Since both of us are career people and engaged in full-time work, we have found it absolutely necessary to employ, at least one domestic worker to work for us by looking after the house, cooking the food, cleaning the house and washing some of our clothes. I say some because we do not make our domestic worker was our under-garments. We wash our own under-pants. Our children, whether boys or girls, wash and iron their own clothes every week.
The domestic worker is not required to wash the childrens clothes. This is good training for our children. We know that some parents will not agree with some of our practices in this regard. For example, the domestic worker is made to wash and iron all of the familys clothes every week, including those of grown up children. Further, our children also clean their own rooms on a regular basis. The domestic worker cleans the kitchen, bathrooms, sitting rooms and the parents bedroom. Something like once or twice a week, the domestic worker will vacuum clean the whole house and clean the window panes.
In relation to the preparation of our daily meals, the domestic worker has the responsibility of cooking our meals under the supervision of Virginia. Sometimes the children take turns to cook the food or to do the dishes under the supervision of the domestic worker. The father cooks at least one meal per week, but he does not do the dishes. Great! As far as possible, Virginia does all the dishing of the food whenever she is at home. This is important because it gives her the opportunity to undertake quality control of what her family will be eating.
We always have our meals at the table together with the domestic worker. I know some families that insist that their domestic worker should eat her meals alone in the kitchen, or at the workers quarters. We consider our domestic worker to be part of the family. What we eat is what she eats. Some families ensure that the domestic worker eats sadza and vegetables (no meat), or a breakfast of tea and bread but no eggs, bacon or sausages. Of course, a smart domestic worker will secretly help herself to these forbidden foods while she is preparing the food for the family. Clever!
In some families, the maid or domestic worker is not allowed to watch television or play the stereo. We allow our maid to watch television with the rest of the family once she has completed her duties. She can also play the radio while she is working as long as the volume is reasonable. If you ban the maid from watching the tele or listening to the radio be sure that they will do all these things the moment you leave home for work. We know quite a few families that are so difficult to live with that in a year they can have as many as four maids working for them and then leaving them at the earliest opportunity. May God help you!
Post published in: Opinions