Today was the first day since I started this “new job” that I actually spent the whole day doing housewifey things. To begin with, I woke up early, made sure the house was clean, sorted out the laundry and ironing, did the groceries and after lunch, started cooking for hubby’s dinner! And in between all that, I even managed to squeeze in a manicure and pedicure :)
Without a doubt, close friends and hubby will be bound to raise an eyebrow or two at this over-achievement in domestication. So yes, I have to admit – I cheated…somewhat. Tiny little factor that I left out – my part-time magic wand, also known as “the maid”! She did the cleaning, laundry and ironing. I just instructed. However, I did do the groceries (with the maid pushing the cart and carrying the bags) and I did cook the dinner (with the maid chopping and cleaning). Hey, there’s no crime in having much-appreciated help!
So – is taitai-dom really for me? Well, only if according to the definition in my previous entry, with the essentials being:
1. the presence of a maid (to do all the nitty gritty chores – which taitai in her right mind would risk ruining her perfectly painted French manicure?), and of course,
2. a considerable amount of wealth (to maintain and service those oh-so-delicate nails, amongst other luxurious necessities!).
Seeing as I’ve only got one out of these two essentials, it looks like it’ll be some time more before I graduate to become a professional in this “career”! For now, I’ll be happy appreciating the once in a blue moon indulgences like today.
Having said that however, there is a part of me that fears the effects on one’s brain after too much inactivity and disconnection from the “real world”. I actually know a taitai that has so much time and money, that she has spent the past year renovating her new house. It’s still nowhere near completion, as she can’t decide how she’d like her house to be i.e. she’s changed interior decorators three times and painted the walls four different colours! As Ennius, the father of Roman poetry wrote, “the idle mind knows not what it wants”. Indecision is probably the least to be feared. Imagine what else could happen…
Another problem with taitai-dom as we know it, is that it contradicts one of the principles I’ve stuck to all these years – that in a relationship, no one person should be financially dependent on the other.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m no women’s lib activist. I just believe that we should always be ready for the surprises that life throws our way and as we all know, they come in all sorts of unfathomable “shapes and sizes”.
In other words, I’d like the cake and eat it too. After all, what is the cake for if not to eat?! So now begins the quest to attain the nirvana of “financial freedom cum taitai-dom”…
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