All About Life Without Maids

[buds]

24hr-mum:

do any of u have 3 young kids and able to cope without maid and parents?

That's us... everyone has a part to play.
I'm SAHM.. coping.. and lovin' it. :please:

http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/content/tackling-home-teaching-3-children

[Zann]

fifiyeo:

Hi Zann,


I got my rhoomba from http://robovac.weebly.com/index.html
It's a 550 series @ $670.00

Then I got my Scooba from http://autovacstore.com/
It's the 385 model @ $700.00

If you want the lastest model of Rhoomba 700 series, the local distributor has it but for quite a price tag! $1000+!

You can check them out. Hope it helps.

Thanks fifiyeo. Just to check again, still quite puzzle why a need for both for you? Which one does vacuuming follow-by mopping automatically as it moves around? I used to have one therefore I find this kind of machine very helpful. but it spoils easily as no one attend to it when it gets stuck at home alone then it could not return back to the charging station on its on and spoit. How was your experience like.

[fifiyeo]

Hi Zann,


Rhoomba does the vaccuming work almost daily for the entire house. Scooba does the floor washing after Rhoomba finishes about 1-2 a week. Although Scooba does some vaccuming, it’s not really the main function and therefore it doesn’t do a very thorough job.

My Rhoomba is working almost daily since May (coming 5 months) and doing a great job.
My Scooba was commissioned in early June and is serving me very well.
So far, both are doing their share of the job very well and I would say I push my machine maids to their limits 'cos they have to work around the house non-stop at one go every time I decide it’s time to WORK! Only time they stop is recharging or change of battery.

[peapot]

Wish they invent a machine that could literally cook by itself with the press of a button.

[fifiyeo]

peapot:

Wish they invent a machine that could literally cook by itself with the press of a button.

That would be SO cool! Plus clean up the kitchen after dinner.

By the way, anyone here used the Laurastar iron? Heard that it is very good. Any comments???

[happy to be mum]

hi hi..wondering whether i should write under \"all about life without maids\" or SAHM?


currently have maid issues and is really struggling now to go maidless or go jobless??

I have been a SAHM before when my DS was younger and the experience is not good. Right now face with maid issues made me think again whether i want to go jobless to take care of kids.

I often wonder hard how families with kids, single income, no maids, no parents' help cope! I am also very afraid if i become FTM, i dun do my job well in teaching the kids, cooking & housework... Can anyone share their experience?

[fifiyeo]

Well Happy Mum to Be, if you set you heart out to do it. You’ll be able to overcome the obstacles but you must be prepared to make a lot of sacrifices. Once you get draw out your housekeeping plans and get into a fix routine, it’ll be fine but that’ll take a few weeks or even months to fully adjust. I’m well adjusted now.


As of 1+years ago, we became a single income family. Then 9mths ago, we went maidless after we could no longer put up with the troubles from maids. My mom is 75+ years old (so no much help) and my in-laws feel that going maidless is our choice so if we feel its tough…that’s our problem. We’ve got 2 kids - 6 and 11. I teach the kids when they come home from school and I do the housework when they are in school.

Some help that I get from the family -

washing dishes after dinner and feeding fishes - Husband.
sweeping garden - Sons
Taking down dry laundry - sometimes elder son
Mopping the stairs - sometimes younger son.
Sweeping the floor - Robot vaccum Rhoomba
Washing the floor - Robot vaccum Scooba.

[CMF]

fifiyeo:

Hi Zann,


Rhoomba does the vaccuming work almost daily for the entire house. Scooba does the floor washing after Rhoomba finishes about 1-2 a week. Although Scooba does some vaccuming, it's not really the main function and therefore it doesn't do a very thorough job.

My Rhoomba is working almost daily since May (coming 5 months) and doing a great job.
My Scooba was commissioned in early June and is serving me very well.
So far, both are doing their share of the job very well and I would say I push my machine maids to their limits 'cos they have to work around the house non-stop at one go every time I decide it's time to WORK! Only time they stop is recharging or change of battery.

Hi fifiyeo

I have been thinking about getting the Rhoomba & Scooba, and your post on their effectiveness comes at a good time! Thanks.

Can you advise whether if the home has lots of furniture around, then movement of these gadgets would be restricted, ie. they would just have to go around the furniture etc? If the height level of the furniture permits, would the gadgets go under the furniture too?

Thanks in advance for your feedback!

[fifiyeo]

CMF:

fifiyeo:

Hi Zann,


Rhoomba does the vaccuming work almost daily for the entire house. Scooba does the floor washing after Rhoomba finishes about 1-2 a week. Although Scooba does some vaccuming, it's not really the main function and therefore it doesn't do a very thorough job.

My Rhoomba is working almost daily since May (coming 5 months) and doing a great job.
My Scooba was commissioned in early June and is serving me very well.
So far, both are doing their share of the job very well and I would say I push my machine maids to their limits 'cos they have to work around the house non-stop at one go every time I decide it's time to WORK! Only time they stop is recharging or change of battery.

Hi fifiyeo

I have been thinking about getting the Rhoomba & Scooba, and your post on their effectiveness comes at a good time! Thanks.

Can you advise whether if the home has lots of furniture around, then movement of these gadgets would be restricted, ie. they would just have to go around the furniture etc? If the height level of the furniture permits, would the gadgets go under the furniture too?

Thanks in advance for your feedback!

Hi CMF,

When I first got Rhoomba I had to spend time re-arranging the house and neatening things up. You really have to keep your floor off clusters and tie up all those loose cabbles. It might take a bit of effort but once you've done that, it's really Rhoomba taking over.

If the height and space permits, the Rhoomba and Scooba will never hesitate to roam below the furniture and work in and out plus around it.

I don't have a remote controller for my Rhoomba but do check it out 'cos you can buy it separately and use it for certain models. This way you can get Rhoomba to go exactly where you want.

[Lynnmae]

Hi everybody!


I love this thread! I've gone through a bad patch with maids. Changed 5 times and got a ltr from MOM. Bad karma I guess. Anyway, I've been maidless 8 months and loving it The first 3 months were BAD :imdrowning: Kids were sick all the time and everytime they throw up on the bed, I wish I had a maid to clean up! Hb and I would fight out of fatigue and over his mom. The amt of dirt the maids left me and the corners they cut gave me more work! I had to really clean up the shit after work. I am just happy that I don't have another kid (maid) who will give me black face and to have to jaga them.

I have to 'fess up, I have been lurking ard this and other threads for some months and it's amazing how much info I pick up. I love the tips maidless moms share to make our workload easier

I am now a PTWM with 2 young kids (DD1 - 2008, DD2 - 2010). Decided to go PT because of maid issues but also because wanted more time with kids. MIL comes in when I go to work. Ever since going without a maid, I've pampered myself with nice gadgets to make my life easier. A dryer (which I had for years but never really put it to regular use - \"sunshine is free\" was my mentality until maid goes) and a Roomba. I love, love, love my Roomba. My hb had serious withdrawal when Roomba had to be fixed. Now, am considering a Scooba to make life even easier. We schedule it to run every night when kiddies go to bed (my kiddies love to put their soft toys on the roomba whenever it runs). So my house is like a kopitiam at night - all chairs put up, everything on table tops. Dining table which is where all the food crumbs etc (my DD2 wants to self-feed and you know lah, mess everywhere) get under will be cleaned by the morning. My dryer helps me alot. I like it that I can come back late from work, throw all the laundry into the washer, and then pop everything into the dryer. No need to hang up, use the pole to put the hangers up, no need to keep the clothes, no need to worry abt rain, etc. After dryer is done, I quickly take all the clothes out and straighten them. Find that t-shirts and jeans, when they are fresh out of dryer, can be straightened easily, no need ironing - all creases can come out if you use your hands to straighten it.

Only thing missing is a dishwasher - which I promise will be mine once we get our own place. haha.

I don't cook much. Very poor repertoire. MIL will cook maybe 3 nights a week but she does alot of deep frying. It disturbs me as I cannot tahan the sticky floors and dirty stove top. I appreciate the food but I could do without the cleaning! So, if there's a way to deepfry without getting kitchen dirty, I would much appreciate the tips. I read in earlier pages abt frying in the oven - can someone elaborate how that works?

I have a PT helper once a week to do the ironing, change bedsheets, windows, fans, toilets, floors.

Hope to learn more tips from all of your experienced parents!