(2008/02) Feb 2008 MTBs

iso,
do you think the dialogue a sincere one?


bkk,
interesting.
steam cleaner.. too bad i dun think my laminated floor can use that. and i so scared of the steam and afraid of scalding.
irobot is my dream gadget. heard Samsung Nuvibot also not bad.
who's going to do the ironing?
all the best!
 


bkk
steam cleaner - how does it work? steam comes out then how to suck the dirt away? sorry i swa ku :D

dialogue
it was pretty ok - i think it would've been better if the agenda was made known to us earlier so that it could have been more to the point, one of which was they wanted to know what made some mothers decide to go from 0 to 1 child, and how women can better integrate when they do finally decide to go back to work. some women were talking about how wonderful it is to have kids, blah blah which i think as SAHMs there we all know already lor.

XY, as the discussion wasn't very indepth, i'm not sure how much they can take away from it. I doubt they'll be introducing some new policies just from the session. I think it's probably just to confirm what they already know or what they suspect or that they're on the right track. But i think it was good for the MPs to meet mums anyway!

Or maybe they organised this as part of elections, LOL. CNA/CH5 was there so maybe tomorrow can see some coverage, and maybe see A trying to eat my face (he's always trying to do that!!)
 
bkk,
my mom made my MIL bring home *evil laughter* she said my washing machine has to wash baby clothes so better not to wash floor mat...

karscher steam cleaner,
i have. white elephant, only used once. can sell you cheap cheap :0
 
Xiaoyun
If the PT cleaner is good and your purpose is more for daily cleaning e.g. vacuum, mop, laundry, rather than the heavy duty, once a year springcleaning work, then I would take her back. She sounds like she does need work.

Steam cleaner
Go to Youtube and watch the videos. Hehe, I spent a morning doing that in btw work! :p

Gar
Can loan to me first? If good, I buy from you! hehe.
 
Hello mummies...

My response

1) Do you wash your kitchen towels and floor cloths by hand?
Soak and scrub by hand and spin in machine. Must spot check maid this weekend makesure she hasnt dumped all in machine direct.
2) How often do you change your bedsheets?
Twice a month. No Maid: 1 once a month.

3) Do you iron T-shirts and Jeans?
No.

4) How often do you clean windows?
Once a month? No maid: Never!

bkkgal,
what happened? current helper not working out?
 
bkk,
i dun really need a helper right now. MIL not keen to take her back.
was wondering i should help her by hiring her. but light duty things we can do by ourselves...
feel sorry for her if i dun hire her. feel sorry for my pocket if hire her to do duty stuff.. dilemma dilemma..
 
bkk,
haha...okie i need to check with EL first. it's his babie...

actually with maid, sometimes we may actually "create household chores" in order to justify their existence else they KLKK ... hehe... but if you don't have a maid, a lot of things become optional!

but hor, i must say having an extra pair of hands does really help la. like me, everyday like machum go BMT. at night after i put A to bed, will KO until jane is up.

told hubby, i wanna go part time in 2 years' time
happy.gif
 
Well, I'm looking for PT helper now. I don't mind if she doesn't clean grilles/window/fans. Is she willing to travel to central part to work? Can she cook simple dinner and help MIL out with my kids?
 
bkk,

Hehee.....I invested microwave oven & dryer after having twins. on constant lookout for gadgets to speed up cooking time and others. Now still much time spent on hand wash 3 kids' clothes, soon I will throw their clothes to washing machine after twins' 6month.

Jiayou, jiayou!

Btw, you can do online grocery shopping through cold storage website.
 
Piglettail,
Yup, fired the last one. Cannot make it. Children dun like her. Adults can't stand her.

I had enough of maids but hb not willing. still wants to get one...mainly cos he travels alot for work and I also have to take on some travelling this year. But I very proud last night I managed to put both girls to bed at the same time! Hb was in Jakarta. I came home, fed them (ok, not very well cos they are sick and picky and refused to eat), bathed them (separately some more; if not sick, will bathe together), feed meds, feed milk, play and go to bed. Of cos, I had very nice neighbours who willingly helped to play with baby while I feed K. By 8.30 pm, both were sleeping and I could wash up dinner stuff and do some light housework *beam*
 
Tubao
wow, you handwashed the bb clothes? *applause* You know all my maids are so lazy, no one handwashed my bb clothes since birth. The last one I fired even showed me blisters in her palm and said that she is allergic to the detergent. The only times they handwash is if the clothes are stained and now that she is gone, I keep finding old stains on bb clothes which means that she never really scrub out the stain! Btw, I found out from MIL that maid washed her own clothes using hot water. Maid's clothes more hygienic than my children's clothes. But maybe that's why she got blisters. Water too hot.
 
bkk,
let me ask her if she minds working in the central part.
she had ENT cancer, can't eat solid food now. not sure if can still cook.
more bio about her - she's 60+ yo. speaks teochew and english and very hardworking. but sometimes can be a bit long winded. hope your MIL dun mind.
she will be very happy if you can hire her.
 
Just came back from hospital after hubby's dr review and I'm furious. Stupid dr last minute then asked my hubby to go for x ray when we already checked earlier then he refused to use the queue number system. So, no queue no. shown for his room and everyone else got called except my hubby. I was in my brace and aching all over, while hubby was tired and resting his eyes (cos he's down with cold), but we still got to wait for so long for no good reason. So, I was quite sarcastic by the time we saw the dr, more than 1.5 hrs after his appt time. The dr evaded my question on why no queue no. (just said that's not his style). Even madder cos hubby was bochap and cool (did not say a word) during the face off I had with the doctor. It's like I'm doing all this for myself, he didn't even bother to fight for himself.
angry.gif


XY, I wouldn't. Sorry to say but I hired PT helper to do the housechores that I hate to do. So, no windows, no ceiling fans etc is no go for me.

bkkgal, I have a free steam cleaner after we bought the delphin. Will say it's good cos saves water and more hygienic. But mine is not good for under the bed cos it's a stick like floor steamer.

I used to let the maid wash the kids clothes using washing machine. Until I realise it's not good cos accumulated stains (we don't put them into the washing machine everyday) on kids' clothes won't wash out. So, in the end, ask her to handwash every night.
 
Hello mummies! On taxi on way hme from airport! Went for work trip plus squeeze in shopping time, lots of clothes for kiddo. First time to platinum mall, luckily i was under time restraint, otherwise can shop till broke.


1) Do you wash your kitchen towels and floor cloths by hand?
All by hand even without maid in the past. Feels that its a bit weird to have machine washing briefs & kitchen towels in the same machine? Kitchen cloth due to oil stains so prefer to just handwash.
2) How often do you change your bedsheets? Once a month

3) Do you iron T-shirts and Jeans?
Jeans no. T-shirts- some.

4) How often do you clean windows?
Random, only when maid has no other duties. Usually she has quite a lot of chores over weekends.

All my children clothes only handwash even with without maid.
 
i hear dishwasher is a life saver. when i move house, will also invest in one. i find most of the time i spend washing dishes and milk bottles!

actually i find part time help makes a big difference. mine comes twice a week. very meticulous. will even help me change sheets (so no reason for me to be lazy).
 
mummies who stop bf - did your boobs return to normal size or shrunk? mine seems to shrunk drastically..hmm..somemore 1 smaller than the other..duh..i haven't really stop totally..but the well almost dry i think..sigh.

just wondering if there's a need to invest in boobs enhancement cream..i think at this rate..almost going flat..
 
kitsune
how about when the kids clothes are stained, just soak and wash/scrub the stains away? then sometimes i will still air dry the clothes, until laundry day then wash everything together again.

QL
OMG mine have shrunk to the smallest size ever! but one of my close friends (who used to have nice boobs, not sure about now cos she lives overseas), said that after her 2nd one they shrank! boohoo.

wonder if it'll get bigger if i have #3? :D

gar
i got a dishwasher.. but i have not operated it ONCE. you want to borrow and try? just kidding
happy.gif


but you are right, sometimes must create jobs for them to do. the house now is like so spick and span, so nice! esp since with 2 kids messing it up all the time.
 
Hi 5 iso n ql! Mine is the smallest ever too , I think smaller than when I was in sec 1. Small nvm but it's so saggy too.
sad.gif
sad siah. Ql, like u for e 1st time ever I actually look at those bust enhancement advert n wonder whether they really works cause so tempted to go.
 
hey, great discussions! But kinda inconvenient to type a lot on iPhone.. So I'll post on the shortest discussion thread

Re: Boobs
I feel that the boobs generally don't shrink but it's the skin that stretches n thus feel like it shrank.. Btw, I heard that there are fillers available to perk them up!
 
Iso, I told the maid previously to hand wash the stained ones first, then the not stained ones keep for laundry day. But some spots are not obvious in the beginning but they show up a few days later when the washing machine can't remove them. So, now I tell her to handwash everything lor. :p

QL, Iso, genice, mine too. Sad man, I bought the elancyl bust cream recently, cannot enhance lar but only moisturize & firming. Hope it helps lor. :p
 
Boobs
Sigh!! Wonder if this is common for after 2nd kid? Looks like next time must go tummy tuck and fillers, lol.

Eliaw, confirm shrunk lah, so much smaller.. Sone more mine like one day suddenly shrank.

Someone should write an IPhone app for this darn forum already!!
 
eliaw.. mine confirm shrunk too cause no matter how i push up and try to fit into my pre preg bras.. its never full..previously it was FULL!! and a bit more..
sad.gif


bx .. i thot i like small busts when mine was bigger previously.. but now.. i actually feel a bit incomplete.. haha.. esp when lie down on bed..my 2 pieces of skin ( note almost no flesh ) on my chest seems to be going all directions.. thats how saggy it is...pathetic...Pauline.. u cant beat me.. i think my busts is the nearest ever to my belly button...
 
Strangely.. it wasnt that bad after G... what happened?? Iso.. u got frens with 3 kids?? check w them whether having the 3rd kid helps or it will just bring us 2'' closer to our belly button? :p
 
Hello mummies gd morning !

Have been so long I didn't log in.

bbkgal, my reply:

1) Do you wash your kitchen towels and floor cloths by hand? - My helper washes both by hand.

2) How often do you change your bedsheets? once a week? fortnightly? - My helper changes them once a week. kiddo ones once every 2-3 days

3) Do you iron T-shirts and Jeans? - yes for all (by helper of cos)

4) How often do you clean windows? - errr... probably once a month when she has the time
 
bkk,

Not me. My MIL or maid does most of baby clothes washing.

Your last maid is too much. Hehe.....I also did fair bit of firing. I asked for replacement nanny from agent after my 1st twin Confinement nanny worked for us for 4 hours.

And I sent off a day time nanny whom I hired to help after my supposed- 2nd maid delayed coming here, after observing her for 2 hours. Total wasting of time.

My maid told me that she hand washed whole family's clothes when working as a baby sitter in Indonesia. Guess that if they worked as babysitters in their own countries, they may not have high expectations immediately.

----wash clothes,
If clothes soaked first & stains scrubbed, it saves a little time when rinsing with tap water turned high volume.
 
gar,
good question!
if the clothes handwashed by me, it's definitely dirtier than machine wash!!
i guess it's because handwashing involves some scrubbing on the stains?

for stains, i sprayed Pre-wash (detergent), wait for 5 minutes.
then scrub. then air dry. then throw into washing maching in the next laundry day.
 
Oops Pauline, now I remembered you asked abt the bust enhancement serum right? Sorry, I rem reading it from Barcelona but I didn't get to reply. I may have one bottle left. Do you want? The other last bottle leaked so I"m using it now. hehe, will let you know if got effect cos my boobs also damn sad, damn neglected. Sag like macham papayas. One side more droopy than the other. Imbalanced liao...
 
Bkkgal, yup, I never heard from u n my bust looked very sad so i finally couln't resist n bought elancyl from watsons. Sagged papayas better than mine, like sagged prunes. How much is yours?

Genice, mine also 1 side unbalanced. :p
 
Morning ladies!

bkkgal,
oh dear, sorry to hear your help isn't working out. yeah i agree it's a catch 22 situation for us ftwm:
No help = spend all afterwork time on housework
Got help = spend all afterwork time managing help/mil/hb politics, etc
i can't decide which is the less 'shiong'. the first is physically draining, the second is mentally draining, both equally frustrating.
 
Gar,
Good question!

At my home kinda of my mum's mindset---saving water blah blah. Actually I am sick of it. Come to think of it, buying 10 school uniforms won't burn your pocket a hole, will you just buy 2 uniforms and wash school uniform every night? Now my mum buys 40+ pieces clothes for each of my daughters every summer, and still insists hand wash.

Well, 2nd reason as xy said, small towel for milk feeds and rompers' chin area are normally soaked with milk, after every milk feed. We soak/scrub to remove milk smell first.

3rd reason, justify maid' existance. My maid is highly efficient, she can finish all work including hand wash clothes by 7pm. She's free after 7pm.

bkk,
1 maid, Yes, the one sheila recommended . After my MIL is willing to help, we decided not to have 2nd one. So much relieved!
 
Piglettail, I totally agree with you on the no heler/helper statements! Somemore my hb lagi hands off after having a helper n hug his iPad more.. Zzzz.
 
wah....i can't keep up with everything.
BUSY:
Took leave yesterday to go zoo with Ruth before holiday crowd. Fun but challenging esp when she starts getting cranky earlier than usual (prob cuz we tire her out quite abit). Didn't play water at kidzworld but she sat all the horse/pony rides and had blast.
Work been very busy so hardly have time to reply.

BOOBS:
eh...i have 1 only and didn't even breastfeed as long as most of you. Was ok actually but that's cuz i put on weight (FAT!!!) though not as firm as before. but during CNY, had serious case of bacteria infection and lost weight. Boobs also disappeared together! Good grief.

HOUSEWORK:
i def think having my maid makes my life easier though she can really kill me sometimes.

1. she's rather dense and blur. sometimes tell her one thing..she can forget the next day. then have to remind her again. I guess if not life-n-death, I keep telling myself to adjust expectations that she will remember everything. Honestly, I want her because she is a little blur and very honest and down-to-earth and I can trust her with my home. Most importantly, she can tahan MY MUM's NAGGING! I play the 'silent killer' at home....whereas my mum is the nag-nag-nag one.

2. She handwashes practically everything because i think the washing machine is scary to her - she scared she spoil our things, she scared she dunno how to use. Every morning, by 9am, she would have sweep, mop, wash clothes. Then she will have breakfast. (her own preference to eat late.)

Only the bedsheets she will use washing machine. And tht's cuz I teach her and she memorize just that ONE setting.

3. Baby clothes - From birth till the maid came, I will dump clothes into machine. We are a little jittery about spills and etc - so very unadventurous with letting baby make a mess. So usually, erm, not much stains to deal with. My parents however, wanna wash by hand so sometimes they will 'intercept' and snatch my clothes away. But baby clothes, I will wash separately from adult clothes usually and we change her clothes quite often. I also use special detergent for hers.

4. Kitchen clothes (no maid) - hardly put machine will use the kitchen bleach to soak once a month or so. other than that just use dish detergent to wash. If kitchen handclothes and et accumulate enough, i have no qualms about putting into machine - but must use hot water cycle lor.

5. Floor clothes - washing machine - cuz i'm too lazy. Again, use hot water cycle and wash separately from my clothes of course.

FREAKING-DUNNO-WANNA-LAUGH-OR-CRY-EPISODE
I sent my maid to get medical checkup 2 weeks back - she's been in SG for almost 10 years though not all with us so not her first time going for checkup.

I told her not to go to the doc I usually go (she knows which one cuz i send her to go get number for me that time) but 2 doors away because that one less crowded.

She went and came back, telling me doc ask her toreturn at 8.30pm. I was puzzled - told her 8.30pm normally they close liao. but anyway, maybe business better and they open late so I never bother. Plus that night my hubby sleep liao and my girl also tired so I need to put her to bed.

Almost 9pm, Ruth is asleep. I'm on the phone wiht my mum catching up on day's progress when another call comes in from clinic.....not xxx Medical Clinic but xxxx DENTAL CLINIC!

My stupid-scared-to-open-mouth-to-ask-questions maid went to dental clinic, had her teeth cleaned and asked for medical checkup after that.

WAH PIANG!!!!

Dentist saw she scared shitless after realising the mistake - decided to charge her only half price.

I tell u...dunno wanna laugh or cry......she come home scared until dunno how to talk to me. LOL. She offered to pay herself. i intend to subsidize la but until we broach the topic again (wwhen her full pay is due in a few months - she is now stlil repaying the loan), I will let her go think about her mistake first and worry about the money gone.
 
piglettail,
hubby and i opted for no help = spend all time on housework.

but hor, must say after a while develop SOP can do very fast. and also cannot be too particular lor.

i personally hate to manage human affairs. rather be tired physically than emotionally
 
btw..my maid hardly cooks - because she cant cook chinese food very well.

my mum does all the cooking at her own house and brings over. My maid will heat it up for us when we reach home. at most, on weekends, my maid cooks very simple stuff like yong-tau-foo soup, steam egg with meat and maggi mee. or make some sandwiches (with instruction) or toast fish fingers/nuggets etc (instant food).

her role mostly to clean, prepare etc. Still a big help though.

and I like that she is not too particular about food. Will eat pork, will eat overnight food and doesn't mind sharing with us - eg i cannot finish a portin of food, i will separate it (of course not i bite and give her la) and she doesn't mind finishing it for me.

She's simple and frugal and it's the most important thing to me.
 
BKKgal
) Do you wash your kitchen towels and floor cloths by hand? - Handwash by my part time cleaner. If myself, will handwash but not very thorough

2) How often do you change your bedsheets? once a week? fortnightly? Er..once a month! Washing's fine, but lazy to put on the new covers, esp for the quilt. For the kids, I change weekly.

3) Do you iron T-shirts and Jeans? - Will see if they look crumpled.

4) How often do you clean windows? - By my part time cleaner, 3-4 times a year.

My MIL will wash all the kids clothes by hand, and expect me to do the same. Even the pail and basin must be saparate from adults. When the kids are with me, I just throw them into washing machine. The dirtier ones, will srcub/soak then wash in machine - which is the reason y I dun wash hand towels, floor rugs in the machine. btw, no. 2 is already 10 months, so no need to be so perfectly clean!
 
Lezy- ur maid indeed very blur... Haha!

Boobs- so i suppose the shrinking is very normal, but really quite bad. Like genice describe, really very flat when lie down, like skin and no fats in the boobs.. Hmmm..not that i want big boobs but at least not skin only boobs ...haha

Mine ss down to 100 ml per day duno shld stop or not..my #2 still latch on 1 time early wee morning, so makes me persists on. I quite used to the bond so feel unwilling to give it up. Now the boy likes my maid to carry more than me!! So sad
sad.gif
 
lezy
LOL!!!! but I guess these things are bound to happen when they don't understand much english. i'm lucky that so far my maid seems pretty good, q pleasant nature and quick learner. so sometimes i pek chek also usually not too long.

she can't cook cos she dun know how to use the stove, or because u don't show her step by step? mine must be super step by step, and i also learn along the way that instructions must be super specific. ask her to cut apple in quarters, can also come out in 6s, that kind of thing. ask her to put oyster sauce then come out too much, but that one my fault, guess if i'm her i also not sure what to do.

boobs
mine too small to sag leh!!!
worse thing is i hate how they keep expanding and shrinking, my bras of various sizes all don't fit that well at one point or another. sheesh.

genice
ok i ask friends w 3 kids.. get back to u all when i've collated survey results. WAHHAAH.
 
maids
eh, my maid learn from us to call A "darling". how should i tell her to call differently?? can i ask her to call him sayang or something instead?
 
Gar,
the bigger baby insisted on getting maid lor...cos used to mummy doing everything and he knows the wifey ain't going fill her shoes at all! hahaha

Iso,
Yes I have also become super specific with my instructions. my take is if i didn't tell specifically (e.g: ask her soak dried mushrooms and she use hot water instead of cold water as I expected) i won't scold (thou i'll be so in my mind honestly). but i get angry when i'm specific and she doesn't follow.

Yes I will tell her specifically not to call my child anything else but his name. Terms of endearment are reserved for family only.
 
Actually think about it, the ang mos are more resilient than us. In their home countries, nannies are expensive and no parental support, but they can still raise a family.

Maybe that's why Singaporeans are said to have low adversity quotient.
 
gar,

ha.. my ang mo colleague asked me this question when we talked about maid:
"is your house so dirty? why do you need it to be so clean?"
 


XY, haha so funny!

Ya most ang mos think singaporeans are too pampered. Always complaining. Life too good Liao.

My Hubby army reservist friend said if war comes we sure die. Our children wear crocs can also get caught in escalator.
 

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