by Anna Ford
February 2012
Shanghai is expecting a baby boom this year which doesn’t come as a surprise. After all, who doesn’t want a baby Dragon?
I don’t want a baby Dragon. I have have my hands full with an ox, pig and rooster…surprisingly, nothing about the descriptions really matches any of my children…whatever. My husband is a dragon and I’m apparently a goat (awesome). We also have an actual dog that acts more like a person.
Why all this barnyard discussion? This year, the year of the Dragon, there is supposed to be a baby boom in Shanghai with at least 10% more babies born than last year in the hopes that one’s child will have many of the fantastic Dragon traits that the horoscope prescribes. Of course that’s a whole lot of head strong 5 year old’s, short tempered 18 year old’s and a lot of middle-management leaders…you know the kind that are the boss but aren’t the boss-boss (think back to your first Chinese lesson).
Of course will all these baby Dragons around there will be a shortage of get this, qualified ayi’s . In the 3 calendar years I have lived in China we have had close to 15 ayis…they come and go in rapid succession as they either are just downright awful (like the one watching my TV right now) to the ones that mean well but let the kids play with knives, yes really, and the ones that really work hard but it’s just not worth your time or energy because while your laundry is all done the rest of the place has gone to pot. Of course, there are good ones, we have had four and one wasn’t Chinese.
My question is what makes an ayi qualified? For the vast majority of parents this year, parenting is a new thing as this is likely their only child so how does a new parent evaluate what they need in terms of qualifications for the ever changing, most important, brand new person in their lives? I couldn’t even guess how a parent could make a decision like this and when I figure out how to hire a qualified ayi I’ll be sure you let you know.
Good luck finding an ayi this year…all the good ones are already taken!
