A Homemaker’s Diary

I was bloghopping when I found these articles related to homemaker.

The first one : What’s a homemaker worth? The shocking truth makes me realize that if all the homemakers demand such pay, all the husband will go broke..haha!

They are typically constructed from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ average pay figures for a variety of occupations including:

* Child-care worker, $8.91 an hour
* Maid, $8.02 an hour
* Food preparation supervisor, $11.70 an hour
* Bookkeeper, $11.94 an hour
* Chauffeur, $8.67 an hour

The formula is simple. Figure out how many hours, on average, a homemaker performs each task, multiply those hours by the appropriate wage and come up with an impressive and completely overblown annual figure.

Sometimes they don’t even bother to determine working hours. Talk show host and investment adviser Ric Edelman decided that because mothers are constantly on call and perform all these functions, the appropriate figure was one that reflected the hourly rate for each of 17 occupations, performed simultaneously, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. That’s how he came up with an annual worth figure of more than $500,000.

For those who insist on working and let someone else raise your children for you, perhaps you should read this article : Second incomes: twice the work, half the return. I like what the last paragraph says:

Also on the bright side, discovering that a second income really doesn’t contribute much financially can free a spouse to learn new skills, go back to school, pursue an unprofitable dream career or launch a home-based business that may pay little during the first few years. If you’re going to work for free, after all, you might as well enjoy it.

So true!

I think sooner or later I will need to buy a new handbag. The current one is almost torn at the handle..huhu! I made a pledge to myself that I will not buy another handbag until the current one that I’m using daily is really, really in bad shape.

Of course it’s really tempting to splurge on something that costly like a designer handbag but in times like this, I need to be prudent and should only spend on what I really need..but it’s not wrong to dream and imagine of all the good things in life, right?

Who knows if somehow I could be the one who wins this LV Neverfull handbag..heh!

The contest is open to Malaysia and Singapore residents..so women out there, click the banner to enter the contest and see whether you will get this handbag after 31st August..hehe!

I’m off to bed in 10 minutes time (hopefully!) So this will be my quick update for the week.

We went to Subang Parade on Saturday in the attempt to run away from the renovation noise from our SS (go figure the bad word) neighbor..sigh! I don’t understand what took them so long to finish up the renovation…eeii sakit hati la..we were told that the next 2 days there will be more wall hacking..enough about that..

We tried the Tumble Tots Gymbabes session and I was not happy about it. They lack of manpower so I really feel that the RM60 spent for the trial session is such a waste..I might as well get some new educational toy from Toys R Us or a book on parenting and child play for that amount of money that I paid. But at least now I know what’s the Gymbabes is all about.

I think the main reason why I decided not to sign up for their monthly session was because our son didn’t enjoy it. If your kids are hyperactive or the type that always have excess energy, then perhaps this kind of Tumble here and there will suit him/her..heh! Our son is more to laid back type that prefers close attention from his parents. So I think rather than push him to attend such session, I might as well do my own Mama Tots session at home…hehe!

Oh…I’m still in search of good craft pliers for the coming class. We went to Mydin USJ on Friday to get supplies like brushes, scissors etc but somehow they no longer stock up the usual brushes that I bought earlier for decoupage classes..huhu!

For the coming class, I already got a new venue..the one in Kelab Komuniti Taman Tasik Cyberjaya sucks big time! Not worth of RM65 per hour for such lousy service. Hopefully this time it will be better.

Well, that’s it for now! I will update more if I get some time off from the little one..hehe! Happy Monday and have fun working people!

A lot has been happening lately..some I don’t really feel like sharing especially when it’s family related (it’s always a sore subject when it comes to family).

The rest were like our car broke down (battery went dead) just before we headed for a friend’s wedding on Sunday, the weeks before it was air cond problem, and then the previous weeks I was busy with preparation for class and the wedding, and the day before the wedding (on Saturday) we had hard time finding sirih for sirih junjung..isk isk..just as you thought you have planned it all, things happen..huhu!

Nevertheless it all went well for the bride who is also an old friend from school. It’s a second marriage for her after the demise of her first husband..sad huh! But as the song says, patah tumbuh hilang berganti..I’m sure she has thought about it all through..fuhh..not sure how it will be if it was me, will I remarry? Will I stay single and raise the son alone..as of now, I think I will not remarry, but then again what if God has destined for me to have another married life, who knows, right?

Well, this is just some random thoughts that I have in mind today…nothing important in particular. And to leave you all with something pleasing to the eye, here is the picture of sirih junjung that I managed to make with whatever helaian sirih I got from the Indian florist in Puchong..heh!

I never realized that there are so many life small indulgences that I’ve been taking for granted..

Well, things like being able to go to the toilet to pee once I have the urge to do so, sipping the drinks while it’s still hot, taking my own sweet time savoring a good meal, lying on the sofa to watch movie while munching on junk food or simply to lie on the bed doing nothing, completely in solitude (without having to worry about a little fella who will cry his crocodile tears when he sees mama bersenang lenang..haha!)

I think having a child and raising him on your own makes you see things in different view, you will appreciate life (your time and energy!) and your spouse even more.

I also feel that you will never know how much your other half loves you, or how good and kind he could be until you have a child together. Like any other relationship, the true color of a person will only be revealed in time of sorrow, hardship and sickness.

This is the time when all the sweet talk won’t matter anymore. This is the time when action speaks louder than words. Tolerance and compromise is the key to a healthy marriage with child. Being able to put yourselves in your other half’s shoes and share the burdens (like taking turn to look after the son while she’s eating her dinner or helping to wash the dishes before you go to sleep at 12am) makes you grow stronger, together.

At the end of the day, after such a long and tiring day, I always tell myself, as I am falling asleep, I could go through this again, tomorrow and the day after because I know that I am not alone in this, and it’s so good to have a husband that loves me this much!