I don’t have a nanny…this comment from me is usually followed by
“What??!”
“How do you cope?”
“You are strong o…”
“Do you work?”
These are among some of the responses I get when other people learn that I do not have any domestic employee or nanny helping me look after the home and take care of my children. The clear reason for the surprise is that most households in Lagos, Nigeria (I do not know the exact percentage, but my guesstimate is greater than 80%) have at least one domestic employee whose job it is to assist the parents with catering to the needs of the little people.
One other question that tends to pop-up is – “Why?! ”
I have a number of reasons for this (there had better be, for taking on such an unenvious task):
- I am borderline OCD: It is not only because of the fact that I like everything to be where it should be in the order it should be. You would have to agree though that this significantly reduces time spent looking for stuff that seems to have developed legs and shifted. Really though, I do not like having “unnecessary” people in my space.
- I am also borderline narcissistic: I really do not believe that there are many people (if any) out there that I can afford to employ that can do a better job than I am at being a role model and influencing my children – there, I said it! [READ: Consider This When Hiring A Nanny]
- I am a bit of a slave driver: It is my dream and desire to have offspring who are useful. First and foremost to themselves, then to us their parents and then of course to society, so I do not spare any opportunity for them to get tons of practice. Not having domestic help means anything they are remotely capable of doing, they will be taught to do properly, so they can help me out. It is such a win-win situation wouldn’t you agree: they learn life skills and I get help without paying an extra kobo. [READ: Parents Worst Nanny Nightmares]
- I have trust issues: Using an analogy an older friend shared with me recently, I simply cannot leave my little people in the care of a person I cannot trust with my most-prized jewellery, QED.
- It is the norm in other climes: Labour is quite expensive in a number of other Countries, so being able to afford a domestic employee of any kind is a rather expensive effort. If those mothers can somehow manage without a nanny, I figure I had better discover their tricks!
So, anyone out there that shares my “issues”? The next question might be how do I actually get everything done?
Contributor – Bash Balogun
