My Maid - My Aid - My Lifeline



Picture is from public domain

I have heard so many people with their stories of maid and I was very skeptical about the whole thing. Since I am working, and was about to deliver a baby, I had to hire someone who can take care of my daughter, house & me. Being in Dubai this is the hardest job to handover your bundle of joy to someone you don’t know and thorough preparation is required. My first experience with maid was like others where I had to send her back just in 3 months of working with us. We had hired her as my husband knew her and we did not do any reality check or aligned expectations. We were happy to call someone we knew but that turned out to be even worse.

 

Now equipped with the latest failure, I knew what I wanted and started searching for a new maid with a strong believe that there are good people on earth and someone better would replace her and as if my wish was granted, I found the perfect maid for us. But to get there I assured the following:

 

 

Preparation before bringing maid: This time I was very careful and made list of how I want my maid to be. Before calling her here, I sent her a list of things which she is expected to do here and special meal requirements(Jain) which we follow at our home. Most of the time, people coming from India have high expectation from the place like Dubai and gets shocked with the amount of work they must do when they land here. So, lessons learnt from the previous maid experience, I decided to tell her in advance the job description starting from getting up at 6.00am in the morning. Life is not very easy in Dubai oppose to thoughts people have back in India. And information beforehand helped her to imagine how the day would be like. We did a background check and even spoke to her husband before calling her. We called her for 3months on probation and told her that she will be confirmed only if we and she both are happy. 

 



 



 

Rules That I set for her: I laid down some rules keeping in mind my young daughter at home.  This was communicated to her along with Job description before she came in and was emphasized to be followed like 10 commandments of Moses.

1-She can use TV & Mobile only when my daughter is sleeping.

2-No male friends are allowed inside house when we are not there.

3-Friday is a holiday for her, however she will accommodate the request of staying back in case of any function or guests at home.

4-Overnight stay at friend’s place is not allowed, however once in a while for special occasion is ok.

 

These rules vary from house to house however idea is to set them up and communicate in advance.

Be Open: we have had the cameras in the house since I feel it is important to check occasionally and make sure everything is fine. But I also informed my maid that there are cameras in house and I can see all what you do. This is not to humiliate her but to build the trust as we are keeping our child with an unknown person and in case of emergency it is very useful. I added it is not that someone is continuously monitoring you, occasionally in office when we get time, we will check it. This openness is good rather than hiding from them and pointing out their mistakes each time. This also prevents them from doing anything wrong as they know they can be checked anytime.

Treat them like a family: It is very important to take care of person who is taking care of your child and treating them with love and care is always going to be shown on your child’s face. Whenever I buy something for me, I try buying things for her, take her to the places with us. I appreciate the fact that someone has left her family and house to serve me and that deserves my respect. My maid left her 10year old daughter & 3year old Son when she came. Life is not easy for them and we as an employer needs to understand that.

 

As soon as she came, she took over the responsibility of the whole house. Today, she has spent almost 1year and 6months with us and now I can’t imagine my life without her. She takes care of my Daughter, cooks food, cleans house & handle me (J). Lovingly I call her half mother of my child. Truly, I could do job only because of her, I can pursue my other dreams because she is there and she is truly my aid.

I am sure you too can find good person which best fits your requirement but for that you should know what you need from them and the person commits to do it willingly. I was blessed enough to get it in second time, but you may find it in first time with the help of above points.  

Let me know about your experience with your aid.