October's Over!

October's been a mad-cap month.

Both Wen and Wei were down with Chicken Pox. There was an outbreak in their kindergarten and Wen fell victim first before Wei contracted it almost 2 weeks later. And in the middle of it all, my domestic helper went home for 2 weeks to visit her family! So I toggled between being a full-time homemaker on some days and a full-time working mum on other days when I couldn't take official leave because of work responsibilities.

I was really very fortunate to have both MIL and FIL (who're staying with us) help out. We worked out an informal system to get us through the 2 weeks. MIL did all the cooking, sweeping and magic-mopping. FIL was her trusty assistant and he folded the clothes and washed the dishes (on the days I was in office). I was in charge of the laundry, washed the toilets, fed the dogs, picked up dog-poo and washed/scrubbed the yard after they pee-ed and poo-ed, swept the dead leaves, and watered the plants the old-fashion way (using the watering can and scooping up water from our fish pond). The hub did all the heavy-duty work and house repairs. He trimmed the towering bamboo plants, vacuumed the whole house and did everything else that nobody could or wanted to do.

In all honesty, I totally suck at housework. My sub-standard quality can never match up to expectations and I'm not organised enough to run through the chore cycle in a systematic manner. So I'd haphazardly complete the tasks and leave traces of "unfinished business" to  periodically answer my emails because I was working from home.

A typical scenario would be this: Stuff clothes into the washing machine and work on some documents before the wash cycle is completed. Sometimes, the laundry is ready before I'm done. To me, it's about optimising my time and multi-tasking. After all, The clothes won't walk away right?

That's what I thought but I was sooooooo wrong. Without any warning, my ever-efficient MIL and FIL would take the laundry out and hang them out before I realised that the clothes had indeed scooted off to the 3rd floor to be sun-dried at our balcony.

Really, they can't stand for an idle moment and probably think I'm trying to shirk my responsibilities. I just prefer to work on the tasks at my own speed and time. Actually, I do enjoy washing the dishes, cleaning the toilets, washing/scrubbing the yard, doing the laundry and any bit of chores relating to water. For obvious reasons, I stay out of the kitchen when MIL is around because she's a waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better cook than I will ever be. And there's no way I can whip up tasty Chinese dishes like she can.

On the other hand, the hub's a perfect house-hubby. He's obviously well-trained and can work twice my speed, with double the results. Plus the guy cooks better than I can. Impressive, right? I pale in comparison and I make a terrible homemaker.

That's why I'm sticking to my day job.

And that's why I'm so grateful my helper's back. :D

All I can say is that I've new-found respect for stay-at-home mums without domestic help. I don't know how they manage household chores with child-minding responsibilities. It's a real challenge to even get through the day without screaming in frustration when the kids make a ruckus while you're trying to tidy up the place.

My recent memories as a semi-professional homemaker, albeit short, is enough to haunt me for the next few months, no, years! I'm definitely in no hurry to consider swapping my red pen for a frying pan. Give me a bunch of rowdy students any time!