Yaya

Posted by Analyse at 11:01 AM

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

When Louna’s former nanny announced that she’s pregnant, we felt real happiness for her for around a second. The seconds which followed were realizations of a long process of nanny hiring à la française.

A lot of questions were asked on what solution we would take? Will we hire an assistante maternelle (a chid-care provider who could guard 3 kids in her place) like what we did for Louna? That would mean that Louna should eat at the canteen everyday and stay at the nursery after school because that nanny would only take care of Kyla and not Louna. What if we’re both on travel and couldn’t fetch her from school before 6pm (nursery closes at 6pm)? Will we hire another person, a périscolaire to fetch her from school? Another concern is that Louna should stay from 8:30am to 5:30-6pm everyday at school. That’s pretty much for a 3 year old!

Though that solution is financially more interesting, the time constraints and the lack of flexibility are frightening us. We progressively looked at another option.

Garde d’enfants à domicile. Yaya almost-pinoy-style (not the stay-in type). Somebody who would take care of the kids in our place. In addition to being a nanny, she would take care of the different household chores like cleaning, ironing and even cooking. Another advantage is that, she could fetch Louna from school at noon and have her lunch at home. Kyla could stay in bed and won’t wake up early in the morning to go to her nanny’s place. We won’t need to hire a cleaning lady.

We long hesitated to succumb in this solution because of the economic aspect but after an analysis, the little amount of euro we would add for this option would mean comfort for the whole family.

We had been actively pursuing this solution since two weeks now. We posted an announcement at the ANPE (employment agency) which transmitted a good number of CVs and letters of motivation to us. Frenchguy and I started to study the CVs and eliminated those which didn’t reply to our criteria. With that, we were able to cut down the number of candidates to 8. A series of phone interviews followed and 4 of the candidates caught our interest. We will meet them this Thursday and Friday for a face-to-face interview (yes, we will even take a leave for that! – but hey, one of these person would probably take care of my kids.)

While studying the CVs, I had this uncomfortable feeling of responsibility knowing that the future of those candidates depended on my decision – especially in this hard moment of economic chaos. There was this African applicant who seemed to be motivated and hardworking but lacked a driver’s license. There was this woman, a former office secretary. She’s almost perfect but I don’t need a secretary! There were women who live far from Dijon but were willing to drive more than 30km to bag the job. There were those young ladies, too young to have job experiences and old enough to have kids of their own.

In this selection process, I probably practiced racism and discrimination in one sole objective – that is, to find the best nanny who would take good care of my girls. And that’s one tough job!

My Mom is quite overwhelmed of this whole process. Overwhelmed by the fact that we will pay social charges for the nanny, that the candidates are mostly diploma holders specialized in child care, that interviews are even fixed, that even a retired teacher and a secretary applied for the job.

Aba e, sa probinsya namin, wala daw lahat nyan no.

11 comments:

Francesca said...

yaya lang po yan, kaya handa na ang budgets sa social security benefits.dyan kami nagtatalo ng mga past employers ko, haha.

May option dyan, ana. Sa PAtipiran, pwede cheque emploi.
Or CDD not CDI.Check the net how it works.
Ganyan mga offers ng mga employers like you, working parents, kasi naman, over sa laki ang bayarin sa SSS to declare an employee.

Anyways, hope you find your best nanny. Aapply sana ako eh.
Mabait na amo, cute pa ng mga anak mo...WINK

Anonymous said...

i can imagine how hard it must be to find a new nanny! i have trust issues so if i have my own kid, i wouldn't know what to do either.

goodluck with the interviews! i hope you find "the one" and makilatis mo talaga real personality nila!

Analyse said...

Francesca, well, there's 50% credit d'impôt naman on all our nanny expenses (SSS + net salary) so all in all, di naman ganun kalaki. Medyo mataas ng kunti if we pay an asst maternelle but compared to the comfort, okay na din... Frenchguy's not into hiring illegally kasi, neither do i so we shoulder all the expenses..

with cheque emploi, it's the same din naman, we pay the SSS so I don't see how I could pay lesser with that?? kk, i'll check the net hehe..

Gracita, yeah, hirap din minsan kasi during interviews, they could act like an angel and then after the probationary period, labas ang totoong kulay.. but we will try to call up some reference person they noted on their CVs bago sign ng contract, mahirap na.

Anonymous said...

Hi Analyse,
That's a hard decision you and your husband will be making within several days time: who will take care of the kids? Good luck with the candidates and I'm hoping one of them is the perfect nanny.

haze said...

It's a risky thing especially in choosing a person who will take care of your kids. But I do hope that you can find someone that suits your criteria. I know you will :D!

You're case is different kasi before you had your bébés you are already working for the company and you both travel a lot :( ! Maybe you could also ask some of your office mates for reference di ba ;). How about fille au pair kaya ?

CLC Fashion said...

pwedi apply? haha kung kapitbahay lang kita eh pwedi na sana ako na lang mag-alaga para may kalaro si charlène ko hehe

btw, goodluck sa nanny hunting!:-)

Anonymous said...

Goodluck sa paghahanap mo ng good nanny sa mga kids. Mahirap talaga ipagkatiwala na lang basta ang mga anak, one of the reasons kaya naging SAHM ako.

Happy Heart's Day!

lovelyn said...

No Pinay applicant? Goodluck and hope you'll pick the best one. She would basically be their second mom so pray for guidance. Sometimes it helps when you ask HIM up there.

Boun San Valentino!

Francesca said...

ana, reminds me today, I found a filipina in the ads asking for nanny services. So I sent her marghie, and nagclick sila.
She can declare, villa ang bahay, gaya mo. Married to a frenchman din siya.

She told me, she prefered a kapwa pinay, namemaintain daw ang culturang pinoy sa anak niya.
Strict daw, but loving...
Me nahanap ka na ba?

Analyse said...

Joanne, we've chosen already.. and i hope we found the right one.

Haze, some of our colleagues have garde à domicile too and they're very satisfied. That's also what made us change our mind. I just hope that the girl we have chosen is apt for the job.. why not fille au pair? we want somebody permanent, if she's really compatible with the kids, she could stay with us for 3 years, till Kyla starts pre-school.. so imagine the responsibility!

Lucille, naku sana nga.. layo naman kasi natin hehe..

Ann, being a SAHM is not in the option, esp with the economic crisis we are facing right now, when everybody tries to hang to what they have.. pero sana one day, i could experience that luxury hehe..

Lovelyn, hmmmm, medyo mahirap.. if she's a pinay, i would want somebody who speaks fluent english and tagalog.. errr, medyo mahirap :(

Francesca, ajejeh, villa daw oh.. baka bahay lang ng kalapati tong bahay namin compared dyan, lol... yep, we found somebody na, she'll start mar 15.. there's not much pinay here din kasi, and most of them take care of the elders and not babies..

Unknown said...

Hay buti pa kayo can afford a nanny. Kaya minsan kahit naiisip kong mag-child #2, para kong kinikilabutan. I dread struggling with prams on the bus/train, in the rain/snow/sleet... Most especially the added house work and the finally, the child care. Gaaadd the list is endless.

hehe halata bang may trauma ?

Goodluck with the new nanny :-)