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MaidAids® Speak Housekeeper’s Language: Put Spanish-Speaking Housekeepers In Communication

By Anonymous

Homeowners frustrated with not being able to communicate to their foreign-language speaking domestic help now have a handy way to get the job done. A new company based in Olney, Maryland, has produced sticky notes that are pre-printed with Spanish directions (and sub-titled with English) for common household chores. Called MaidAids®, these pre-printed notes contain instructions for the housekeeper for each day’s work.

Frustrated by not being able to speak the language, MaidAids co-founder Shayna Heller turned to a Spanish interpreter to jot down some of the chores she wanted her housekeeper to do. “My housekeeper kept nodding her head ‘yes’ when I would ask her to do something, but things still weren’t getting done,” Heller said. “I realized that she didn’t understand what I wanted her to do because she really didn’t speak English, but was just being polite.”

In researching the common phrases, Heller and her two co-founders, Barbara Moller- a Spanish-language interpreter and narrator, and Mike Weiner, a local entrepreneur, hit upon the idea of pre-printing notes that would instruct the housekeeper to do common, and not so common, tasks for the day. Moller added, “Leaving a MaidAid with the check, or in a prominent place, makes sure that your wishes are known to your help. MaidAids are a way to cross the language barrier easily.”

Weiner remarked, “With MaidAids, you get an inexpensive way to get the housekeeper working for you, rather than doing what she or he thinks needs to be done.”

MaidAids are available for ordering online at www.MaidAids.com.

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