My week as a SAHM: Adam's new Nursery and maid updates.

I'm on leave this week - Yay!

Adam starts Nursery in his new school this month, so I decided to be with him the first couple of days.

 

This is our daily routine:

 

6AM: Wake up and get myself ready for the day.

6:30M: Ashton wakes up for milk.

7:30AM: Wakes sleepyhead Adam up to wash up and get changed into his uniform.

 

 

 7:50AM: Waits for school bus downstairs. Needs to hold Mummy's hand before boarding bus.
Love my Mama's boy so much!

 

8:15AM: The kids reach school. I arrived early on my own to wait for him since I'm not allowed onto the kiddy bus.

This is the canteen where the kids have tea break at 9:15AM - 9:30AM.

 8:30AM: Assembly and into their classrooms they go. This is their courtyard and classroom area.

 

Different classes take turns at the playground.
They have such large premises!

 

Surprise, surprise!! From my Facebook status, I found out my cousin's daughter, Noelle, is studying in the same school! But in another class in Pre-N.
Such coincidence! These are my cousin's lovely girls Noelle(3) and Nellie(2).

And since she's not working at the moment, we went for breakfast at Changi City Point la kopi and chatted for hours about our maids/ husbands/ children, while I whatsapped my Aunt about it.
Aunty-ism runs in my family.

My pretty cousin and my niece Nellie!

 

After school, Adam reaches home at 12:30PM. He has his lunch, drinks milk and watches his iPad, then naps for 2-3 hours.

During this time, if I'm lucky, both kids are asleep and I get to do my blogging / reading etc.

 

 

In the evening, we go to the nearby playground:

Ashton #likeaboss. Dig ears and kar-kui kui, watching his brother play.

Back home, at about 9PM, the kids play a bit before bed. By 10PM, I chase them into their room as I'm quite ready to collapse.

 

 

By the way, as I was telling you about the topic of my Indonesian maid in the previous post, she dropped the bombshell that she does not intend to extend her work permit and that she would like to go back.

Her WP is due to expire by 31st July 2013.

That leaves us less than a month to have the admin sorted out - closing her bank account and getting them to stop sending her statements to our residence, booking her flight, cancelling her WP, asking our agent to find a replacement maid, etc.

Andy & I browsed through several Biodata but have yet to come across anyone suitable (1 Burmese is a Bach of Arts holder but English is rated poor; the others are either asking too much or do not fit our criteria).

All new candidates request for 2 days off per month. Weekends are the busiest period for us and without the help on 2 out of 4 weekends, it defeats the purpose of my hiring a maid really.

 

Bottom line: It's hard to get good help these days!

 

So here I am, stranded with 2 under 5 and still very much holding my full-time job.

Thankfully, Andy & I are alike in many ways. We share the same attitudes toward finances, holiday choices, and most other things in life.

He's Ok with me either decision I make - and I intend to go maid-less for the time being and enjoy some of the privacy we lost over the past year. Until we throw in the towel, that is.

It sure feels great not having an extra mouth to feed/ person to clothe/ pay $600 per month for.

The only downside is: we get no babysitter when out for meals with family & friends. A bit overwhelming when both kids demand attention at the same time!

 

Let's see how long we can go maid-less.

 

To all the working Mums out there managing your household without a helper, you rock!

I would also love to hear tips from you.