Changes/ Dependency

Truth be told, I am a little anxious (and a bit depressed) to be starting work again. What do I do? I suppose mothers the world over battles over this issue- work/career vs motherhood. In most cases they don't clash because we're such great multi-taskers (I guess) but having my fourth child makes me think very seriously about quitting my job to be a full-time mother.

It is ironic that I gave birth to this child, spends my whole waking hours with her during my confinement- nursing & caring for her- and come 12 Jan I have to hand her over to my foul-mouthed, uneducated maid to raise her in my absence. My other children already uses maid's certain rude words (one of it being an equivalent of "Are you blind?") and I have had to undo her bad practices. It's also terribly irritating to see her bully my children into submission, threatening not to do certain things for them if they don't comply with her demands (e.g. give me a piece of your pizza or I won't go to the park with you or get this-and-that for me or I won't make your chocolate drink for you). Sometimes I wonder why I bother with her. We pay her too much salary & now she acts as if she's part-owner of the household.

Maybe Les was right. Ours is a nation too dependent on housemaids. He grew up as a latchkey kid- takes care of himself when he comes home from school and waits for mum to come back after work. No maids, and he turned out pretty well. I myself grew up with my mother's presence all the way but is unable to do the same for my own children. Mrs Kwan raised her children to be independent- never had a maid in her life. I wonder what would happen a few years into the future when these children grow up? Indirectly (or maybe even more directly than we care to think), our housemaids would have a hand in shaping our country's future. A chilling thought, wouldn't you think?