But Maya was always there to bridge the gap.
I remember one afternoon when I had a client presentation scheduled at the exact same time as parent-teacher conferences. I panicked, thinking I’d have to disappoint one side. That was when Maya stepped in without hesitation. She picked the kids up, made them snacks, and even helped them with their homework before I got home. When I walked through the door that night, my daughter proudly showed me the math problems she had finished with Maya’s help, and my son was grinning from ear to ear because “Auntie let us watch cartoons after homework.”
That moment sealed it for me—I believed I could rely on her no matter what.
So when another responsibility came up, Maya was the first person I thought of.
A weekend conference was scheduled in another city, and there was no way I could bring the children along. I asked Maya to babysit for the day. She agreed without much hesitation, and to make sure she took it seriously, I even offered to pay her double her usual rate.
“Double?” she asked, raising her eyebrows, half-amused, half-skeptical.
