Sending My Domestic Help Home...

"Puan, saya mahu balik cuti, boleh?"

*sigh* Yes... in exactly one week, we'll be sending our domestic help home.... for her well deserved holiday.

After a whole string of maids who only stayed up to their two year contract (too old, ran away and left Aiden at home alone, found a boyfriend), this one is the best maid of them all. She has stayed over and above her two years contract and now it is time for her to head home for her holiday. She promised to come back after three weeks. And I sincerely hope she does. But you and I both know that, until she physically arrives in KLIA, there are simply no guarantees.

Meanwhile, I am prepping myself for this three-week maid-less period. Just this morning as I was driving to work, I was mentally listing things that I need to plan and worry about. Such as:

• Where am I going to send Ian while I work? Which daycare would accept toddlers for just 3 weeks?
• If I manage to find a daycare for Ian, he's not going to like being left with strangers. How am I going to handle the crying?
• Where is Aiden going to go after kindergarten ends? Need to inform the van too.
• If I manage to find a transit daycare, what food can I provide for Aiden, considering he always gets hungry at tea time? (Our maid usually makes sandwiches, roti canai and such - but I need to find simpler food that I can pack in the morning.)
• What am I going to cook for dinner? Erm, scratch that. Where am I going to tapau lauk for dinner?
• Aiden doesn't have sufficient uniforms to last him the entire week. Need to hand wash his uniform mid-week.
• Should I get a daily maid to help with the cleaning during the weekend? Need to find one.
• What about laundry and ironing? Should I send it to the dobi or do it myself during the weekend?
• Need to stock up on groceries. Don't want to run out of groceries and have to rush to the shop while Aiden and Ian are at transit.
• Should I negotiate with the boss to work from home on certain days?

And the list goes on and on. Don't even get me started on the list in the case that my maid doesn't come back. *shudders*

At times like these, I marvel at how mums without domestic help manage their household. I especially marvel at how the working mothers manage... juggling their careers and home. *salute* Not only are you responsible for cooking, cleaning, washing, ironing... etc etc etc... but some of you are chauffeurs for your kids too! 

Anyway, wish me luck and let's all pray that my precious domestic help returns after her brief holiday. I don't think I'll be blogging much during that period (apart for some pre-scheduled posts)... so if you don't hear from me, you know why! *nervous grin*

Here's Ian's version of my nervous grin.