HOW TO SURVIVE WITHOUT A MAID FOR VERY LAZY PEOPLE...LIKE US

If you are one of those who have a good maid, who can cook, clean and be part of your family then this blog ranting is NOT FOR YOU. This is for all those not so lucky ones.

When I came back from the UK about 7 years ago, my youngest was only 3 years old. I had to find a maid and although she was okay, from a score of 0 - 10 she was about 5/6. She wasn't those headline grabbing lunatic but she wasn't the hard working, clean, good cook, part of the family either. Nevertheless she stayed with us for 4 years and when we were going to move from our apartment, I was adamant to let her go. It so happened that I remarried at the time so, both me and hubby agreed that we didn't want a maid and that we were going to organize our lives such that we would survive comfortably despite being very lazy people.
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What do I mean lazy? I mean we do not want to spend our time coming home from work cleaning the house. The idea is if you do not have a maid, then you become a maid. Well, not if everyone who lives in the house cleans after themselves. Then no one becomes a maid. It is just practical.

No one wants to come home from a long day at work to clean. No one wants to spend their entire weekend cleaning, mopping, ironing clothes and sorting out the laundry. Everyone wants to come home and chill, spend quality time with the kids and have fun. So, here's the plan.

1. Plan the house for easy cleaning and maintenance

It is not rocket science, less things equate to less cleaning. When we moved into our new home, we designed the house so that it was easy to clean and maintain. Minimal furniture, minimal carpets and minimal ornaments. We divided the space into dining area and lounge. Eating is only at the dining table and therefore, daily sweeping only needs to be done where food is consumed.

2. The kitchen

We have the luxury to design my dream kitchen, small, compact but fully functional with minimal items on the table tops. Hence, easy to clean and maintain. I chose dark grey as the floor tiles and white 'marble' like surface for easy wiping. The kitchen is designed for only two people to be in at any one time therefore, a simple way to get the kids to take turns in helping me cook. The washing area is outside therefore, easy for one person to do all the washing up. With four kids, it works well.

3. Dividing the house into sections 

It is a three-storey house hence, we divided it into section. The ground floor is a public area, first floor is the kid's floor and they are responsible for it and the second floor is mom and dad's floor; and dad is responsible for it. The ground floor is under my management and every weekend we spend a maximum of one hour (not more but usually less) to sweep and clean the entire ground floor, the kitchen and the wash area. Mopping is only done once every two weeks. The kids are completely responsible for cleaning and tidying up their own rooms & bathroom and I will check once a month to make sure everything is in order.

4. We eat together, we play together, we clean together

This is our motto. After meals, everyone has a chore to do. One washes the plates, one sweeps the floor, one clears and wipes the table. No one should leave the ground floor and go upstairs until all the task are completed. If the person washing the plates is not done, one should assist or at least keep them company. Also, boys and girls must all do chores. There is no such thing as only girls do chores in our house. Boys are especially expected to sort out things outside the house such as throw the rubbish, trim the bushes, pick out the weeds. Often we do these things at the weekend and become like a bonding session. Have you ever watched Karate Kid? you can teach children a lot from picking out weeds.

It is the same as laundry. Every home has a laundry room so does ours. In our house, we do the laundry around 3 times a week, then at the weekend, we fold the clothes together and everyone irons their own clothes. The kids are responsible for their own school clothes. I guess that is normal for me since I was brought up to iron my own clothes from standard one. I hardly ever remember mom spending hours ironing clothes. Even though my dad was in the army but he washed and ironed his own army clothes. Me and mom used to fold the clothes together and it was fun, it was like a bonding session.

5. Cooking

I don't particularly enjoy cooking and whenever the kids are away I hardly ever cook if it is just for me and hubby. I started cooking properly only after I had my first child and I cook almost everyday for them. My objective for cooking is nutrition. Hence, it is important for me that the kids have good nutrition. However, my philosophy is that cooking should never take more than 40 minutes from preparation time to the time it is set on the table.

When I was in the UK, I learned to make meals that are quick and nutritious. Children often hate vegetables, so cutting them into small pieces and adding them into dishes is a good non confrontational way to get kids to eat vegetables. I started to make dishes such as lasagne, spaghetti bolognaise, fish pie, tuna bake, fried rice and all those meals that are easy to make and you can add all sorts of vegetables into them.

So, after getting home from a long day at work, one of the kids will help me in the kitchen and we make our meal. My eldest daughter used to cook when she was around but now that she is at University, I do most of the cooking. I make sure that my son can make a simple meal if I am feeling lazy. He can cook rice, fry eggs or sausages. It is important for boys to be independent and to at least survive without a woman.

I have friends who actually enjoy cooking and it is like a form of therapy. That is good for them but if you are lazy like me, then it is okay. You can still prepare a quick nutritious balance diet meal.

In conclusion...

With all these short cuts and quick maintenance plan, we get to spend more time reading, watching movies together, chatting and kids get more time to study or play. On top of that we do not need a maid who is disruptive and could potentially make our lives a misery. So, you can survive pretty well without a maid even for very lazy people.