SAHM vs FTWM; That Soalan Cepu Emas Again

I spent the last three days (Monday to Wednesday) at home since our new maid STILL has not arrived. I was a bit anxious as work has been piling up but then decide whatever it is, work can take a back seat when it comes to the kids. So in the end, hubby and I decided that I would take Mon-Wed off while he would stay at home Thurs-Fri.

Now that I'm back in the office (and I believe hubby is currently spending his time taking a nap with the kids), I'm beginning to cherish the time I spent at home with the kids. It wasn't easy, I spent most of my time figuring out which part of the house I would spring clean first, thus Monday was rather tiring as I swept and mopped the entire ground floor twice! Tuesday, I concentrated on the upstairs, moving furniture and other stuff that had never been moved since we moved in thus finding several lizard droppings and other gross stuff that accumulate in dark corners, and getting rid of them. Luckily Dina was a charm, she spent most of the time playing with her blocks, watching TV or reading (pretending to read) her books. The only time she called out to me was when she needed to go to the bathroom or when she wanted milk.

Figuring out what to cook was also a cause for headache. I don't despise cooking, in fact during my Uni years I was pretty good but truth be told, I would prefer if someone else took up the cooking. Good thing last week my MIL came over and stocked our fridge so I had a lot to pick and choose from. In the end, I just fried some chicken and prepared boiled mushrooms with sawi. I also prepared some hard boiled eggs coz the girls lurrveee eggs. That was our menu for Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday, we had run out of mushrooms so I took Dina to the nearby store to buy some items to make chicken soto. The girls love soto because I make it using nasi himpit. I find it somewhat weird coz the girls say they love nasi himpit but don;t like regular rice. What's the difference; it's still basically rice? Kids!!

One thing that I loved about being at home was the actual amount of time I got to spend with the kids. Sure, sometimes their occasional fighting and whining would drive me up the wall but just sitting down with them to read a book was priceless. The only time we switched on the TV was when I wanted to take my bath or perform prayers; other than that we would do colouring together or practise the piano or read books.

Truth be told, I think I would make a pretty good housewife. I never really did miss the lack of adult interaction but then it was only for 3 days. I found out that I do a much better job at cleaning and maintaining the house than any maid could and no matter how much I hate ironing, I make it more bearable by ironing in front of the TV while watching Supernatural or CSI. The kids also loved having me at home; Dania's face lit up everytime she saw me waiting for her at the door when she came home from school.

However, to be realistic, I dunno if our family could survive on just one income. As of now, I pay for a lot of things; the Kelana Jaya apartment, Dania's Smartreader and Yamaha classes, Dina's Tumble Tot's classes, my maid's pay. Even though it's not that much (the KJ apt takes up a lot but that's because I intend to finish the payments earlier than expected), I still love the fact that I have my own money and can buy anything I want without having to ask from hubby. Unless I can find a stay-at-home job that can guarantee me the same (or even half!) of what I make now, I don't think I would want to give up my financial security.

Plus of course, there's that bond issue with my current company; quitting would mean having to pay back over RM150K which just makes me pale when I think about it.

I guess since I'm yet again thinking about making some serious changes in my life, I'll have to make a Pro and Con list with hubby and figure out what to do.