How to live without helpers

How to live without helpers

JAKARTA (JP): If your maids do not come back from the Idul
Fitri exodus, you might want to try to live without them as a few
families in Jakarta have already done.

Of course, some prerequisites are necessary before you make a
decision.

Gwenny and her husband Adi, have lived without maids for over
five years. They have a teenage daughter and a 10-year-old son.
They live in a small house with a small, neat front yard that
does not need much tending.

Gwenny makes weekly schedules and reviews them every three to
four days. It consists of the week's menu, schedules for doing
the laundry, cooking, cleaning, shopping, as well as her
husband's and children's activities. Adi (a university lecturer)
and the children would do household tasks whenever possible.

"But the schedule is flexible. I don't want to be too strict
with myself," she said.

She has a lot of privacy by not having a maid. The family is
very comfortable with their lives now and cannot think of having
it any other way.

Gwenny said she has had experience with domestic helpers who
stay on the job for a few months, weeks or even days. She had
maids who were very lazy, too "smart" or clumsy. "I've been
through all that," she said.

If Gwenny's reasons and experience do not convince you, you
might have to keep replacing your maids until you we find the
right ones.

In the meantime, if you cannot handle household chores without
maids, the hotels here are offering various holiday season
packages - which can also be translated as no-maid packages. (Tri
Hafiningsih)