Community MagazineOctober 2021

22 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE Sarah R. Cohen – “It’s BestTheyLearn Now” I’ve had a full-time, live-in housekeeper since about the time my third child was born. I feel that once you have three or more, the help becomes necessary if you can afford it. My kids are a bit older now, so things are different, but nevertheless, it was a big adjustment when Covid hit and we went from having a housekeeper six days a week to zero. Chores suddenly became a thing. Everyone was responsible for cleaning their own rooms.  Assigning chores gave my children a new appreciation for all that the housekeeper does for us. It also taught them about responsibility, and showed them that when you work hard, you get to enjoy the fruits of your labor. And, they’ll all eventually need these skills in the future, so it’s best they learn now. Although it’s not realistic to have a large list of chores for children who are now in school fulltime, I still give them tasks here and there around the house to do. When all your kids are old enough to attend school, like mine, the value of a fulltime housekeeper is that it frees up your schedule. I can visit my parents regularly and take them to doctor’s visits. I can get involved with SBH to focus on hesed projects, knowing that I’ll come home to a clean house and the laundry will be clean and put away.  Household Help: To Hire or Not to Hire? FRIEDA SCHWEKY While household help has been pretty standard for several generations, things have changed significantly in recent years. Back in the day, housekeepers and housewives would work together cleaning, cooking, organizing, and caring for young children. But as more community women work, they have come to rely on housekeepers to care for much of the home’s needs independently. As a busy photographer, I relied heavily on my dayworker for household chores and for caring for my preschool child. Unfortunately, my housekeeper wanted more money per hour and more hours than I needed, and we couldn’t come to an agreement. I’ve since been on the hunt for good help, and the journey has taught me a lot. I’ve become a member of a WhatsApp group chat aimed at connecting community women with local cleaning help. Many members lamented that it is very hard to find a good housekeeper and to convince her to stay once you have found her. I felt discouraged, but then I remembered that Hashem runs the world, so things can turn around at any moment! For this month’s column, I decided to interview several community women to hear their thoughts on the subject of housekeepers.   Florence Doueck – “We All Came Out Strongerand Better” One thing that can help a household run smoothly is to train your kids from an early age to help out. Assigning small chores to each child can have a huge impact. Have one child collect the garbage from each room, another collect the towels for laundry, a third load the dishwasher, and so on. If you have a system in place and you’re all pitching in, then you have a head start on things if the worker doesn’t show up. Don’t let things build knowing someone is coming to clean your house. Being too reliant on anyone is risky business. Since I taught my kids to pitch in from a young age, I've never been stuck with a mess. Covid was a struggle, but we prevailed. We went from having help 2-3 times a week to having no outside help for about six months. My kids took turns doing the laundry every other day. One would wash towels, another would take delicates, whites, and so on. They’d shlep the clothing upstairs for me to fold, and then take turns putting the clothing away in everyone’s rooms. We all took turns loading the dishwasher every day. My daughter went to each bedroom and bathroom collecting the garbage bags and putting in clean ones. The boys took the garbage out twice a week and brought back the cans when they were emptied. I did the vacuuming, windexing, cooking, and zoom monitoring. It was definitely stressful, but we all came out stronger and better for it. The kids were taught a lesson in responsibility and learned to appreciate what it takes to have a clean home.