Ani

I realised sometime back, when a reader checked with me on my maid situation, that I had not updated you all on the new maid in my household. Those of you who followed my blog will probably remember that I had sent the last one packing because she went MIA on us one day when we were out.

Ani, the new maid has been with us for slightly over 2 months now and I wouldn’t go to the extend to say that she is a God sent but I have to give her credit because she has done a damn good job so far.

She worked 5 years in Hong Kong before she came into our lives and naturally she speaks relatively good Cantonese. She worked 4 years straight with her first employer there before opting to change to another employer where she had to look after an elderly. However this elderly passed away and Ani had to go on home.

Well, someone else’s lost is our gain.

To me her most important attribute is her attitude. She has initiative, hardworking and polite.

I am so relieved now because with the previous one, the Mrs would rather stay at home than to go out with her during the weekends. More often than not I was the one who dealt with her. This time round it’s different. Not only does the Mrs not mind going out with Ani in tow, she actually bought her stuffs on a few occasions. This is a stark contrast when compared with the previous one.

I guess this goes to show how much we appreciate her and her work in our family.

She has never shied from work even though we’re at someone’s home. Whenever we’re at Godma or my In-Law’s home and when the Mrs and I are taking of Isaac, she will automatically walk into the kitchen and assist the resident maid with her work such as preparing the meal or washing the dishes. If help is not required in the kitchen she will care for the other babies or standing in one corner and be ever ready should we require her help with Isaac.

She is not without her shortcomings too because according to my Dad and the Mrs, she is not as clean or as thorough as the previous maid but we are all willing to overlook that for all the other “rights” that she has been doing. Anyway she has only been with us for 2 months so we have plenty of time to “train" to clean to our standard. With her good attitude I do not think this will be a problem at all.

Her main chore is really to help look after Isaac and so far she has been doing a good job. Instructions that we had left for her, she will carry them out to the T. Sad to say this but her memory is actually better than mine so there are times I rely on her to remind me things especially when it is related to Isaac.

In our family we do not discriminate maids and you can tell from how we have dinner. She eats at the same table, has the same food and at the same time as us.

However when we are eating with people that prefer for the maids to eat at a different table or order different food for them she will also know her place and eat quietly with the other maids. After dinner, the Mrs and I will always make it a point to check with her if her dinner was sufficient and if we need to buy her anything else.

To our friends who had had dinner with us including Ani, I would like to thank you for not discriminating against her and allowing her to join us. I know how some people prefer not to eat at the same table but these friends actually enjoyed a good meal of steamboat with us. Although I have to add that during steamboat the Mrs will be the one scooping up the cooked food and piling the plate for Ani.

Ani also proves to be a good conversation piece too whenever we’re out because most people cannot believe what they’re hearing. “Cantonese?!?! Is that Cantonese that she is speaking?” they will ask. Most people are amused once they hear our conversations.

So with Ani and Isaac around, we are always making heads turn.