To 'maid' or not to 'maid' that is the question....

I rolled out of bed this morning feeling pretty good. Had a wonderful evening chatting with a friend until almost midnight with a tummy full of yummy Mexican food. Truly, not a bad evening. The dirty dishes were piled everywhere, crusts from Munchkin #2's breakfast were still sitting on the counter, and a few fruit flies were frolicking in their paradise of leftover bits. There's fluffy balls of doggie fur in the corners, I still have two empty moving cartons that need to be hauled out, and there's a smorgasbord of crumbs under the table. And yet, I'd rather live in this mess or [gasp/horror/cringe] just clean it myself. I have zero desire to hire a live-in maid.

I know of a only a few mums in the four years I've been here in this region who really did have a wonderful working relationship with the women they'd hire as maids. When everyone is happy, it is awesome. But in my four years of experience, it's rare.

Now I must admit, I did have help a number of years back. I had two kids in diapers, I was working, I was going to graduate school, and the husband and I were working in separate cities maintaining both a house and a flat. I paid a fellow mum (she needed extra cash to pay for her daughter's dance lessons) to come in and help me clean the house twice a month. It was awesome. She made the extra money she needed, and I got the extra help I desperately needed.

Now, living where I live, I have friends and acquaintances constantly pressuring me into 'getting a maid'. Ok. 'Getting a maid'? It sounds like we're going out to pick up a new pet at a shelter or something. I was sitting around with a group of other mums a few week back, and they all were saying, "Oh come on! Get a maid! You'll love it!" A very good friend of mine piped up, "Sheesh you guys. You sound like a bunch of teenagers trying to pressure her into trying a joint or something." Spot on my friend - that's how I felt.

I could never afford to pay someone an actual living wage to help me clean so why would I expect another woman to come live in my little box of a 'maid's room' and work for practically nothing? (Not to mention that 'room' makes the perfect place to store all our sports gear!) People say, "Oh, having a maid is so much help!" Oh, really? So hiding their passport while you travel, locking your fridge, locking up all your jewelry, and worrying about all kinds of new things so you can 'have a maid' is just so much help? I'm not into 'keeping humans'.

I hear so many women speak about the ladies they employ as maids like these women were dogs. "You can't let her go out at night! She'll get pregnant!" "I search her room while she's gone to make sure she's not hiding anything." "I have to keep an eye on her to make sure she's cleaning like I taught her." Golly gee ladies, sounds like 'so much help' to me. You pay someone a non-living wage and then you're surprised when they steal? You control their every movement and you're surprised when the run away?

To all flies, ants and cockroaches - the buffet is laid. I don't 'have a maid'.

Peace.

Postscript - Many thanks to The Linoleum Surfer for the awesome post that was the genesis for my rant. http://thelinoleumsurfer.blogspot.com/2011/06/housemaids-declared-human.html