Trading places

A lot of my friends talk of giving up jobs and being at home.I believe we all think that sitting at home would mean that we can eat sleep,read our favourite books,spend time with friends and generally do the things that we dont get to do thanks to a full time job.Somewhere in the back of our hearts we also turned up our noses at the housewife as someone who leads a lazy life living off the fat of the land with the husband bringing home the bacon.What really is the truth?
Its been two weeks since I traded in my corporate life to become part of the huge population of homemakers,housewife etc whatever we may choose to call them.In these two weeks,I have not had time to blog(I blogged almost everyday when I was working fulltime),read a book(I read a book every night while holding a full time job)watch a favourite tv programme(what tv?)or catch up with friends.So what keeps me busy you ask.I ask myself the same question and the answer is ....a lot of things.
lets start at the beginning.It starts with the early morning bell,the car wash boy needs cleaning cloth to clean the car,so I scramble out of bed half asleep and hand it over to him,go back to bed to get some shuteye and the bell goes again....cook has arrived,menu to be planned,kitchen stock taking to be done,shopping list for the day to be made.Time for a quick tea(brushing teeth and washing face all done by now)scan the newspaper(by which time cook is grumbling that there is not enough ginger or coconut or whatever else it is that he needs)and get the mothers breakfast organised.8.30 am already and time for insulin injection and breakfast in half hour(deadline very important if you want to avert big crisis).House maid has arrived and all dishes are being washed.Time to run washing machine so pick out clothes of the same colour(husband like father is a stickler for doing things right and going as per instruction book)Staying at home has one big advantage,not too many clothes to wash of the same colour(dress code is always shorts and t shirt in black or white or grey,no stress there).Have breakfast,ensure the mother takes all medication with out a miss(she leaves them on the bed and thinks shes had them,talk of many a slip between the cup and the lip,this is a live demo).10 am by now and everyone has left for the day.Start putting things back in the right place,then the table doesnt look clean enough so start cleaning,oops the plants need watering,run to terrace to water more plants.Huff puff and come back in time for tea.Start the tea,drink and clear up again.Time to check email(ah atlast something from my last birth as corporate person).Read mail,reply,brouse(addicitve,end up checking all kinds of things and forgetting where I started),check bank account(nothing comes in anymore but habits die hard,maybe for my own well being ,the husband should be encouraged to deposite some cash into the account,isnt that how a housewife runs a house...got to get that research done).Close computer and its already 12 oclock.Remember that bills have to be paid,cheques to be deposited,shopping to catch up on and petrol to be filled.By now its time for lunch and mother and daughter have a quick meal,supervise medication agin,clear up again and think that its time for some much needed R and R.Just as my eyes shut in sleep,the bell goes again.Remember the clothese given for ironing,well they are back,so pay for it and go back to get some 40 winks,bell goes again....courier boy with cover for husband...sign for it and he looks suspiciously and asks for my relationship with the person whose name is on the cover....housemaid I say....get dirty looks from boy who thinks I am up to no good but who cares.Oh well its already time for afternoon tea,and I still havent had a bath,the house looks like it could do with a lot more cleaning,the tea cups have to be washed(visitors come when they know you are at home and that means endless cups of tea)and the day is almost done.
When one is full time corporate breadwinner,things are so different....get up at 7.30,have tea,bath,breakfast,pick up car keys and head for work.Curse traffic and stupid men( who overtake because your a woman)arrive at work,check mail,call for meeting,throw weight around,order tea,send out proposal,meet a few people,do business lunch,rush to beauty parlour(need to be presentable....in home situation,no parlour,grey hair,busy eyebrows are all acceptable)yell at a few people,think smart,impress the boss and drive back home,settle with a nice drink,discuss office politics and go to sleep......oh well the debate is endless but one thing is for sure,there is no rest for the wicked,housewife,corporate executive or otherwise

Spell,count or prepare to die

Atleast three people called to tell me that I have got my spellings wrong in my posts.Well for starters thats because spellcheck doesnt work anymore on blogger and for people like me that was a lifesaver,but that brings me to the current post.It set me thinking about the two biggest hurdles in my life.I never learnt to spell right or to count right.The mind works overtime and my thoughts spill over in haste so if it were talking oneself out of a situation,I can do it under any circumstance but write it down and I am lost(though I still manage to communicate and thats what matters in the end).
So all this feedback set me thinking as to why spelling and counting or rather maths and written english elude me.It starts way back when I learnt to read and write.My father( always a stickler for getting everything right) would insisit that I read books on a daily basis.Somehow despite being terrified of him I muddled through it and managed to get it right so reading is something I enjoy.By the time I was in class three,both my sisters were to take me to school or supervise my homework.By this time the eldest was in college reading english lit and the second was finishing school.I remember (i think it was trainning for future professions,they went on to become teachers with loads of papers to correct) them getting hold of red ink pens and correcting everything that I wrote.Big red circles were made on homework sheets with such joy that in time to come I was to develope redophobia(thats fear of the colour red or in this case of the red ink).When I attempted to get on their right side with little notes,they would pounce on it with glee(you guessed right,too many spelling mistakes).Their glee at the red circles did nothing for my spelling skills(if anything it got worse).I was delighted when I discovered spell check.I said a prayer for the inventor (to me saviour of the downtrodden bad speller)and started to enjoy the joys of writing,but alas all joy is shortlived and with blogger spellcheck not working,its back to red circles except that this time its not from the wicked elder sisters(I always identified with cinderella as a child)but from friends and extended family.
Maths...yet another one of my failures,this time the father inflicted huge psychological damage(its sound so much better to be melodramatic)by getting me to do mental arithmetic(calculating in the head without the aid of paper and pencil).For the life of me I cant count without my fingers(having just 10 of them is a handicap)but the sheer tension and anxiety of having to get the right answer is enough to scare any child.To this day I hate figures,statistics,maths....my mind will go blank,well it was misery till I discovered the calculator and life took on a new meaning.It got even better when I discovered the simple joys of an excel worksheet.But if my calculator packs up I am back to square one.
I have never got over my fear of spellings or maths and thinking back one is never sure how simple teaching methods can affect a person.Sometimes I think its looking at things in too simple a manner but the fact remains that I can trace both to childhood,so now that all my readers know my greatest fears and my biggest drawback,why dont you just read for the fun of it and not stress me out with spelling mistakes,thank you very much.