Great w/ Baby, but SLOW, long days

Hi


We have a 1 year old (just turned one)

We just got a new helper, as our previous helper was 60 and retired.


Our previous helper managed to look after the baby, make baby food, clean, water the plants, do the laundry and cook us dinner.


Our new helper has been with us a month now. I have given her guidelines, a schedule and training in how we like things done and explained the priority is our baby. Luckily, I have had some time off of work and have been able to spend time at home observing from a distance and gently correcting as well as helping a lot.


But work is busy again and I can't do this anymore. So I am concerned about nothing getting done in my absence.


She is NOT cooking for us (I am not asking as she seems to have trouble doing other things)

She does NOT make our bed. (Again, I haven't asked for same reason)

She does NOT prepare the baby food (I do this, for same reason).

She only has to rinse dishes and load the dishwasher - so no washing up. (we just got a second hand dishwasher, so the old helper did not have this)

The plants are part dead because she has not watered them. (I just talked to her about this tonight)

Yet, she is working until 10pm, yet getting less things done than our previous helper.


So...


Was our old helper super or was she not doing things we couldn't see? Probably a bit of both.


Is our new helper still just learning? She comes to us with a lot of experience and great references (I spoke to her employers and they raved about her).


I have even re-written a daily schedule to suggest how she can organise her day better to accomplish more in less time. She seemed receptive to this and told me she likes schedules.


I am sending her on two YWCA classes - Helper and Toddler Play together and Baby Yoga, so she learns more about how to play with our toddler to promote eductation, language, skills, etc... She is very excited about this.


We are about to hire a second helper before our second baby comes, I assume this will help but once the second baby comes the second helper will have to focus on the new baby and be busy herself, so now am prioritising someone who is faster and more time efficient in the search criteria.


QUESTIONS:


Any advise to help our helper be more efficient?


Is there a time when I decide she is not working out? We really like her and she is great with our 1 year old.


Is it totally unrealistic to expect a helper to look after baby, clean and cook? Our last helper did this, our friend's helpers seem to manage okay too...


Any other advise - we would like her to work out as she is good with baby and has a very nice personality.


Thank you

It's not an advise, just a thought...With my first child I did not have even a part-time helper, no family to support and extremily busy husband who couldn't help. So, all the cleaning, cooking, shopping, baby-care including sleepless nights were done by myself. Nothing is impossible. Of course, i was motivated, because it was MY family. Could some extra money motivate your helper?

Thanks


Mag05 - I am not a believer that more money will make someone more efficient or work faster, maybe I am wrong, but I have never seen this work in any environment. Money can be a reward or an incentive, but not a solution to a problem in employee situations.


Cara - that is exactly what I did last night. I sat down with her, told her we were really happy with the way she was with our baby and that we like her and we went over the 'new' more detailed schedule. I didn't make any threats or 'if you don't improve by...' as I want to give her until end of Jan to see some improvement before I say something like that.


I am in the process of hiring a second helper, if she winds up to be 10x better than the first, then I might have to give her notice -but I really want to try to avoid that if possible.


From the above two posts it does seem I am not asking the impossible though, so that is a relief...


Thanks again, looking forward to more replies.

Thanks Saikunga


I thought about that, but I don't think that is the case with her as it genuinely is busy, and I have seen her do things and she is just... well, slow!


Before we had our baby, our last helper was like that, and I asked her about it and she said spread things out so she wouldn't get bored... needless to say that all changed with the baby!


Thanks again for confirming this should be possible... hope the pep talk helped, and will monitor the next few weeks.

Yes its totally possible to look after a baby and do other things. Millions of people do it world wide. I managed on my own before we came out here with 3, and was still able to do the washing, make babyfood, do the shopping, cleaning (albeit not that often...)make dinner etc. If you're helper can't even manage to water the plants (takes 2 minutes), make the beds, (takes 5 minutes) etc then she is either just very, very slow, in which case she may improve with enough nagging, or she doesn't like house work and just likes playing with the baby because its easier and more fun. In which case you may have a problem.

Thanks


I have seen an improvement these past 2 days, so there is hope (well, I hope there is hope!).


Will keep monitoring and see how things work out.


Although I gave her our 'spray mister' for the outside plants, and saw her using it on the soil of the inside plants. I explained it was better to just use a jug and water them b/c it was faster. But she said, 'this is more gentle and better for the plants' - I said again, but it woudl be faster to use a jug, but she wants to do it that way... so I guess I can only help so much. I think part of the issue is that she likes to do things well (no complaints about that), and sometimes prefers to do things well than to do them quickly....


Saikunga - noted :)

OK


Have monitored, it seems to be getting better in some areas and worse in others... I can't stand it anymore and am going to have to make a change.


I spoke with her tonight and she knows I am unhappy, while she is trying her best she is just not an efficient enough worker for us.


So, she even said that she won't quit, but that I should terminate her!


So, I am looking for another helper, and when I find her will terminate this one... and then hire a second helper so we have two in place before the baby comes.


It is a bit sad as I did check her refrences and they were amazing, I have emails and phone calls with the employer and they raved about her... but I found out tonight from her that she did not cook dinner for them and she would clean while they looked after the baby. Which cannot happen in our house as we both work full time.


So, back to the drawing board... ugh...


Thank you for all your advice on this thread, as you helped me realise I was not asking too much!


Of course, now when I am speaking to former employers I am asking "did she manage to look after baby clean and cook each day?" "does she need to be micro-managed?"...

Thank You All


Update.

I terminated the helper on 30 January, and she is working out her notice.


I hired a new helper who I hope will be more efficient who starts at the end of Feb.


I am still looking for a second helper.


Thank you again... much appreciated the support and advice above!