Two Weeks On ...

Well, we've been maid-less for 2 weeks now and honestly, it's not so bad! Of course there's more to do around the house and it's puasa now too, so that makes it more tiring, but really? How ... much ... more ... t..i..r..i..n..g ... can ... i..t.... b...e...zzZZZZZZzzzzzzZZZzzzZZz....

Huh? What?

Sorry, where was I? Anyway, yes, not having a maid is definitely tiring but it's not like I'm breaking new ground here. Lots of people do it (and with many more children, I might add) and in the West it's unheard of for regular middle-class folks to have a live-in maid.

I find that I'm actually more efficient with my time, now that I have less of it. For example, Adik's class at Tumble Tots ends at 10:55am. By the time we actually leave the mall it's about 11:05am (hey, have YOU tried ushering a fidgety 2-year old to the car?) and it takes us about 20 minutes or so to get home. That gives me about 15 minutes before I have to fetch Abang from kindergarten. However, that day, I also had to mail some letters, deposit a cheque and go home to hang out the laundry before fetching Abang (better to do all that with just 1 boy attached to me and not 2). Adik and I managed to do all that AND with time to spare when we got to the kindergarten!

Then another morning, after our usual breakfast routine, I realised that I only had half an hour before leaving the house to hang out the laundry (hmmm, seems like there's a lot of laundry to do), water the plants, shower, get Adik ready plus pack his essentials - diaper, pacifier, biscuits and drink. And guess what? I made it in half an hour!

One interesting observation I've had since Bibik left was that Adik seems to have regressed in his toilet training. In fact, I can safely say it's gone down the toilet. (AAHHAHAHAHAHaaaaa ... man, I need to get out more.)

He's probably a bit upset/ confused that she's not around anymore so I've been mopping up plenty of peeing accidents. But now I know better than to let him sit on the sofa or carpet for a long time. Let's just say Fabreeze is my new best friend. Plus he's pooping in his diaper again! Argh! Back to training.

Dinner time is also done in a very assembly line method. "Here are your highchairs, here are your cups with water, and here's your food, GO! Don't ask for anything sweet to drink until AFTER dinner because a) it'll kill your appetite and, b) I have stuff to clear up, laundry to bring in and what not." Notice the gap between Abang's and Adik's highchairs - it's to keep some peace. And yes, ignore the fact that Adik is only wearing his pull-ups.

So we're surviving, although puasa month makes it a bit harder to blog as often because I try to get to sleep early to wake up early to makan.