Househelp Wahala

My hands were getting really full and I needed a house help to help me with the chores and the children but sincerely with the stories flying around these days about house helps one can’t help but be more careful. The very thought of leaving my house to a total stranger or my children, my most precious possessions, at the mercy of this stranger for hours on seemed scary. So I went on enquiry spree, asking friends who had been in the business before me in order to get their thoughts on the matter. This was my discovery: no one had a single good thing to say about house helps. To find a reliable one is like finding that ‘one’ in a million. That’s how difficult it is.
Problems with house helps have ranged from stealing, maltreating your children in your absence, murder, sexual perversion and in some cases adultery. So most women are skeptical and prefer to use their relatives as helps instead.
A friend told me she has had over 10 house helps in 2 years. Among these house helps one usually watched X rated movies with her 3 year old son whenever she and husby went to work. With time, her son started displaying some sexual attitudes which led to her suspicions as to where exactly he is learning this from. Somehow , she discovered the source and sent the help packing.

Months ago, the news was all over the internet about a nanny who almost beat a 2 year old to death in Uganda. Thank God the child did not die and the nanny is presently serving jail term.
Somewhere in Lagos, a house help brought in her fellow thieves to rob her madam after she had gone to work. Another house help kidnapped her madam’s children. There was also the story of a non-Nigerian house help who wanted to repay her wicked madam by locking up her two children in the refrigerator before making her escape, leaving the house door ajar. If not for an observant neighbor, those children’s lives would have been lost…. It’s one gory story after another. And it brings me to the question: What do we do?
I have come to the realization that our children are God –given, our most priceless possession and thus ought to be our top most priority above all else. Family first. So I believe it is outside God’s will for us to leave our children to be raised by a stranger with questionable morals rather than bringing up these children ourselves if we can help it. So sacrifices have to be made as we invest into our children’s future. Is it not better we stop pursuing that career that steals our time in playing our parental role and give our time for the children? Why not work from home or work within the hours that your children will be in school? Yes, you can still have a house help but at least , with this arrangement, she will be under your watch 24/7. Imagine a female banker who goes to work by 7am (depending on where you live. If in Lagos you may need to leave earlier) and then returns home nothing later than 7 pm. How does she intend to cater for husby and children? Who will the woman blame when her family is sabotaged? This attitude is like leaving the door wide open for the enemy to come in. It is time we set our priorities right, discuss with husby the best way to go about this, if he agrees then stay back and keep an eye on your home. Take responsibility and don’t give Mr Devil the chance to ruin the home you have built under God.
Family first…Who agrees with me?