Advantages and Disadvantages of Having A Maid, Domestic Helper

Once you have found a good maid, she will be an asset. It could be a long and painful job to get a good maid though, as I have herd many horror stories.

I had a dishwasher in the UK where electricity costs the same as here. When I bought it my electricity bill went up by £16 (1600P) per month. The dishwasher tablets were about 12P per wash so my total monthly cost was around £19 to £20, the same as a maid here.

Advantages of the maid:

She can wash anything not just pots and pans
She can clean the house
She can run errands
She can be fun
She can be company
She can be a care giver when you are ill
She can be the house security when you are not in
She can clean the car
She can do minor maintenance on the house
She can translate for you
She can do these and much more you ca get rid of her when you want

Disadvantages of the maid:

She can steal
She can break things
She can be lazy
She can be moody
She can be disobedient
She can become a lover (Always trouble when this happens) she can become a replacement for the girlfriend/wife (Always trouble) you can loose privacy
She can let people into your house when you are not there

Treating Filipina Maids, Domestic Helpers Too Good?

You are bending yourself backward for the maids [domestic helpers] treating them as family members when obviously they are not.

I feel that you are making an excessive effort to be kind and generous, or charitable as you say, while to me you seems to go overboard.

Let me relate to you my approach with my helpers: for a start they are eating by themselves in the `dirty' kitchen, not at our table where we can have guests or just want privacy in our conversation and don't want to be scrutinized while eating.

They do eat the same food as us but we keep an eye on them to avoid be taken advantage of, by temptation, greed or pure ignorance. Things like dried fruits, cheeses, fresh milk, roasted nuts, alcohol, vitamins, Milo and milk powder and the likes for the child, are strictly out of bound for them and I made it clear from day one. And we keep all that and more in our clean kitchen to avoid temptations. The maids' quarters are separate, so at night we just close the communicating do.

We don't buy expensive meats, we tried but after Aussie steaks, even the expensive imported meats available here, are not comparable; probably they freeze it for transport. So instead we eat, fish, chicken, pork and some beef for stews or curries and so do the helpers. We eat numerous kinds of fruits during the day out of our fridge in the `clean' kitchen, while the helpers usually have only one or two like bananas and papayas, in their fridge. We drink only lemonades (beside my mealtime beer) made out of calamansi, the helpers prefer drinks made out of powders. But spreads (peanut butter, chocolate, jams and the likes) are for the child's sandwiches for merienda, school or night snack, while the helpers snack like us, cooked bananas, popcorns, pancakes, etc.

Then, with the exception of a couple of special occasions during the year – like Christmas, New Year and their birthday – we go to restaurant only by ourselves, because the helpers are too busy working at a big home, garden and pool requiring full time attention, beside that we don't want to leave the whole property unattended at any time.

They can rest of course during the day if tired watching their TV in their room, but no "siestas". Some days we are not busy so our maids can take it easy, but at other times we are and so they have to move their bums to keep up with the demand the occasion requires. We treat them kindly and in a friendly way, but let me repeat this: Our Domestic helpers are workers for our family and they are NOT family members.

My father, used to say: `Familiarity breeds contempt'. How true! Is not easy to be a house head fair to all, including myself, while is too easy to be too generous. You do that and people will so think you are `loko/buang' [Crazy, Stupid]: The idiot of the barangay. I found out here that if you give someone a finger they expect your entire arm.

I believe discipline is a necessary restriction; we all have our boundary and rules to comply with and also to know where we stand. Our maids are not stealing, they will have too much to loose if caught.

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Response to Advice Above From a Former Filipina maid, Domestic Helper.

Very disturbing attitude! Let me tell you I worked for a Chinese family for over 5 years in PI as a nanny, along with 2 other helpers. We freely eat what we want and we know what is off limits. I supervised 2 helpers and 4 kids of my employer without interference from my employers. The kids are well behaved we are eating in our employers table with the kids parents at work. During 5 years I never had a fight or ill feeling with my employers they are such a wonderful people.

I worked in HK with the same type of job. We eat together at my employers table providing us unlimited amount of food everyday. HK$ 500.00 is the budget that is daily for adults and 1 kid. We are 2 helpers and when the kid is taking a nap I do too, with employer consent. On our birthday we are given jewelry and money to spend. I even have bonus every end of the month HK$200.00 aside from my monthly salary. Did we steal - no sir! because our needs are well provided; TV and fridge in our room full of goodies. I also had a tea time with my lady employer advise me when I need it. She is not critical to us, but she made an effort to be a friend to us. We had a healthy relationship but I never forget even a single minute who's the boss.

2nd employer in HK, the most wonderful people provided all my needs from personal effects, slippers, lotions, shampoo, towels, winter and summer clothes, I even budgeted our monthly expenses. On my birthday and Christmas my lady employer didn't forget to give me gifts. I lived with the old man I cared in a 3 bedrooms flat in HK with HK$ 2500,00 monthly allowance, which was too much for the 2 of us. Did I take advantage of it - no sir! I do even help some Filipina terminated helpers in HK that ended up stealing from me. My lady employer even gave HK$ 16,000.00 severance pay when my job ended as an appreciation for a good job well done. I kept track all of my purchases with receipts and gave it over to her, even the monies that I saved when I worked with them. I highly respect these people! One more thing, I am allowed to talk with my kano fiancé, now husband, on the phone for hours!:-)

If you found a good helper don't regret to spoil them treat them at least a friend if you can't treat them as family. I ask you, how would you expect your helper to work like a carabao if they are not well feed or lack of sleep or even treated as a human being? If we ever have a helper in the future, I know how to treat them. I treat them like the way I was treated by my employers.

There is saying that you don't understand how people feels unless you're in their shoes. I don't know what would you do if you're on their position think about that!
[Carol]