The Yaya Chronicles

It's inevitable for a Mama's blog to have a post or two about her Yaya encounters. Here's mine.

While I did not constantly have a Yaya/Househelp when I was growing up, I still pretty much experienced a lot of dealing with them, mostly when I was all grown up because of my sisters and their babies and a lot of stories from friends and online communities.

And when Ava finally came, I finally had my very own share of Yaya stories.

The first one who came in was when Ava was just around three months old. Yaya #1 agreed to do the job but she eventually confessed that she was pregnant and she just had to get away so her family won't know. Of course we had to let her go and told her that she needs to let her family know about her situation. Yaya #2 was too young and because of the lack of goal and maturity, she got bored and opted to go back home after two months of stay. Yaya #3, we had to let go after a week because she was totally not fit to take care of a baby. That was also the first time I fired a person. Yaya #4 was a familiar face to us. She was my first niece's previous Yaya and she also became our help at home before Mr. T and I got married. She left because of personal issues and later on we heard news that she eventually had a baby on her own. Conveniently for us, while we were looking, and for the third time, she went back to us and became our Yaya from Ava's fifth month until her eighteenth. She left once again because this time, she needed to take care of her own kid.

The one that followed, Yaya #5 lasted for a little more than two months. She took a weekend off and while she was away, we found out that she's been doing some things that are unacceptable, nothing that involved Ava, thankfully. We understand that it comes with being young and all but I really can't tolerate some things. We told her not to come back anymore.

But after all that's been said and done, we parted ways with all of them in good terms. Even the last one, I told her about how disappointed I was with her. She did not respond, but a few days later we got a message from her apologizing for the wrong doings she has done.

My heart breaks for moments like these. The training, teachings and all of those things we've done, we have to do once again.

But most of all, my Mama heart breaks twice as much because I need to learn how to trust and believe that this new person will be able to take care of our dearest, as if Ava was her own. While mornings were already hard enough, it will be twice as hard now because of the million thoughts that this transition will bring. I am grateful for my parents for being with us now. At least I can ease my emotions knowing that I am leaving Ava not only to a stranger's care but to her Lolo's care as well.

I don't think we will ever find a perfect Yaya. But I know that we can train one. We just need to find someone with a mind and heart that are in line with ours. And we are once again in this season, on our way to training our perfect Yaya. She might turn out to be our Super Yaya, who knows?