oh no, no ayi!

This week in honor of the holiday, I gave our ayi (house help, pronounced ie-ee) a few days off.

Ok, before I go any further, I will answer the question on your mind. Yes, I have house help. Yes, she basically works full-time (all day Monday through Friday and half days on Saturdays). Now I don't feel the need to justify this, but consider the following just an explanation of why this is very common here (and many places outside the US). . . life is different here. I can't blitz through Kroger (or Fred Meier, Target, etc.) and get all of my grocery shopping done in 30-40 minutes. On average, I go to the store often (due to a small fridge) and then can not find everything at one store. In fact, I usually need to go to the store at least 4 times a week, and often need to go to at least 3-4 different stores over the course of a couple of weeks to find all of our normal grocery items. Unfortunately, these stores are not always near each other or even that close to me. Not to mention that we buy our vegetables and fruit fresh daily. Then when you add how long it takes to do laundry (my washer is teeny-tiny and can fit about 1 pair of jeans and 4 shirts in a load) and how often you need to clean. I think that without her, all I would do is laundry and grocery shopping! As we have started homeschooling, she has become even more help to me. When we lived in the US, I would have never considered hiring anyone to clean our house. And even as we return every summer, I am amazed at how much easier it is to get all of those household chores done in America. Notice that I am not saying easy. It is just easier. I am not discounting all the work that all you moms in the US do!

Ok, now that I have given the background info of why we have house help, I will fast forward to today. My ayi called me last night to tell me that her dad is very sick and went into the hospital. She asked if she could take a week or two and return to Sichuan to see him. I reassured her to take the time that she needed and that we would be fine. When I got off the phone and told the kids, Becca's first response was: "OH NO! Who will wash our clothes?!"

I know that I don't usually wash the clothes here, but c'mon B, give me a little credit.