by Nerissa Miller

Created on: July 25, 2009

It can be an apprehensive experience to invite a live-in maid to your house, especially if she is from a different country, with different cultural background. Language barrier may result in misunderstandings, and we need to be more accommodating, and forgiving in our dealing with our maid.

Try to understand while interviewing for a maid, her family background, training, education received, working experience and likes or dislikes. These are important to see if there is a fit to what you are looking for.

With all the necessary precautions you have done to get a suitable maid, you may still experience certain shocks due cultural, religious or lifestyle differences.

You need to understand that certain maids from rural areas in their countries may not be accustomed to the use of tap water. They prefer the use of buckets to store water, as they draw water from wells or rivers in their countries. It may seem incredible to some of us that there are still people in this modern society that will use bucket of water, dislike or do not know how to use seated toilets, or never use toilet rolls in their whole life. Their lifestyle may seem so perplex to us. It may take a while to educate the maid the importance of cleanliness, not to mix fresh fruits with raw meats, not to use the same brooms or mops you use in your kitchen area in your living or sleeping rooms.

We need to respect the maid's religion, even though we may not be able to allow them specific time to do prayers. We can show our respect for their decision not to take certain food, such as beef for the Buddhist, or pork for the Muslims.

Having a maid in your household can be pressurizing if you do not understand her or lay out your expectations to her from day one. The maid will not know how often you expect her to do the laundry, whether she can eat freely food that she sees in the kitchen or the refrigerator, or what is your definition of clean. You may seem petty to have to advice her on every small thing, but it is important to set the rule to avoid conflicts in future.

Household chores can be mundane, thus there are times when you need to remind the maid she has overlooked certain things, and make sure she writes down if possible to remember the chores she need to complete. A lot of patience is required during the initial period, and constant monitoring of her performance is also necessary.

With proper communication, and setting the rules straight right from the beginning, you will face less problems living with your maid.

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