepy butts off the bed to prepare Bea for school, which means more time looking into her school affairs, her baon,her bag, her assignments, her projects, her hairdo for the day etc.

Laundry time

I also took care of our laundry for the week. Two weeks ago, in an attempt to cut costs, I decided to stop sending out our clothes to the laundry place. Now, I have no choice but to take care of it. OK, call it pride but I assured hubby that it’s not going to be a problem, so wash and iron clothes I did. I don’t really mind the washing, it’s the folding and putting away of clothes that I hate. Hehe. Anyway, my efforts paid off when I got a compliment from hubby, saying our clothes smell and feel the best when I wash them. *music to my ears* I am thinking about permanently taking on the laundry assignment, even though we already talked to the cleaning lady and she said she’d include the laundry to her weekly tasks. I just like to be more in control of our clothes and our laundry supplies. Our past nannies used detergent and fabric conditioner excessively, not to mention the water consumption. Hmp.

So now, Ariel Detergent soap and Downy Fabric Conditioner are my friends, and we intend to meet once a week. That is the plan. I hope I can stick to it. =)

Chickenpox Despite Vaccine

While waiting for the pedia

Three weeks ago, our nanny went on leave. She has been with us for only a little over a month. She initially said that she's allergic to chicken and it seems like she's getting some rashes on her back. We didn't mind it much. However, she said it was becoming more and more painful. It came to a point when she couldn't sleep lying down anymore. She'd She'd sleep sitting down. When we had her checked by the nearby clinic,  it was found out that she was suffering from herpes zoster, or a second bout of chickenpox. Too bad. Bea really liked this nanny. We liked her too, but we had no other choice but to let her go on leave. Berto, Bea and I have never had chickenpox before so we were all susceptible.

After a week, we noticed Bea developed some spots on her skin. I immediately thought it was chickenpox but she didn't have any fever and the spots didn't have liquid in them. Just to be sure we decided to go to St. Luke's to bring Bea to her pediatrician . Too bad daddy was out attending a workshop so it was just us girls. We took a cab to the hospital. Thankfully the driver knew the way thru Commonwealth. 

The doctor looked her over but even she was baffled. Apparently, Bea didn't manifest the typical symptoms of chickenpox and this was probably because of the vaccine she got when she was a baby. The doctor said that vaccines don't provide 100% protection. There is still a chance that she will be infected but the symptoms will be slightly different than the usual symptoms. If I didn't mention that Bea got exposed to her sick nanny, she wouldn't have even considered chickenpox.

I asked for the possibility of adult chickenpox vaccines for hubby and me, but the doctor said that if we were already infected by the virus, the vaccine will be useless. And since we all sleep on one bed, there is a very strong possibility that we already caught it. (Thankfully though we didn't manifest any symptoms.)

The pediatrician gave us a prescription for an antiviral medicine. Good thing, the spots that came out weren't that many. It was just less than 20 spots all over and Bea was able to go back to school after just 2 days.

My Nanny Has TB! Grrr...

I sent my nanny packing. Yesterday, I found out that she has tuberculosis. Argh! She is now the record holder for being the nanny with the shortest number of days with us. She was with us for a total of 4.5 days.

This year, we’ve had the most nanny problems ever. When I have time, I will share them all one by one. Right now, let me just say that this year alone, we’ve had to change nannies five times!

Our latest nanny, C was referred to us by our cleaning lady and one-time nanny L. She is 16 years old but she assured me that she has already been employed as a nanny before to a little boy. I thought that this is good, she will surely be able to handle Bea. At 16, she seems to have already had a full and challenging life. Just a few months before, she lost a baby in her womb, and her boyfriend blamed her for “killing” their child. OMG… that burden at such a young age! Anyway, we were really desperately looking for help. Berto (the hubby) couldn’t get his projects done because nanny duties have been delegated to him.

So we said yes, ok let’s give C a try. When she stood up from our interview, I heard her cough. A crackling cough that made me cringe. Uh-oh. I wanted to take it back, my consent to employ her, but hubby seemed so relieved that finally he will get some work done, I just didn’t have the heart.

When  C came back the next day, we asked her to wear a surgical mask, especially when she’s around Bea. She complied. We also made sure she drank her cough meds. While training her about her daily tasks, hubby and I noticed that she is a bit sloooow, literally and figuratively. Out of desperation, we decided not to notice na lang.

On her third day, she asked for P500 so she can have that chest xray she was asked to have by the health center. Hubby gave her the money. She promised she’d return later that night. She didn’t.

After 4 days she came back, out of the blue with her boyfriend and his mom. She was explaining how her boyfriend got sick and she had to take care of him at the hospital. Ok, we are understanding folks, and stuff like these do happen. (although they should’ve had the courtesy to have someone stop by and tell us what happened.) We took her back in. Just when she was about to retire in her room, hubby asked her nonchalantly about her chest x-ray. That’s when she dropped the bomb, she has tuberculosis. She said it in a matter-of-fact way, as if she was just making kwento that she had hair rebonded or her brows waxed.  I felt my blood rush to my feet. Waaah!

That’s when we decided she had to go. We explained to her that we just can’t have a sick person near our child, especially with Bea’s bout with primary complex when she was a baby! C seemed so surprised and bewildered. I don’t think she realizes the weight of her illness. Maybe she thinks it’s just another name for the cough. (??)

Anyway, we are now back to being nannyless…  hay.  Please…. we really need someone before the weekend comes because that weekend is PACKED with activities for our business.  I am sending good vibes out there… =)