Yani's Birthday

We celebrated Yani's birthday on her actual day - Thursday, 3 April. She turned 26 and the kids were thrilled as they got to sing the birthday song and blow the candles.

Our kak-kak

Today, hubby and I took our current helper, Siti back to the agency as our very first helper, Yani is back and we could bring her back to our place.

She was very happy when she saw us at the agency to collect her.

Kieran zoomed out of our home when he knew his kak-kak is back, chatting with our neighbour. They hugged each other, it was sweet.

Yani was exceptionally happy when Raeyen saw her and blurted "kak-kak". We were surprised that he remembers her because when she left, he was only 18 months old. Raeyen was very happy, he kept calling her, asked her to watch his new trick and wanted to cling onto her. We were relieve to see that.

Real help finally came

Fingers & toes crossed...

...Hubby & I took leave to attend Kieran's Principal-Parents Meet on Wednesday in the morning and swapped maids in the afternoon.

Siti's performance is so much better than the previous 2 and we finally feel more relieved. She is alert and has initiative. She asks when in doubt. She has been mindful of the kids which pleases us the most. Her command of English is acceptable and we can hold simple conversation and she understands instructions clearly.

The kids are receptive to her and last night, Kieran asked Siti suddenly, "Kak-kak, why are you so short and small?" We all laughed as she stands at 1.46m and weighs only 40kg.

Maid issue

We stayed at home practically the whole day today except for Kieran's music class at 1pm. And then hubby and I went to the maid agency to interview a transfer maid, whom we eventually confirmed to employ, replacing Triana.

Her name is Tursiti (Siti for short) and was transferred as current employer's family situation does not require a maid. Her employer actually spoke with me yesterday and said that Siti has been responsible and good when minding her 5-year old daughter. She also said she would also like Siti to find a good employer. The telecon has certainly made me felt more assured.

We hope this time works well for us as it will be the 3rd maid since Yani left.

A mix of things

Raeyen had his jab this morning. in fact it was Hep A jab not MMR as previously posted. I was blur, he took MMR in December.

He weighed 11.6kg and was cool when the jab was administered. We are so proud of our boys, they never cried at every injection.

Connie came to babysit the boys while we fetched Triana from the agency. She was OK but English is still poor. As my MIL will be staying with us on weekdays and she is conversant in Bahasa Indonesia, she can be our go-between. That was also how our previous helper, Yani managed to communicate with us. But Yani was determined to improve her proficiency in English, I hope Tri (as we call her now) will be the same.

We then went to my mom's place in the evening and my SILs' verdict of Tri was better than Yati (the unsound one, hahahaha). Amelia said Tri shows some proactiveness, we'll see.

We will have reunion dinner at Connie's place as Joo and Ger will return from Perth and Suzhou respectively. We couldn't get a sitting at the Mouth Restaurant and decided to cater. We settled for Kriston, Connie planned to make "or-ni" - a Teochew yam dessert with gingko nuts. I found a recipe for "Pumpkin Yam Dessert" here. Yummy!

Fate of a dishonest maid

The agency informed me that its owner has decided to send Yati back to Indonesia. Meaning she was not even considered for transfer. I guess that also means she is not reliable afterall.

I was upset with her for the inconvenience she has caused us. It proves that hubby and my decision for sending her to the agency was right. We cannot risk having a dishonest person like her to mind Raeyen and/or run our household.

Oh, we do miss Yani.

My mother-in-law's health deteriorated alot and she couldn't help much either.

We can only hope that the new maid, Triana will turn out fine. She will arrive Singapore on 6 Feb, upon passing a English proficiency test and health check, would we be able to fetch her home.

What a day!

Hubby and I were not working on Friday 26 January to send Yani off.

Yati wasn't well even though the doctor felt she was alright as there was no pain at her abdominal. He said it probably was something she ate or plainly an "emotional" thing, ie "magnifying" one's pain/agony.

We discussed with Yani about Yati's performance and if she were comfortable letting Yati mind Raeyen alone after she leaves Singapore. Yani was apprehensive at first but her honesty helped with our decision to send Yati back to the agency.

After fetching Kieran from the Kindergarten, we left (without Yati) for the airport. Yani said to me, "I like Raeyen very much."

As we arrived at the airport, Kieran handed his letter to Yani. She opened, read the letter and realised we also left her a bracelet. She said thank you and told Kieran that she will miss him and Raeyen.

As she went into Immigration, Kieran whinned, "Mommy, I want Yani kak-kak to stay."

It wasn't as emotional but definitely it was a pity Yani didn't want to stay.

We dropped the kids at Connie's place so that we could send Yati back to the agency.

At the agency, we selected another maid, Triana, who has 2 years experience in Malaysia, working for a Chinese family with 2 kids. Hope this one is OK.

In the evening, Yani SMS me that she has arrived in Jakarta safely and she missed the kids very much. I called her and Kieran asked if she would be back soon.

Today, we sent 2 maids away... but in 2 different emotions.

Kieran's letter

Kieran wrote a "thank you" letter to Yani as she leaves Singapore tomorrow.

Note that he added his self-styled "hearts" at the end of each line.

We promised to keep this letter as a secret until tomorrow when Kieran hands it to her. I wonder if it would be an emotional chapter for any of us.

Yani has to arrive at the airport at 1pm, and Kieran wanted to send her off. So we'll fetch him from his Kindergarten.

In fact, today has been eventful for me as I just returned from a business trip in Bangkok and had to bring our new maid to the doctor's as she's feeling nauseous. Luckily with my SIL Connie's help, we managed to bring her to the clinic.

Yati's first tip

When Yati arrived at our home on Saturday, Yani (our exiting helper) is still around to guide her before she leaves on 26 Jan.

Hours later, Kieran suddenly ran to Yati and said, "Yati kak-kak, you MUST NOT go outside the window to clean OK? It's very dangerous!" Yati nodded.

Yati is getting on quite fine, at least the kids (especially Raeyen) are receptive to her. However her command of English still needs to be improved. Hopefully her progress is like Yani, if not better. We remember Yani first came with near-zero skill in conversational English. Now she is able to understand and speak very well.

New helper

We went to the maid agency to pick up Yati at about 3pm on Saturday.

She's a little taller than me and is learning the ropes from Yani. Raeyen was asleep when we arrived home. Kieran was indifferent to her though he's more comfortable with Yani.

When Raeyen woke up, he was "shocked" to see a new face in our home. He refused to let go of Yani and wanted to be carried by her all the time. Yati is very tanned, having returned to Indonesia for half a year. Well, it's still too early to pass any judgement how Yati would fare. Only time can tell, hope all goes well.

Maid scouting follow-up

Kieran (almost 3 yrs old) with Raeyen (a few hrs old, taken on 10 Jul 05)

My agent arranged a conference call for me to interview Yati.

21-year old Yati is mild-mannered. Her command of English is poorer than Yani but better than those who are completely new to working in Singapore. She worked here for 2 years (left in Jun 06) at Bishan Blk 186. Did housework, care for a granny and the employers have a teen. Though she never cooked, she claimed she could and would love to care of young kids.

I gave her a scenario ... if Kieran and Raeyen were fighting for a toy, what would she do. At first she couldn't understand my question until my agent translated. She said she would focus on one kid first and talk nicely to both, making sure things work out happily. She said she would treat my boys as were her brothers.

Agent called me after the interview ended and I decided to hire Yati.

To ensure all goes well at home with a new maid, hubby decided to quit his job and work part-time. This is a huge leap and we have to be mentally prepared. I appreciate very much what my hubby had planned. And, this is the best of all options we have. Once Yati is settled and earned our trust, hubby will look for a new full-time job. At the very least, this will give him a good opportunity to bond with Raeyen.

"Before I got married I had six theories about bringing up children; now I have six children and no theories." John Wilmot

Shopping & maid scouting

Took Kieran to VivoCity to meet my 2nd sis - Choo by MRT on Saturday. We had coffee (hot choco & cupcake for Kieran) @ Gloria Jean. Was so glad that there's San Bookshop there and rented the 2nd volume of the Shopaholic series - Shopaholic Abroad (also known as "Shopaholic Takes Manhattan) as I just finished reading the 1st volume while in the MRT (see my conversation with Kieran when I was reading).

Kieran: Mommy, why is your mouth not open?
Me: Why should my mouth be open?
Kieran: How do you read when your mouth is not open?
Me: Oh, adults usually don't read aloud like children, we read by heart.
Kieran: No, you must read with your mouth open.

We went shopping as Choo had a lot of Christmas gifts to buy. I managed to buy a brown Mango stretch tee with "MANGO" in diamante iron-on at $23 (original price was $30)! We had lunch at HK Kim Gary (like a cha can-tang in Hong Kong), the service and food were good. Price is reasonable too, average S$8 for set lunch which includes drink, soup and main course.

She sent us home as hubby & I had an appointment with the maid agency at 4pm.

After settling Kieran @ home, hubby & I went to the agency ... looked through the database after the agent understood our needs, ie taking care of Raeyen and conversant in English. We selected Yati, a 21-year old Indonesian who used to work for a family in Singapore for 2 years. We paid the fees, insurance, etc and hope for the best.

If all goes well, Yati may be able to arrive Singapore by mid-Jan. When I told Kieran about Yani's leaving, he went to her "Kak-kak, can you stay?" Sigh...

Making a choice - follow our heart

We had a talk with our helper, Yani one night when the kids were in their slumber. The talk was if she could stay with us for another 2 years as her contract expires mid next Feb.

After much discussion/persuasion, she sounded adamant that she would like to go home for good, after almost 4 years with us. It was a difficult moment for us as Raeyen is still very young and we will have to make new arrangements or even sacrifices come Jan/Feb. Options we have are:

1. No new helper, but Raeyen goes to a full-day childcare
2. Get a new helper before Yani leaves, hubby stays at home for at least 6 months while Kieran continues his Kindergarten but stops going to childcare

We discussed and may choose option 2 as we cannot bear for another child of ours going to childcare as I could vividly remember myself weeping when Kieran entered childcare at 3 years old (2 months after Raeyen was born). It was a painful decision to put him there, seeing him cry and wanting to go home.

Option 2 is not the best but we can't risk putting Raeyen alone with the new helper while we go to work. Hubby volunteered to quit his job and stay at home supervising her and to bond with the kids, especially Kieran. Personally, I like the idea of Kieran quitting childcare. However, that would mean one income less and I may most likely have to kiss goodbye to indulgences such as Biotherm skincare, facials, manicures, pedicures, L'oreal Kerastase haircare, etc. BUT one thing I will not scrimp is to let Kieran continue his classes at Yamaha or any other classes that will benefit him.

We have a choice to make, that is already a luxury. Like the old saying goes, when there's a will, there's a way. Together with my hubby, I'm sure we can make it work and to bring our kids up the way we want. Fingers crossed :*)

"If you limit your choices only to what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want, and all that is left is a compromise." Robert Fritz