All About Life Without Maids

[MintyMin]

MummyThreeStreams… is ur part time helper good? It is hard to find a reliable part time helper tis days… As of now i haf a maid… but dun intend to renew her once her contract ends tis yr.

[micollh]

MintyMin,


u sure abt it? as i intend to do the same, mine expire august… gotta give it 3 mths test… if can survive then no more maid…if cant then hire new one muahaha…

[MintyMin]

micollh,


hahaha… ya manz… unless DH surrender n decide to get one again… High cost, no quality, no support from govt… WTH… Getting one is like giving us more burden n stress…

[watervapourbaby]

Hi fellow parents, for those who have young children under 4 and coping without a maid, care to share with us how you manage your time?

I’m a mother of 2 young children (7months old and 4year old) and contemplating to go maid-less. Ideally I would still like to have home cooked meals for the kids. Appreciate any tips and ideas! Thanks!

[autumnbronze]

Thank you for starting this thread, watervapourbaby!!


I am a SAHM of 2 sons - a 9 mth old and a 4 and a half year old.

I am also considering going maid-less. Although my DH thinks it's impossible at this point of time and persuaded me to get a new maid after my current one ended her contract with us. She had to return home to get married and couldn't commit to another renewal. She has been with us for 4 years and was more of an assistant than a maid.

My concerns:

1. I have to cook 2 meals cuz of my young kids plus DH prefers home cooked meals.

2. The elder boy is allergic to dust. Have yet to see with regards to the younger one. We have done everything in our capacity to minimize his reactions like discarding stuffed toys, getting an anti-dust mite mattress cover etccc. But the flat needs to be wiped consistently at least 3 or 4
times a week.

3. How do/can I find time to spend with my elder boy. He constantly
comes up with project ideas and insists on engaging my help. Right now, he is pestering me to help him build an elevator. :yikes:

4. I cannot depend on my DH as he works long and irregular hours.

Is this workable??

So if any maid-less mummies have some tips to share on how to make this
work, your input will be much appreciated.

MTIA :hugs:

[1501]

i am a maid-less SAHM with 2 kids since the younger 2 yo.

Everyday the time always not enough and tired…

my kids woke up early 7am then get ready for pre-school…
I cooked simple lunch for kids after-school ( plus double boiled soup for dinner… DH like to have soup for every meal…) and laundry stuff when they are in school. vaccum floor only alternate day…

DD and DS come back from school , then busy with their meal, bath, getting them for nap, then i continue my house chores…


they wake up from nap, bring them to downstairs playground, then continue cooking dinner…, get them eat, bathe, storytime, get in bed.
DH comes home after 8.30pm…

when kids already in bed, i start my cloth folding and ironing stuff…(hate most!) for about 2 hours… then zzzzzzz


Not magic tips but works like a cow, moo~

[Autovacstore]

puff:

mamemo:

Hi puff,

Just got a roomba recently and I wonder whether I should leave the charger on 24/7 even when roomba is fully charged? Eg, can I off the charging unit during night time then on again when we leave the house in the morning? Will that help to lengthen the life span of the battery?

Thanks!

Hi mamemo,

I am not too sure if it helps to lengthen the battery life span coz I leave it on 24/7.

Hi, It is recommended by the manufacturer to leave the battery constantly charged at the docking base when not in use and fully charged, this would help extend the lifespan. Consumes very little electricity (5W rating) during docking. Do check out the Roomba 770 (S$749) and Roomba 780 (S$888) at http://www.autovacstore.com. They come with the new Extended-Life Power Management technology, which allows the Roomba clean for >2.5hrs on the same battery as the older 500series(last ard 1.5hrs) and is able to last more charging cycles too!! Hope this helps.

[Peace Charlie]

Hi everyone! I’m a FTWM…ve 3 kids just bcame maidless will be sending my kids to after school care…my kids prefer home cook food thus have to wake up early to prepare their meals n they prefer to have soup everyday thus will make in the am n put into the warmer boiler…intend to make full use of the washingmachine to wash the clothing n sweeping n mopping depends on my schedule…have been having maid for 11 yrs after my 1st assistance went off, i could not get a good assistant… finally decided to depend on my own hands…

[MummyThreeStreams]

I have 3 boys. Never had a maid. But have strong family support. So grandparents will come over to play with kids or cook. Plus, i have a part-time cleaner (and a roomba). When I was overseas, I managed without any help. Hubby understands. He won’t insist on home cooked meals. In fact, he prefers me not to cook…not that my cooking is bad…but because he doesn’t wanna do the washing up!


When I have to cook, or do chores etc., I get the boys to help. Even if they can’t do the chores, they can look after each other so that I can get my chores done.

[BeContented]

Hi,

My kids are already past 10yo....so a different scenario all-together for me already. However, I just wanted to say that.....if budget permits, look at gadgets that can help you save some precious time, also some change in habit can also help. Previously I was very frustrated and time was always not enough.....so I was losing temper a lot, now i realised how silly I was to try to be so hands-on and ineffective

1. Ironing - Used to hate ironing.
Previously :-- ~2hours x 2-3 times weekly. Back then was using those normal iron..the heavy type cos' heard will do a better job. But somehow, it's not that fantastic for me....still required a long time to iron well, gotta spray starch too. But after spraying, the floor end up slippery and had to do a mop.
Now :-- Changed to a steam iron....helped to reduce my ironing time by ~40%. Also, I no longer need to use starch ie. mop after ironing is eliminated too. In addition, got hubby to slowly changed his wardrobe to wrinkle-free as much as possible....

2. Vacuuming & Mopping -
Previously :-- Broom daily, vacuum 1x /week. Later tried magic wipes. Mop 2-3 times per week.
Now :-- Roomba daily. Mop 1x per week.
To me, broom is the most ineffective. Magic wipes are ok. However, after using Roomba (automatic vacuum cleaner), the floor is generally cleaner and what I liked most is these days I only mop 1x per week. Dunno the actual reason and had only started using Roomba ~ 1+week ago, but it's making me happy enough. However, for those of you with younger kids, maybe you may need to mop more often since kids tend to spill/dirty etc.

Think there are those spin mop etc, but I have yet to try....so cannot comment. As for auto vacuum cleaner, besides Roomba there are other models, but Roomba is my first....so again I can't comment on others.


3. Fans - used to have standing/box fans....so the 'grilles' can get really dirty and to clean internal blades need some dismantling. Have changed to ceiling fans....cleaning is a breeze now. :rahrah:

4. Laundry
OK, I have never been good in chores and I learnt this from hubby.
Previously :-- Will simply transfer from washing machine to bamboo, won't bother to really spread it out neatly. When dried, will tend to just gather all and put the pile aside until I have time to fold them at night.

Now :-- 'Shake' the clothes fully and put properly on bamboo....when placed neatly, the clothes will dry nicely...less wrinkled. MIL and DH are damn good at that loh. When dried, for those that will need to be iron later, quickly transfer to hanger to hang, dun heap it as it'll wrinkle even more.....ironing time can hence be reduced.

5. Washing school shoes
Used to scrub and scrub the side (the plastic/rubber part) with brush, still seem dirty. Realised it's more effective to just use those 3M sponge to scrub.


Just sharing my 'learning' process when I become a SAHM & maidless since 5 yrs ago. Hope the above is useful.