All About Life Without Maids

[Xiaodingdang.019763Work]

Hello,

I am new to this forum. May I join this thread? :lovesite: By way of introduction, I have a toddler. We've had a helper for the last 27 months and are planning to do without one from the early part of next year. While this prospect makes me anxious, it also excites me. Seems to me that my helper is just never ever content. She came as a \"new\" helper and had 4 day-off a month right from the start, two additional day-offs on public hols, annual bonus, start of contract allowance, courses, monetary incentive on passing the courses, negotiable time-off to run her errands, advance salary when she requests, ang paos in between, gifts etc, and still has a litany of additional requests, moods, and envying the \"good deals\" that other helpers get. Having a helper also hasn't worked out for me financially because I am limited in the work that I can take on due to the demands of looking after my toddler who is very attached to me. We don't have other family members who can help out, which is why I am anxious about going it alone next year after toddler goes to childcare. :xedfingers:

Husband does not like to do housework when he is back from work. He is finicky about cleanliness though, so he will do housework but after a couple days, he will grumble and grumble. On my part, I don't mind some mess and grime, but fairly can't bear grumbling!! :siam:

I am very very interested in the Scooba as we need to mop the floor everyday. I read that it is a good floor washer, would it be too much of an overkill to use it everyday? I don't vacuum much - only over the rough surfaces. More than half the floor in the house is smooth tiles, the MagicClean works quite well. But mopping is heavy work. And I have a dog.

I was soooo happy to find this discussion and do hope to learn and share ideas and make friends here

Xiaodingdang

[coralie]

Before using the Scooba, u have to vacuum the floor 1st, ie, use the Roomba.


For me, I used my cleaning robot to vacuum twice a week and then do manual mopping on the weekend. Just my personal preference.

[Xiaodingdang.019763Work]

coralie:

Before using the Scooba, u have to vacuum the floor 1st, ie, use the Roomba.


For me, I used my cleaning robot to vacuum twice a week and then do manual mopping on the weekend. Just my personal preference.

Hi Coralie,
Can the Roomba do any kind of wet-wiping of the floor? I have a dog at home, and she tends to make the floor sticky. Hence, I have to MagicClean/ Vacuum/ sweep and mop everyday and that takes a lot of time and energy. I read somewhere that Roomba has an attachment that can mop?

My ideal is to just MagicClean or vacuum daily, and use a steam cleaner once a week to wash the floor. But the stickiness gets quite unbearable. Husband can't bear a day without mopping, I can tolerate three days max.

[coralie]

The Roomba can only sweep and vacuum. It doesn’t have the wet-wiping/moping feature. To mop/wash/scrub the floor, have to use the Scooba.

[Xiaodingdang.019763Work]

Thanks Coralie Guess I will get the Scooba first, and I will be the Roomba until I save up more dough for it. Its quite tough financially, paying for helper and playgroup fees simultaneously. :moneyflies:

[straffan23]

I find so much hope and inspiration from many of you in this forum. Indeed, life is still with a full time maid now, but I am giving myself (and maid) another year to go before deciding whether to renew her contract.


I do have a question - my DD will be going to P1 in 2014. What may be my options for a FTWM like myself - where might be a good place to send her to after school? A neighbor with older kids? An after school centre? This is my primary concern.

[micollh]

straffan23, mine going P1 in 2014 too… now still haven decided the after school arrangment. either the student care within the school or grandparents. most working parents i talk to said student care is the choice.

[2ppaamm]

Xiaodingdang@Work:

coralie:

Before using the Scooba, u have to vacuum the floor 1st, ie, use the Roomba.


For me, I used my cleaning robot to vacuum twice a week and then do manual mopping on the weekend. Just my personal preference.

Hi Coralie,
Can the Roomba do any kind of wet-wiping of the floor? I have a dog at home, and she tends to make the floor sticky. Hence, I have to MagicClean/ Vacuum/ sweep and mop everyday and that takes a lot of time and energy. I read somewhere that Roomba has an attachment that can mop?

My ideal is to just MagicClean or vacuum daily, and use a steam cleaner once a week to wash the floor. But the stickiness gets quite unbearable. Husband can't bear a day without mopping, I can tolerate three days max.

Why is the floor so sticky? :?

[straffan23]

micollh : I believe my DD will need to go to some form of after school care, either at a centre or home-based. MIL is available but the thing about MIL and maid is that they only act as the adult in the house, and nothing more. Cannot even get my daughter to bathe or nap; toss the house upside down, I cannot imagine either of them being able to get her to open her school bag, much less anything else!! Hence, with my DS in full day childcare, and a redundant maid, I am really not sure if I want to spend about $1k/mth on maid related expenses - - pros and cons will be heavily tilted!

[Xiaodingdang.019763Work]

2ppaamm:

Xiaodingdang@Work:

[quote=\"coralie\"]Before using the Scooba, u have to vacuum the floor 1st, ie, use the Roomba.


For me, I used my cleaning robot to vacuum twice a week and then do manual mopping on the weekend. Just my personal preference.

Hi Coralie,
Can the Roomba do any kind of wet-wiping of the floor? I have a dog at home, and she tends to make the floor sticky. Hence, I have to MagicClean/ Vacuum/ sweep and mop everyday and that takes a lot of time and energy. I read somewhere that Roomba has an attachment that can mop?

My ideal is to just MagicClean or vacuum daily, and use a steam cleaner once a week to wash the floor. But the stickiness gets quite unbearable. Husband can't bear a day without mopping, I can tolerate three days max.

Why is the floor so sticky? :?[/quote]Its my dog... :oops: I don't have time to watch when she gets a drink to wipe her mouth. She drips water on the floor after drinking. And has a crazy habit of rubbing her face, her ears etc on the floor :siao: . Before we adopted her, we mopped the floor once a week, at most twice. After she came, we have to mop everyday.

About the Scooba, how long does it usually take to clean it? I am trying to decide between the Scooba and the Mint Plus. As we will be mopping everyday, I don't need a super floor washer. On weekends, I can do a more thorough mopping. I am veering towards the Mint Plus because its sweeping mode is said to do a good job with dog fur, and it can do edges, and it can mop. And, its cheaper. :boogie: