Analyn was a good yaya. It probably helped that her son was only four years old, so the lessons she’d learned while raising him were still quite fresh. And like us, she and her husband took a while to get pregnant too. And like me, she breastfed her son.
She was kind, cheerful, talkative, inquisitive. If she didn’t understand something, she would ask. If she thought there was a better or different way of doing something, she would suggest it. If she didn’t agree, she said so too, but she was never combative about it. She was observant too. A few times, I had to bring her and Lucas with me to the office, and she remembered people’s names and the things they said. She watched the shows and movies we watched, and asked questions and remembered names and titles and stories.
She taught me a few recipes to help improve my milk production, even bringing me malunggay and okra from her mother’s garden a few times. She cooked for us too, a few times.
We didn’t have to ask her twice, if there was something that needed doing. In fact, often she did things around the house without being asked: sweeping and mopping in the morning, before we came down from the bedroom; folding the laundry; soaking Lucas’ soiled diapers; washing dishes; putting the food away after meals. She would teach Lucas to sing and dance, and point to objects around the house in an attempt to get him to identify them. She saw his board books in the play room, and she would read to him when they were playing–something we’d never asked her to do.
If there was something she did that we didn’t agree with, we could explain it to her and she would welcome the feedback. She followed instructions well, and wasn’t afraid to ask or improvise. If I was at home, she would tell me if she thought Lucas wanted milk. If the laundry and the dishes were done, sometimes she would just hang out while I fed him, and we would just talk, about family, pregnancy, work.
Her son had asthma, so there were times when she would go home every night to check on him. She always arrived early on Mondays.
She was a really good yaya.
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