Sheer Madness

Upon reaching home at 7:30pm last night, I was greeted simultaneously by my three offspring, hungry and boisterous. Everybody was trying to say something at the same time, seeking for my utmost attention. For what had happened during the day was instantly making me furious and utterly disgusted with the maid.

Every mother would be infuriated, fuming with anger when you got to know that the one person you hope would take care of your children actually neglected them the entire day – to be the slave of DVD movies. She actually did not even prepare lunch for them, and I even wonder if Amir was given breakfast at all. The kids had bread and jam for lunch, and of course by time I stepped out of the car, everybody was shouting their empty stomachs.

Obviously, the first thing I would do was to yell at her.

“Kenapa tak masak?” (Why didn't you prepare lunch?) I queried.

“Budak-budak nak makan roti saja” (The kids just want to have bread for lunch) she answered.

“Mestilah makan roti sebab balik rumah nasi tak ada!!” (Sure they did, because there’s no lunch in the first place!) I corrected her answer.

I was doubly furious because she did not vacuum the floor as I asked her to do in the morning before I leave for work. That task she conveniently forgets to do every weekend, and I ended up telling her every Monday despite the big time-table I stuck on the fridge. Triply mad because I just called her at 5pm from work asking her to prepare dinner (so that by the time I got back I’ll just throw the ingredients into the wok) but nothing was in the sink at all.

“Buat apa hari ini?” (What did you do today?)

“Tak ada apa-apa…” (Nothing..) she just answered without thinking…

“WHAT THE …” Just imagine I was almost coming out with swear words, and considering that those words never blurted out of my mouth, it was sheer madness for me.

I don’t know for how long should I succumb to this domestic-help lunacy, but surely her contract is expiring soon. If it’s not for the financial restriction, I would have just fired her yesterday!