Housemaid or daycare?
Sep 20, 2012
When Zuena Matovu gave birth to her second born, she thought of taking her son to a daycare. But then after moving up and down to find the ideal school, she realised they were too expensive. A good daycare charges at least sh500,000.
When Zuena Matovu gave birth to her second born, she thought of taking her son to a daycare. But then after moving up and down to find the ideal school, she realised they were too expensive. A good daycare charges at least sh500,000.
There were times she thought of becoming a stay-homemother, but how would she support her family? She later sought assistance from a friend to help her find a housemaid, who was able to do all the household chores and also look after the children.
There was a catch. The maid was deep from Mityana. She had to first train her on how to feed and look after the baby. She hardly knew how to take proper care of the baby.
“I also trained her how to cook, wash and how to look after the home. By the time I reported back for work, Sarah had almost learnt everything. She would feed my two-month-old baby on time, wash and sterilise the baby’s feeding bottles, play with the baby and also finish the housework on time,” narrates Matovu.
According to her, whenever she came home early, she would find the maid playing with the children. As a mother, she was pleased to see that her children would mingle well with the maid. “Sometimes when my son would cry uncontrollably, she would carry her on her back and sing him lullabies,” says Matovu.
However, after two years, Sarah became big-headed. “I fired her,” she says. “She couldn’t listen to me and whenever I raised my voice to threaten her, she would wait for me to leave, and take out her anger on my children,” she says with a sad tone in her voice.
As if that was not enough, she still recalls the day when her immediate neighbours warned her about Sarah. They told her that strange people come and watch movies in her house as soon as she would leave for work. Some times during lunch hours, Sarah locked the children in the house and went loitering around the trading centre. She returned just in time, before her boss was back.
“Since I cannot afford a daycare, three months back, I hired another maid. She is not very perfect, but she obeys me and respects all the decisions I make. Currently, we are still on good terms and my only prayer is that she looks after my children well,” she says.
I chose a daycare
Diane Birungi feels guilty every time she has had to wake her one-year-old baby as early as 5:00am to prepare him for school. Looking back, she has had enough drama with maids and decided enough is enough. She used about five maids in less than two months. There was one who was good at her chores, but as soon as she fell in love with a boda boda man, she became impossible. Then there was one who always stole sugar, the baby’s milk and other food items.
“A kilo of sugar lasted two days. Soap would just vanish. Expenditure tripled!” says Birungi. The last straw that broke the camel’s back was when she found her toddler burnt and screaming in pain. How he crawled to the kitchen and pulled the saucepan of boiling beans down, she has no idea.
Birungi and her husband decided to do away with the maid. Birungi’s husband says, the best part is that the child is not anywhere near dangerous things, like fire or at the mercy of being locked up in a house. Birungi also says her expenditure has come down considerably. “Imagine you are spending around sh70,000 almost everyday, not to mention her sh80,000 monthly salary. I would rather pay that sh600,000 for the three months at ago, than spend on a maid. The daycare is more affordable, ” Birungi says.
There are moments that break her heart, of course. Like the day when it is raining and she has to manoeuver on a boda boda with the innocent little soul. There are also days when her son “glues” to the bed and cries if he is still enjoying his sleep. “But the more I talked with other parents and teachers at the daycare, the less worried I felt. At least there are other children to play with. I realised that there would be a high cost for the commitment of a nanny: Not only in the form of more money, but psychologically and emotionally too.”
Expert Opinion
Whichever way you look at it, every parent is in a dilemma. Maids are stealing children. The daycares are also becoming careless. What with the recent story of one toddler who drowned in a swimming pool at a pre-school in Kampala. George Masuba, a child counsellor at Child Fund International says it’s a two-way aspect and each option has it is complications.
“There are instances where a child should go to a daycare in order to be monitored closely during day. In most cases, people choose daycares because in an appropriate daycare, the child’s socialisation skills can easily be enhanced from an early age,” says Masuba.
“In daycares, there are many children who convene, and they are able to play, interact and socialise. Besides that, the children’s mental abilities can easily be enhanced since daycares have a big number of play materials and also their feeding methods are friendly to the children.”
But, he explains that ideally, it would not be healthy for the child to stay in daycare for long hours. A child should be brought back around mid-day because he or she needs affection and interaction from her parents. But the reality is that most parents work till late.
A child who spends much of the time with the maid may not have socialisation skills. “A maid wants chores done and in most cases the child fends for themselves.”
Masuba says in most cases, people hire maids because they are cheap compared to daycares. Also, besides looking after children, maids can do all the house chores. But, some maids are naïve when it comes to taking care of the children since they don’t have any formal training, in management of the children. In fact, most maids learn everything at the job.
Masuba, however, states that it is important to hire maids depending on their level of education and background. Some maids are too vulnerable. They can’t make decisions, especially if the child falls sick.
Masuba also says most people take children to daycares for security reasons.
“They don’t trust maids considering the stories people tell about them. Also, some parents have a strong feeling that in the daycare, there are regulations and standards that are followed to take care of the children.
And, in case of any accident, the school is held accountable.”