Last Sunday, Caitlin's nanny left in the morning. Tin and I had to schedule our absences accordingly - I reported on Monday and have been absent since Tuesday. The replacement nanny arrived this morning but I still have to put her up to speed.
Honestly, it's tough not to have a nanny in the house. But I am just glad that neither the company I worked with or Tin's organization are not very strict on taking a leave with a short notice. Also, because of the technology I could work remotely; I am burning the lines in the last few days.
Due to inexperience of the maid, I had to cook boiled pork with veggies. My wife advised me the steps, but I forgot if the meat should be boiled first or should be boiled together with the veggies (I was quite particular with the veggies that they should be crispy and half-cooked). I decided to check the net and found the article on nilagang baka. To make the story short, my wife liked it and Caitlin also ate some. Personally, I thought it could still use a bit of fish sauce (I didn't use iodized salt). But I would say, I didn't know the word 'moderation' when it was served.
Yesterday, I had to show to the office since I need to meet with a couple of members; I coudn't do it over the phone. I had to bring Caitlin with me, together with 1 big bag full of stuff, including a mat, a pilow and a blanket. I was doing the meeting in a room, she was just contented on playing inside the room (Leah, one of the managers, let her borrow one of the former's dolls). And when I realized that she wanted to take a nap, I laid down the mat on the carpeted floor and let her lie down. She had a nap for 30 minutes or so, she didn't complain. She actually laid down there for another 30minutes. I even left her when I had to my rounds on the floor; she just stayed on the floor.
She did cry once and I almost went into panic - she was calling for her mom. But when I carried her on my arms, she stopped crying.
I took her with me when I had lunch with the managers. She was relatively behave, though I had to slap her hand because she threw some noodles on the table behind us. Luckily the customers on that table left early on. While I was having conversation with my colleagues, she was waving her hand and saying, 'goodbye' to everyone who passed by on their way out of the resto.
Every afternoon, I would take her out for a catch-ball. Normally, I am on the losing side - dead tired and short of breath. Everytime, she earned a scratch - yesterday was a scratch on her sheen, then another one this afternoon on her arm. Otherwise, she doesn't cry when hitting the ground hard.
I also had to deal with the inexperienced maid. Last Tuesday, I noticed that the maid left the stove knob still turned on. I could smell the LPG in the kitchen. She thought that it's already safe since there's no fire coming out of the stove. I immediately concluded that she grew up using a charcoal-based stove, which she confirmed. I made this conclusion because the bacon that she cooks, since she came in, would always shrink to dime size due to higher temperature - in a charcoal-based stove, there's no way for you to control the size of the fire or it's simply very time consuming to do so.
This morning, the climax - she left one of knobs on a 'high' position! When I opened the door (we came from Ali Mall to pick up the replacement nanny), I immediately got a headache because of the foul smell coming from the stove! She decided to leave it as is thinking that I was in a hurry - again, even if you leave the charcoal-based stove with fire, it won't spread as long as there's no element (e.g. strong wind) that will bring the amber to the nearest combustible materials.
Tin and I also found out that she left the washed clothes in the dry line upstairs - for 5 days now!!! I explained to her that in the province it's okay to leave the clothes on the dry line for several days since you don't have much pollution, but not in the city. Furthermore, it also damages the fabric if the clothes stay longer under the sun.
We survived! Luckily, the new nanny knows one or two in a contemporary kitchen. So I asked her to monitor the maid as well.
For now, I have to put the new nanny up to speed. On Saturday, it will be Tin's turn to be absent - we have a team building in the office and I cannot miss it.
It's one of those Mastercard advertisement, this experience is priceless.
Honestly, it's tough not to have a nanny in the house. But I am just glad that neither the company I worked with or Tin's organization are not very strict on taking a leave with a short notice. Also, because of the technology I could work remotely; I am burning the lines in the last few days.
Due to inexperience of the maid, I had to cook boiled pork with veggies. My wife advised me the steps, but I forgot if the meat should be boiled first or should be boiled together with the veggies (I was quite particular with the veggies that they should be crispy and half-cooked). I decided to check the net and found the article on nilagang baka. To make the story short, my wife liked it and Caitlin also ate some. Personally, I thought it could still use a bit of fish sauce (I didn't use iodized salt). But I would say, I didn't know the word 'moderation' when it was served.
Yesterday, I had to show to the office since I need to meet with a couple of members; I coudn't do it over the phone. I had to bring Caitlin with me, together with 1 big bag full of stuff, including a mat, a pilow and a blanket. I was doing the meeting in a room, she was just contented on playing inside the room (Leah, one of the managers, let her borrow one of the former's dolls). And when I realized that she wanted to take a nap, I laid down the mat on the carpeted floor and let her lie down. She had a nap for 30 minutes or so, she didn't complain. She actually laid down there for another 30minutes. I even left her when I had to my rounds on the floor; she just stayed on the floor.
She did cry once and I almost went into panic - she was calling for her mom. But when I carried her on my arms, she stopped crying.
I took her with me when I had lunch with the managers. She was relatively behave, though I had to slap her hand because she threw some noodles on the table behind us. Luckily the customers on that table left early on. While I was having conversation with my colleagues, she was waving her hand and saying, 'goodbye' to everyone who passed by on their way out of the resto.
Every afternoon, I would take her out for a catch-ball. Normally, I am on the losing side - dead tired and short of breath. Everytime, she earned a scratch - yesterday was a scratch on her sheen, then another one this afternoon on her arm. Otherwise, she doesn't cry when hitting the ground hard.
I also had to deal with the inexperienced maid. Last Tuesday, I noticed that the maid left the stove knob still turned on. I could smell the LPG in the kitchen. She thought that it's already safe since there's no fire coming out of the stove. I immediately concluded that she grew up using a charcoal-based stove, which she confirmed. I made this conclusion because the bacon that she cooks, since she came in, would always shrink to dime size due to higher temperature - in a charcoal-based stove, there's no way for you to control the size of the fire or it's simply very time consuming to do so.
This morning, the climax - she left one of knobs on a 'high' position! When I opened the door (we came from Ali Mall to pick up the replacement nanny), I immediately got a headache because of the foul smell coming from the stove! She decided to leave it as is thinking that I was in a hurry - again, even if you leave the charcoal-based stove with fire, it won't spread as long as there's no element (e.g. strong wind) that will bring the amber to the nearest combustible materials.
Tin and I also found out that she left the washed clothes in the dry line upstairs - for 5 days now!!! I explained to her that in the province it's okay to leave the clothes on the dry line for several days since you don't have much pollution, but not in the city. Furthermore, it also damages the fabric if the clothes stay longer under the sun.
We survived! Luckily, the new nanny knows one or two in a contemporary kitchen. So I asked her to monitor the maid as well.
For now, I have to put the new nanny up to speed. On Saturday, it will be Tin's turn to be absent - we have a team building in the office and I cannot miss it.
It's one of those Mastercard advertisement, this experience is priceless.
