The Casting Call

People say couples of different nationalities make the best looking babies. I don't know if this is true because as parents, their own kids will always be the best looking ones.  Suffice it to say, my daughters are, for me, the most beautiful creatures in the whole wide world.

My daughters are Fil-American-Italian babies.  They look eccentric which makes them quite noticeable even in a crowd.  Trips to the mall or the park may sometimes have strangers (agents) who ask us to have aVTR shoot for modelling possibilities.

Two Saturdays ago, I succumbed to the pressure.  I went to a casting call for a modelling agency.  Because it was running for a couple of months, it was the perfect venue to try it out.  I'm sure there will be less crowd.

So I had Pot all dolled up with make-up and hairdo to match.  I was approached by a couple of organizers to say that I have cute kids (Nemo was also with me).  Come photoshoot time (for the portfolio), Pot was the first one to get called in.  In comes to photographer with some instructions. Pot flashed her signature pose - chin on shoulder, too sour-smile - that can never win even just a second of airtime.  In comes the photographer with some instructions. 

What did Pot do on the next few slides?


......

She covered her face and begged for nap time.

Here's where the story ends.  Now I know... She doesn't like the limelight.

The Yaya Chronicle (Part I)

I've put "part one" in the title because I am sure I'll be writing more about this until I muster the courage to get rid of my yaya (nanny).

My last nanny before this one stayed with us for almost one year.  She practically raised my second daughter, Nemo, since she was only a few months old when Chel (ex-nanny) was employed.  Her husband was hired by my Mother's family as an Uncle's caregiver.  So when my uncle passed away and her hubby had to go home to the province, Chel went with him.  Like any other relationship, she had to move on and live her life with her husband. 

Moving on to my dilemma...

My new nanny has been with us for more than a month.  She has been sending bad vibes since day one but since I was pretty desperate on getting somebody to help take care of the kids, I vowed to "try" to look away from the bad vibes. 

Last week, I heard my younger daughter cry in my Mother's room.  When I went there and asked what was going on, the nanny got panicky and said Nemo slapped her so she gave her "the look."  I have a feeling something else transpired that day so I asked my Mother to take extra caution and not leave the baby alone on nanny's care.  My Mom's been taking care of the kids while she, the nanny, went to be an all-around maid.  I am still looking for a new nanny and, by golly, I wish I can find a new one soon!

We also noticed that a lot of things did vanishing acts at home.  Cameras, phones, money... Because there wasn't a direct line between those incidents (the tangible ones were found, money wasn't) and my maid, I didn't have a solid basis for acting on it.  

Two days ago, we had some rice supply shortage.  Since it was a Monday, I couldn't do my grocery shopping.  The maid volunteered to get it from the neighbor's mini-mart.  We gave her money for 10 kilos and specified which one we wanted to get.  She came home with some extra change.  My mom went back to the mini-mart later that day to give the excess back and there she learned that the maid got 9 kilos - and kept some extra bucks to herself. :(

I want to get rid of her so badly when I found out (my mother asked me not to and look for a replacement first).  It was petty, cheap and all too scary.  If she can do that for less than 100 pesos, what can she do for more? 

Why is it so hard to find somebody you can trust? :(