Coming to America was really my idea. Mike,my husband never wanted to live anywhere outside the Philippines .But after our silver wedding anniversary, several years ago, Mike decided to relinquish his role for my desires.
The opportunity came when I had befriended an American businessman who was part of the team of Americans coming to our country for mission trips. Every year, we held medical missions in Boracay , Baguio, Dumaguete, Leyte and other remote areas that needed medical care. We also did much evangelizing . It was during these times that Richard F. became close to me and offered me a job to work in one of his business interests in the Midwest.
The decision to try another scenery came when the furniture industry, where we belonged for a couple of years started to get shaky. This was after the 911 incident, when many buyers were on the sidelines and the manufacturers where hit with high overhead rates and dwindling export sales.
So, there I was in Ohio, having a desk job complete with my own computer and phone, rubbing shoulders with management. When many executives had initials after their last names like CEO. AVP or DIR, my title was FOD (friend of director). I was really in the grind, waking up at 5 in the morning to prepare myself, then carpool at 6 a.m. to be at the office by 7. The hour ride to the office was a scenery of miles and miles of cornfields, cows, silos and small towns. By 3 pm, we would leave back for home, prepare dinner, do chores then early to bed for that familiar mundane cycle to commence the next day.
The job offered to me was ideal for a contemplative transition after the roller coaster experiences of the export business in Cebu. It entailed a routine, with minimal stress and an easy workload, which offered a sense of relief. But after awhile, I sensed a non-challenging life which needed to be revitalized. As I say, it’s either my attitude or I’m in the wrong job. I chose the latter.
We decided to move to the “big apple” since my son and his family would be migrating in a couple of months.
Getting a job in the big apple is so much easier than finding one in the Midwest, so much so that after 5 weeks of tedious search and constant kneeling to my God, my ordeal was over and my prayer was answered.
My job would take me only 15 minutes walk max from where I live. So sparing the cost in commuting and the much needed exercise was a plus factor in choosing this over the others. Moreover, my job gives me rent free accommodations , tax free payments and stress free environments. The ideal job that not so many are cut to be but has tremendous advantages and influence you can imagine
My boss is short, blonde and the best looking guy I ever saw for his age. He does have a temper and screams to the highest of decibels when he gets impatient. And even if he gives me shit, I clean up after him. But I don’t mind because he allows me to give him secret kisses and I melt when he looks at me with his deep blue eyes. We go for short walks and hold hands at the park. We have lunch breaks and snacks together. And best of all, no intrigues and gossips mill around with this kind of displayed affection. After all, my boss is 20 months old and I’m his nanny.
Nannies or ‘yayas’ as called in the Philippines carries with it a stigma because they are considered uneducated and poor. But not so in America where there is dignity in labor.
When my agency called me and offered me a job as a nanny, I hesitated at first, but then I decided to take the challenge. I have heard rumors of being nannies to stars, millionaires and diplomats in the big apple, and they were having fun. So I wanted to have some fun, too. And to this day, on my second year as a nanny I have never regretted it a bit. Although I started as a nanny, today, I am considered an adopted part of the family.
This is one job that I know will have to cease when the kids get older. Yet deep in my heart this is the one that had the deepest relational experience of all. Because for me, all the other jobs I had are no different than what I have now. Yet this one has given me more insight and inspiration.
My very first book “My CEO is a three year old”, is a job memoir that relates to experiences from my previous jobs with what I have now. I am editing it at the moment and hope to have it publish soon.
Anyway, let me end with the reply to a question given to our own Philippine candidate Ms. Precious Lara Quigman that won her the Miss International title in 2005.
Q: What do you say to the people of the world who have typecasted Filipinos as nannies?
Lara: “I take no offence on being typecasted as a nanny. But I do take offence that the educated people of the world have somehow denigrated the true sense and meaning of what a nanny is. Let me tell you what she is. She is someone who gives more than she takes. She is someone you trust to look after the very people most precious to you --your child, the elderly, yourself. She is the one who has made a living out of caring and loving other people.So to those who have typecasted us as nannies, thank you. It is a testament to the loving and caring culture of the Filipino people.. And for that, I am forever proud and grateful of my roots and culture.
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