Chronicles of a Maid-less Mum

*This post was written my first week maid-less - which was about two weeks ago. Sorry, can't even find the time to click the publish button nowadays!!

And so I survived my first week. Barely survived I must say though. Soooo freaking tired! By the time I heave my body onto the bed, usually I can no longer feel my feet. Not only that, I landed myself a bad sore throat, flu and fever by the end of the week. Must be the shock from all the drama and additional workload throughout the week. Let me elaborate:

Day 1: Saturday
Slept at 130am, woke up at 330am. Drove my maid to KLIA2 and saw her to the gate at 530am. My maid playfully tried to bring Ian with her and surprisingly, he gleefully waved bye at us! *cheeky* Drove back home and caught up with our sleep only to have to wake up at 9am for brunch with the Real Kids mummies. After that we headed to BMW for a short car check up and car wash, then to a fireman birthday party at Jelatek. It was a great birthday party; kids had a blast going on the fire truck and Aiden even tried sliding down the fireman pole. Must remember to upload pictures. Needless to say, by the time we got home we were beyond pooped!

Bomba cilik was what they called the boys that day!

Day 2: Sunday
Woke up early for Ian's weekly morning class at Beebop Circus. After that, rushed for our dentist appointment at noon. Aiden refused to sit on the dentist chair, but the dentist was so accommodating that she agreed to check his teeth while he stood beside her. Hubby and I had our periodic scaling done and after that we headed to the new PappaRich in BJ for a banana split! Clean sparkly teeth and ice-cream. Hmm... I'm sure our dentist wouldn't quite approve! Stayed home in the afternoon and got ourselves mentally prepared for our first working day without a maid.

Pearly smiles, with a missing tooth!

Day 3: Monday
Pre-planned to work from home to try and get myself used to the whole getting kids to school routine. Aiden refused to wake up! He missed his school van. Showered Aiden quickly, prepared breakfast, woke Ian up and placed him in the car seat to send Aiden to school. Just before we drove out, hubby called to say that there was a chemical spill on the highway causing a massive traffic jam. Carried Ian back inside and told Aiden to skip school! (Such a bad mummy!!) Attempted to tackle the mountain of laundry that somehow magically appeared as soon as the maid left. Hung the freshly laundered clothes outside. For lunch, brought both kids to BJ for nasi campur but Aiden specifically wanted nasi goreng pattaya which unfortunately wasn't available anywhere! Pujuk punya pujuk finally he settled for kuey teow goreng at PappaRich (his favourite place to eat nowadays). That night, packed Ian's bag for his first day at day care!


Day 4: Tuesday
Super important meeting at the Pullman Hotel for me, with a spillover to the next day (Hari Malaysia) so we made plans to sleepover at the hotel. That morning, Hubby took over and sent the kids to day care. We made the executive decision to excuse Aiden from school so that he could keep an eye on his little brother for his first day at day care (we later found out school was closed due to haze anyway). I was extremely relieved when Hubby reported that Ian walked in excitedly to day care. Unfortunately that was short lived when at 10am, the day care called saying Ian was crying at the top of his lungs, struggling to open the door (I could actually hear him in the background). Even Aiden couldn't calm Ian down. After an agonizing hour (for me and him!) they texted to say that he had fallen asleep. Finally I could concentrate again in my meeting. Barely half hour after that, he woke up and cried again! In the end I called a neighbour who went over to pick him up. She said, the minute Ian saw her, he immediately walked out and wore his shoes. His eyes were swollen, I guess he had been crying for ages. Kesian sangat. *sigh* So Aiden and Ian both stayed with her until Hubby picked them up in the evening and drove to the hotel. I felt so sad when I saw Ian that night. He must have felt so abandoned that he barely ate anything earlier. We had a great buffet dinner at the hotel, with a chocolate fountain and ice cream cones encrusted with chocolate sprinkles. He was so happy to see me and apparently quite famished that he ate with so much gusto, my heart broke into a million pieces. Seriously, I actually contemplated sending my resignation letter that night!

Our beautiful room (and bathtub!) at Pullman Bangsar.

Remnants of a puffy eyes, from (what must have been) a lot of crying.

Day 5: Wednesday
Great buffet breakfast at the hotel then we spent the morning at the pool. Thanks to the Friso floats, Ian had a great time, confidently walking into one pool to the other. Stuffed from breakfast, we decided to skip lunch until we got a text saying that lunch was included! Lunch was a grand affair too, and the kids revisited the chocolate fountain and ice-cream parlour. Left for home and my in laws visited that evening. Ended the night with a long discussion with Hubby about what we were going to do with the kids for the remainder two weeks. I just couldn't bear the thought of leaving Ian crying at daycare again!

Love the Friso Gold floats. I've collected at least 4 so far!

Day 6: Thursday
Dropped Ian off at a neighbour (same neighbour as Tuesday) who had graciously offered to babysit Ian again. I was quite nervous about leaving Ian, especially without Aiden. But surprisingly Ian said "Hi" to her and whimpered a bit when I said bye, but did not cry at all! Apparently he watched TV for a bit, had a bottle of milk then fell asleep well until 11am. Meanwhile I dropped Aiden at school, got stuck in a massive traffic jam and had meetings up until after lunch. Drove home, picked the boys up and continued working from home. Thank god for flexi hours, great telecon network and accommodating bosses!


Day 7: Friday
Decided to work from home the entire day. And since I had a telecon at 9am, I didn't want to disrupt Ian's sleep by sending Aiden to school, so it meant getting Aiden up early to catch the school van. Getting him showered and dressed that morning was a disastrous affair, with raised voices plus tears. The van arrived earlier than usual! While hubby helped him with his socks and shoes, I quickly slapped some kaya on a piece of bread and handed it to Aiden for breakfast. It was a pitiful sight, one hand holding the bread and the other clutching his spelling list for the day, wiping tears with the back of his hand. It was so heartbreaking, I felt like my heart broke into a million pieces again. *sigh* By the time I was done with my telecon, it was nearly lunch. Quickly showered Ian (discovered he had flu!) and hung the laundry. Popped another load in the washing machine. During the long lunch break, Ian and I drove to Titiwangsa to teman my aunt for her doctor's check up. After that I drove home, picked Aiden up from day care and continued working from home (including jemur kain, lipat kain, kemas rumah, preparing meals, watering the plants and such). Thank god it's Friday! Ended the day with dinner with my siblings as my brother was flying back to US the next day.

Have a safe journey, Abang!

Day 8: Saturday
Stayed at home the whole day to supervise the daily maid. Started to feel feverish and flu-ish. Seafood dinner with the SPK girls. Discovered that we lost our stroller! Both kids were extremely cranky that night, Ian especially with his blocked nose and all. I barely slept a wink.


Day 9: Sunday
Woke up with a fever. Dragged myself to Ian's class but told Hubby to take charge of Ian (while I visited the Mattel warehouse sale downstairs hahaha sempat lagi tuh)! After brunch, we headed to the clinic then found our stroller in PappaRich (of all places). Went home and I qada' tido while the boys (Hubby included) played 'War' using their new toys from the sale. Managed to get two hours of good uninterrupted sleep, bless those boys! Woke up and packed our things for an overnight at my in laws. Cos guess what... It's the school holidays so my in laws are going to take care of the boys during the week!

Aiden all decked in his Boom Co. warzone gear.

So that was how my maid-less week went. Lots of tears, heartache and some regrets. But I learned a lot. Without a work environment that is so understanding and flexible, where work life balance is appreciated, I would have resigned in a heart beat (and probably regretted it later)! Family will always come first.

Wish me luck with my second week. Selamat Eid Adha everyone!