Think!!!

Another downside of me working is that it means we have no choice to have a live in domestic helper/nanny. In Singapore this is a very common occurrence and many of the western expats that come here jump at the chance to handover some of the more mundane household chores and childcare to someone else.

We have had Liza with us for a year. She is very efficient and the kids love her .... I on the otherhand still can't get used to sharing my home with another person. And I'm not a good boss! I need to learn how to communicate better with her. She continues to do some tasks in ways that really annoy me, but I can't seem to get this message across.

I nearly lost it tonight. We splurged and asked Liza to pick up take away pizza and while she was waiting to get the bread and milk for tomorrow. She came home with raisin bread (our w'end breakfast treat), no regular bread(!) AND carrying the pizza hanging sideways in the bag. It is not the first time we have had pizza. She knows that you carry the box FLAT. Thankfully the pizza base was a thin, crispy one, so the whole thing didn't collapse ... just a few "squashed pieces".

Can't believe how worked up I got about this. In the big scheme of things it was nothing. But add it to the other little "niggles"which I have spoken to her about before, like leaving boiling water unattended on the stove, not maintaining basic supply of milk and bread, not waiting for a full load for the washer/dryer, etc and my frustration level is oh so high! If only DH and I hadn't agreed that I would work for a while so we could afford to have another baby without changing our lifestyle. Cos, much to the shock of many of the expats here I think I could happily change my lifestyle to one that didn't involve a live in maid!