The Nanny Search

It is times like these when you find out who is really dependable and sweetly helpful. Why? Because it is not easy to get help from anyone... and I mean anyone... be it friends, family or colleagues. Well, if it's hard to weedle out info from your family and friends, can you just imagine what it'll take to get info from strangers?

And so begins my rocky journey in trying to find a nanny for my darling princess. I foresee myself being a paranoid mummy, and it shows in the way I try and select my nanny. After all, I won't be home to supervise her from morning till evening! :(  So it must be a trustworthy lady and even then, I will have to closely observe her later.

My initial idea was to try and do it the economical way. Meaning trying to arrange the selection from Indon (since it's so hard to get an English speaking Cambodian) myself and doing the immigration part here directly. The tricky part would be to identify the maid in Indon itself as I don't really know anyone who can help me find a good and dependable person there. Hmm... it's not like I can just agree to anything and anyone. A couple of people actually managed to pass me numbers to agencies over there, but again I felt as though I was heading for a dead end. My mind is dizzy with unanswered questions and insecurities because let's face it... I could be lied to by these people and I wouldn't know it. That is  how gullible I am. Sigh...

So next was to explore the agencies over here and I was able to get 3 numbers from my in-laws. One didn't bother to return my call and the other 2 was different in 2 ways... information I was getting and the price tag. The first agency had a cheaper price tag... a diff of arnd RM2,400! But my chit chat didn't turn out so well. They couldn't really assure me that the maid would be coming on time (around Jan/Feb would be ideal). No real explanation was given on how to proceed or the procedures involved in obtaining the maid from Indon. Soooo... I was left with more questions and uncertainties. This agency was used by my BIL and the maid had arrived late..plus.... heard that should they wish to replace this current maid (they're not that happy with her), they wanted to use a different agency. Now my confidence in this agency is really shot down.

The second agency had a hefty price tag. My mind still struggles to accept that we would have to pay that much. Honestly I am still trying to reconcile myself to the thought. But the major difference was the information given was so much and reassuring. The agent really follows up with me and though I would ask the same questions, I will always get and answer. The best part is that the maid is set to arrive either end of this month, or early next month... which is just perfect as it's better to be early than late.

So there you go... my headache for the past couple of months. Tugging and bothering people to answer my text and questions... even to the point of calling them for help... and of course, the constant computation in my head for benefit vs costs... My big fear? Being swindled by these people whom I've never dealt with before.

Some part of me wish I could go whining to my parents to please help me... but I am 27 years old and I guess the good decisions and the bad ones will have to come straight from me.

I just hope this search will be over soon and that we find a good and dependable nanny/maid for my darling... hopefully, hopefully...

Insyallah...