Meet the two ladies who serve as our twins’ real-life guardian angels ever since they were a week old.
The twins were barely a week old when my Mom arrived at our apartment in Mandaue City (Cebu) with two, young ladies in tow.
Their names: Joy and Elsie.
They come from Barangay(village) Libas in the town of Merida, Leyte. From Cebu, we normally travel three hours (two hours via a fast craft and one hour in a van or bus) to get to the village. It is the same the village where my Father grew up and where I lived for eight years (between the ages of nine and 16).
Prior to giving birth to our twins (Nicholas and Antoinette)on the first of July 2013, I asked my Mother if she can look for two nannies (called Ayi in Chinese, a term Jeff and I use in the house), who can help me manage the children. I was still on a 78-day maternity leave but since I delivered the twins via C-section, I need to rest to heal properly.
Jeff was still with me in Cebu (he is based in China because his work requires him to be there) and together, we interviewed the two ladies. They were very shy, a typical quality of provincial lasses, who made their way into the big city.
We asked them questions but often times, the responses came in smiles. Frustrating, yes.
About thirty minutes into the “interview”, the two would answer “yes” and “no” and after another ten minutes, they were able to answer in phrases.
From there, we learned that Joy and Elsie do not have any professional background in taking care of children. Professional meaning they did not have any prior experience where taking care of kids was regarded as a job. Oh, Lord!
Elsie has an older sister and seven younger siblings so she sort of knows how to carry a newborn. Joy doesn’t have any idea. She has a sister who is only three years younger than her so Joy was still in her diapers when the sister was born. There was no way she could take care of a baby at three years old.
Both are high school graduates and cannot find any job in the province so they decided to apply as nannies after they learned that my Mom was looking for two. They were high school classmates and neighbors so they decided to give nannyship (sorry, my term) a shot.
I am a first-time Mom and learning the ropes of diaper-changing, breastfeeding and waking up in the wee hours of the morning to check on what happened to TWO (not one!) screaming babies consumed me physically, mentally and emotionally. Since, Joy and Elsie were also first timers, I feared that they will bring more problems than assistance in taking care of the children.
But the weeks that followed gave me some of life’s most surprising and inspiring moments.
I found out that Joy is a fearless, young lady who can be trusted in giving the children their baths. Jeff and I trained her and Elsie on the proper way to bathe a newborn. She learned right on the spot. Elsie learned it after two days.
On day five, they agreed which child “belongs” to whom. Joy chose Nicholas because he was bigger and since she has zero experience in carrying a newborn, she wanted to be sure that she is holding a “big baby”. Ha! Nick was big alright at 6.5 lbs that time.
Antoinette then became Elsie’s “baby”. Our little princess was only 5.6 lbs and was so small, I was so careful when I carried her for the first time because I was afraid I might squeeze her. Elsie was very brave. She looked at Antoinette and told her, “We will be a team and you will grow up as a pretty girl.”
Jeff left Cebu on July 17 when the twins were only two weeks old. The able assistance of Joy and Elsie kept me sane.
One month passed and I saw how dedicated they are in taking care of our children. That is why I made it clear to everyone (including my Mom and my brothers) that Joy and Elsie and will be addressed as Ates (meaning older sisters) rather than Yayas (which means maid or househelp). I felt that they deserve to be called Ates and not Yayas after all the hardwork they have done for my family. They are not maids. They are family. I know that the salary I am paying them will never compensate for the time and effort they put into taking care of Nicholas and Antoinette.
The days moved so fast and slowly, Joy and Elsie came out of their cocoons. I learned that they both love singing with Joy possessing a powerful voice. I often hear her belting Adele songs while putting Nicholas to sleep. Both are huge fans of One Direction and Taylor Swift.
On one occasion, Joy was singing Adele’s Someone Like You and I noticed that she could not finish the entire song because she does not know the lyrics. I asked her to give me the titles of the songs found in their cellphone’s (they share one cellphone) playlist so I can ask my brother, Hendrix, to google the lyrics and have them printed. Oh, you should have seen how happy they were when I told them I will have the song lyrics printed on paper! It was so priceless.
Joy and Elsie understand and speak good English. We often engage in English tutorials while the twins are asleep or when they are just awake staring at the ceiling. Joy would ask me how to pronounce words and Elsie would ask me about grammar. They would ask me to check on the details of the world’s biggest flower or the world’s smallest fish.
I would also give them short lectures on good manners, right conduct and proper hygiene emphasizing that “the world does not end with them being nannies”. It is an honorable job but for young and hardworking people like them, there is so much in store for them. I am convinced that ladies like them will find better opportunities in the future if they continue to work hard and persevere.
In the house, I keep a collection of storybooks, mostly written by Filipino authors, for my storytelling sessions. When I gave birth, I made a conscious decision to expose the children to these books. But how to do that on a daily basis when on the first week of September, I was already back to work and out on the field?
I turned my eyes to Joy and Elsie.
Is it possible for the Ates to serve as the twins’ storytellers? Should I trust them with my children’s exposure to reading?
I decided to give it a try.
I asked Joy and Elsie to tell each child at least one story everyday. But as it turned out, they’ve been doing it even before I told them. That explains why my storybooks were relocated in the living room from my petite bibliothèque. And I just realized that I don’t have photos of the Ates reading to the twins.
Everyday, before I leave for work I witnessed Joy and Elsie reading to Nicholas and Antoinette. They were exposing the twins to so much books that one day, when the twins were only three months old, Elsie came up to me and said, “We’ve run out of books”. Amazing.
At six months old and eight days today, Nicholas and Antoinette are not afraid of books. Well, they eat them and drool on them. Haha! But they also know how to hold them and they know now how to turn pages.
Having Joy and Elsie join our household was a major adjustment for me. One second, I was only living alone in a place of my own and then suddenly, I have a husband, two kids and two nannies. Then, there’s them reading copies of my storybooks!
Would I want it any other way?
Nope. I would gladly relive this part of my life over and over again if given the opportunity.
It is true that these days, it is so hard to look for a good nanny or a trusted housekeeper. Trust me, I also have my fair share of heartbreaks when it comes to them. The pressure to look for one (or two) is multiplied to the nth power when a household has children to take care of and both Mommy and Daddy are working to provide for the family’s needs.
I am so blessed to be given two ladies, who love me children like their own. Recently, Elsie had a 10-day vacation in Leyte and she would text me every other day asking about Antoinette. She arrived last night and she shed a tear when she saw my daughter. Antoinette giggled.
What would life be without Joy and Elsie?
It would be a mess. I am sure.
So much happened to the Ruffolo household because of our two Ates. If someday I write a book about my life, there will be a specific chapter dedicated to them. The title would be “The Storytellers named Joy and Elsie”.
