A Hard Lesson on Trusting and Spoiling

I never thought I'll do a "do you know this person" post here in this blog.

Do you remember I talked about my son's nanny? She, the harmless province girl who was so likeable that we all trusted her, taught us a lot about trusting and spoiling.

She asked for a vacation leave from us and we agreed. We even prepared some pasalubong (gifts) for her parents, to thank them of lending her to us for a few years while our son is at his most needy. When she arrived at our place, she had nothing, and it broke my heart to see her wear the same clothes every day. I bought her clothes, a new cell phone, toiletries and stuff. I don't know what else she could have needed that we didn't give her. See, during my childhood, we treated our househelp like a part of the family. I am all for paying it forward and don't regret helping someone who had so little.

She didn't return from her 'vacation', and not surprisingly, the hubby reacted worse than I did. He never saw it coming, while I did in a way. It was her first time in a new environment, she missed her life with the boys who courted her (she's 20), and while she can eat all she wants and works less than necessary (we don't accumulate much dirt as we work on our PCs), I found it hard to believe that she won't miss the life of an outgoing girl.

But we trusted her, and she promised; that's what's got the hubby riled up. And, she didn't inform us that she's leaving for good (which would've been great!). Sadly, we were left hanging. Nonetheless, I still wish her he best and hope that she will never regret her decision. We are the first family she lived with, and perhaps she needs to learn the hard way that not all families are as kind to maids as we are; and that not every woman-of-the-house will tolerate her preening and frequent splurging on things, then complaining that she doesn't have money anymore. I must've spoiled her, telling her that it's ok to tell me if she didn't have money for cellphone load, and I will give her promptly if she asked.

Well, nothing seems to be missing from our house and my stuff are in the right place. I haven't checked everything though. Her silence and refusal to answer her phone means only 2 things: she took something, or she's too ashamed to talk to me.

My make-up set is still complete and our baby wasn't kidnapped, so all's good. If I DID suspect her of being a bad seed, I would have bought the portable GPS system that I found at Buy.com's weekly deals and slipped it somewhere in her bag. But she's really a nice person, though very fickle (and still very young).

As I close this post, I could hear the hubby saying "she didn't even have the decency to tell us she's left for good, out of farkin' RESPECT!" To which I say nothing, as I usually do when he's really really mad.

Openline or Network Loyalty?

When my loyalty rewards contract with my old phone's service provider was about to expire, I realized that I can finally unlock my phone so that it can accommodate any other service provider. See, my phone was locked to the network I was with because it was almost given to me (sold to me at less than half the original price) by the network for my loyalty.

I renewed loyalty with them in the past simply because I liked the service, but frankly, I really want to try other provider's services because the hype for those other networks is higher and the perks are quicker. The unlocked phone market has also exploded worldwide as more and more people realize the disadvantage of being glued to one network.

Ponder, ponder, pondering....

Online Help for Busy Professionals

New to WAHM-hood? Excited about it? I haven't been a WAHM (work at home mom) for long, but I can share one important advice to all the starting WAHMs out there who dream of a nice day-to-day routine of taking care of your baby while working...

Time can be a very good friend and also a very nasty enemy.

Working online seems easy enough, but if you factor in the amount of time you need to focus, and calm down enough to write and work, you will realize (as I have) that there's not much time. I obtain inspiration from the rarest breed of WAHMs out there who work and study at home while taking care of their baby.

Their secret is simple. Essay papers research. Get others to research your topic and you save time... making room for more brainstorming on how to put it all together. A well written paper can be ordered within the day and delivered the same day via online mail. The same principle can be used to do research and term papers when deadlines are stiff and unyielding.

Having a virtual editor and researcher is one of the secrets of the hardworking WAHM.

My Baby Grows so Fast

We went panic buying yesterday. Not food, but clothes. Baby clothes. Why? Because the Mother's day dinner we attended made us realize that all of AJ's 'for outings' clothes are too small for him!

I never learned my lesson on overbuying baby clothes. I bought dozens when I was preggy with AJ, out of excitement of course, and he wasn't able to wear all of them because he outgrew each piece every week.

Passing blame, I blame internet hype. I go browsing sites that sell children's clothes on a daily basis and decide that I (my baby, i mean) must own all the latest styles in baby fashion! Sometimes, I wonder if I am making up for my own fashion-challenged approach to shopping through my baby's fashion sense.

:D

Nonetheless, now I think I learned my lesson for real. I'm going to make him wear his 'good clothes' even on regular days. How's that for a plan of action?