It doesn’t take so long before the maid discussion comes up when there are two or more women in a place. In the middle of discussing businesses and career, family and other matters, the “how to balance it all” talk comes up, and then they delve into how efficient each of their maids have been. During the conversations, there is a likelihood that Mrs. A soon begins to compare her maid with Mrs B. Maybe Mrs B. slightly mentions that her maid wakes up by 5 a.m everyday to start her daily duties. Whereas, Mrs A. has been trying for months to get her maid to start waking up at that time. What Mrs B. didn’t think was necessary to mention was that she makes sure her maid goes to bed early. Unlike Mrs B, Mrs. A’s maid doesn’t go to bed until 12 a.m and sometimes wakes up in the middle of the night to attend to the crying baby.
I made this illustration to point out that no two homes are exactly the same. Before you engage in comparing your maid with that of another family, you need to have a full glimpse into the whole situation. A maid who is taking care of three kids below the age of six will most likely be exhausted than a maid who is watching over three kids in their pre-teen to teen years. So when looking at the situation, I can’t just say..”But this person has three kids too. Why is her maid not always tired?”. The same also goes for the salaries. A maid who is asked to take care of a baby will most likely charge more. Likewise if she has been given more responsibility outside what she was initially employed for or if she is more educated and well trained.
Factors such as education, exposure, size of house, number of people in the household, children, designated work, sleeping times, working conditions e.t.c play an important role in the effectiveness of your maid. Except you are in, or provide the exact conditions the other maid is being afforded, your goal should be to make your maid fit for your home, not be like someone else. Don’t let another maid’s effectiveness bother you. Find what works for you and keep at it.
When you have the whole picture of the other side in perspective, you most likely won’t be bothered by it anymore.