Workers in the house

When we first received news of our twins, we immediately decided on a full time helper to assist us with the babies. It was a no-brainer that we, as first time parents, and the fact that my husband has erratic working hours - would ever be able to handle the two infants and our house in order.

The babies arrived and the whirlwind started. They wouldn't sleep well at night, the required constant feeding and my sticthes (I had a c-section) were not recovering. So we hailed another assistant and was able to breathe again. This happened two months after our babies were born, so imagine how zombified we were before that. My husband had food poisoning, he also just started a new job so many times it was only me alone taking care of the babies till he arrived at 3am..

One of the many desperate moments I remember was when Riaz could not stop crying, and my husband placed him in his baby cot and let him cry for 30 minutes till he slept from tiredness. I too did the same to Ariz one night when it was just impossible to calm him down. You see, when we had only 1 helper, there was no one to assist us at night, and we underestimated the behavioural of the babies during their pantang days.

The moment the pantang days were over, the babies immediately got into a routine of sleeping at night and then the second helper arrived.

But anyways, when the twins arrived, also did the workers in the house.

My husband and I always uphold the values of treating the people who attend to our children really really well. We didn't create any boundaries between them and us... we get Starbucks, they get Starbucks too. We made sure they are not physically tired at crucial hours, we hire extra help during festive seasons and when we have guests coming over. And they get year end bonusses, during raya. And smartphones. And new clothes, not just hand me downs. And new shoes.

Some are not so into the idea of hiring workers or helpers at home... I have to agree, it is a hefty cost. I don't really agree on the invasion of privacy party because our helpers has very well respected our privacy. It's either that, or we are just non-protocolish kind of people... We just mind our manners and we try to do charity for them as much as we can.

So late last month, one of our helpers left for good after completing her 2 year contract. She's greatly missed by me, because she was my first help and she was super efficient, forward thinking and went above and beyond in making sure that my babies were safe and clean and happy. My babies do not notice her absence, maybe they are too young or because there's still another helper around.

The only tips I can give.. is to treat your workers fairly. However, sometimes you just need the extra luck to get a really good one... and Alhamdulillah, I have been blessed.

We hired another helper to replace Tuty who left, and I'm glad Lutfi is turning to be quite ok. My babies love her, what else can I ask for?