One sad thing about living in the Philippines is that after cleaning your house for an entire day, dust immediately settles in a few hours. I am a neat and organized freak (bordering on OC, just like Monk). I don't like a messy house at all.I used to have household help. We were blessed to have Nanay Erwina with us for 8 full years. We had her even before Miguel was born, so she treats my children as her own. But since she was having regular muscle pains and was also desperately wanting a child with her husband, Nanay retired about two years ago.
Looking after two small children while managing my own business, and having to do the laundry, the household cleaning, and the cooking, (and not to mention staying pretty at the same time!) is quite tough indeed. I employed helpers from an agency I found through classified ads in the paper. The first one I got was a thief. The second one (whom the agency replaced for the first one) stayed till the end of her contract of 4 months, but we found out she was also a thief and had stolen some of our stuff when she left. Thus, my idea of getting help through an agency flew out the window.
We decided to find helpers from the province -- we got two. The first one was bad. She was a liar who pretended to be busy all the time, but she hardly got anything done. The second one was horrid as well -- she slept on most afternoons, she flirted with the neighbors in very short shorts, she galavanted with strangers on her day off, she used our landline to make dozens of calls to cell phones , and she was an even worse liar than the first one. "Okay", I thought , I can not have this go on in my house at all. Although I am such a big fan of CSI, it is absolutely no fun to play CSI with the household help. I finally resolved that I wasn't going to get any.
Wouldn't you know, it was one of the best decisions I made that year . I did chores my way (which made me happier), the house was cleaner, I had more control over the kids (helpers spoil them and let them do whatever they want), and we had lots of privacy in the home. Best of all, I was worry and anger-free . The house was still not dust-free, but it felt like heaven!
Nowadays, since Nanay Erwin is back in Cebu, she comes twice a week to do the laundry, clean the house, and visit the kids whom she misses dearly. I have more time in my hands; I'm happy, happy, happy . But even if household help won't be around anymore, it's not going to be the end of the world. I have learned not to exhaust myself too much by worrying about dust, dirty clothes, soiled dishes, and getting dinner done. If all else fails, there's always the laundromat to go to, food take out & delivery, and I realized that if you wash the dishes before they pile up it's not such a chore after all. And the dust? It wouldn't hurt to let it settle from time to time. Not at all.
Psa 55:22 Our LORD, we belong to you. We tell you what worries us, and you won't let us fall.
