All About Life Without Maids

[janet88]

peapot:

Do u need to vacuum everyday to keep floor clean? Does it use a lot of electricity?

I used to vacuum everyday...feels good to walk on clean floor.
But now cut to 2x a week...vacuum cleaner too heavy.

[Imami]

I have been using my irobot for about 4 months now. It runs around about 3-4 times a week. I also have a hand held (like those car vacuum) one which I use occasionally. Don’t see a jump in my utility bills leh…

[Imami]

Dunno where to ask but reckon this is a safe place - is there any quick way to mesh up hard boiled egg? I like egg mayo sandwiches but find the prep work too time consuming, particularly the meshing up of eggs. Any tips?

[peapot]

Hmm… Use a egg cutter? First slice vertically down then move it around and slice it horizontally?? Don’t know u understand or not …haha

[Imami]

peapot:

Hmm... Use a egg cutter? First slice vertically down then move it around and slice it horizontally?? Don't know u understand or not ..haha

understand la... I did think of egg cutter. But hor, does it dust? Just in case I don't use it often enough and then it rusts. But thanks, peapot.

[peapot]

Mine doesn’t rust but I could practically how many times I use it. Now it’s cold storage because I hardly take egg sandwich now.

[Imami]

peapot:

Mine doesn't rust but I could practically how many times I use it. Now it's cold storage because I hardly take egg sandwich now.

Ok then, egg cutter! Thanks peapod!

[icemountain]

Hi, need some advice please : )


I’m a SAHM with 2 kids, one in lower primary and one toddler. I’m considering letting my maid of a year and a half go after tolerating her shoddy work and refusal to abide my rules for the umpteenth time.

I don’t know if I can go maid-free as I will be practically on my own if I were to do that. My hubs works overseas 6-7 months a year, he can be home for weeks or months at time, there’s no predictable schedule as he freelances.

I’ve managed on my own with only one kid with my mom helping out occasionally but now I have to think about how I can get dinner on the table every night and the kids fed and in bed on my own. I can prob get my older one to take the school bus and send my tod to half day childcare so I get some personal time for my sanity.

But I also have to think about having time to coach my older kid in her schoolwork and ferry her to her enrichments with the younger one in tow.

Can I do it? I have a supportive hubby with pitches in with more than his fair share when he’s home and I have wonderful neighbours who would babysit.

My hubs leaves it up to me to decide but of course, he’d sooner hire another maid than hear me complain about how tired I am managing on my own!

[icemountain]

slmkhoo:

icemountain:

Hi, need some advice please : )


I'm a SAHM with 2 kids, one in lower primary and one toddler. I'm considering letting my maid of a year and a half go after tolerating her shoddy work and refusal to abide my rules for the umpteenth time.

I don't know if I can go maid-free as I will be practically on my own if I were to do that. My hubs works overseas 6-7 months a year, he can be home for weeks or months at time, there's no predictable schedule as he freelances.

I've managed on my own with only one kid with my mom helping out occasionally but now I have to think about how I can get dinner on the table every night and the kids fed and in bed on my own. I can prob get my older one to take the school bus and send my tod to half day childcare so I get some personal time for my sanity.

But I also have to think about having time to coach my older kid in her schoolwork and ferry her to her enrichments with the younger one in tow.

Can I do it? I have a supportive hubby with pitches in with more than his fair share when he's home and I have wonderful neighbours who would babysit.

My hubs leaves it up to me to decide but of course, he'd sooner hire another maid than hear me complain about how tired I am managing on my own!

I managed on my own (with husband coming home every night though) with babies 2 yrs apart, so I'm sure you can manage too. You can get a PT helper for cleaning if you want to, and if your neighbours can help babysit a bit, and your mother can help out some, that's good. I would think that your main problems will be emergencies when you are sick or when something needs your attention and you can't be at home or bring your kids along. For normal days, you could also try to change your daughter's enrichment classes to ones nearer home or easier to get to, or reduce them and teach her at home. Give your toddler stuff to do at the same time. Cooking can be done quite easily if you are willing to simplify to one-dish meals, cook and freeze ahead methods, or get thermal pots or some of the modern labour-saving appliances. I don't know what your kids' bedtime routines are, but mine were very simple and even with a baby and toddler, I didn't find it any trouble. It will be hard work, but it can be done.

Thanks slmkhoo, your thinking I can do makes me think I'm not so crazy after all.

I do want to do it but I'm scared of making this step, I've been mulling over this for a while and I still haven't come to a decision yet.

You are right about emergencies. My mom is usually free to help if she's not on her travels and I know I can rely on a good neighbour friend to watch my kids.

I will definitely hire PT help if this goes forward. My older one has only non-academic enrichments and being the lazy mum I am, I made sure that all are within walking distance or a 10 min drive away. I may cut down on her classes if I can't manage but it will be hard cos she loves all of them.

Now I wonder if I will be compromising something if I make this decision to go maid-free? My daughter will have to cut out enrichment classes, take a school bus way too early in the morning and come back later than usual etc.

But then again, I guess it may teach her a thing or two about being more independent. I painted the \"What if Auntie is not here\" scenario for her and she said she will take the school bus cos she doesn't want me to be hurrying and dragging the little one along in the car every morning.

I think I can manage dinners and bedtimes cos I'm all for simple dinners and early bedtimes. In fact, without a maid around, dinner planning will be a lot easier as my kids don't need 3 dishes everyday. My kids are usually good kids and they know their routine at home. I just hope I don't crack under pressure and go crazy one day.

[janet88]

When I sent my last maid off, my kids were 4 and 8. Lots of adjustment and review of priorities. It was sudden when we went maid-less, bcos I would usually have planned for a replacement. But the last one was the last straw…and hubby was shocked I didn’t see bio data before sending her off…asked him to take half day leave, asked mum to look after daughter and brought maid to agency after giving them a call.


Hubby managed to work from home…he coached son at night (afternoon session) for Math and I revised in the morn…daughter was in morn session. I had to lower expectations where housework is concerned. Hubby and I quarreled less. Finances were not so tight. We also enjoyed privacy.