Home alone helper.

Hi! Our new helper will join us at the beginning of June. She will be in Hong Kong alone while we're on our summer holiday abroad in August. What do you do when you leave your helper at home alone for 2-3 weeks? Any advice/suggestion please.

Usually a good old spring clean, empty dehumidifiers and all that as normal. Bring in the mail, clean out fridges / freezers, cupboards, water the plants, look after the animals if any and generally have a bit of a rest from stuff like laundry and cooking. Ours is very thoughtful and organised and always sorts out food for our return (we leave plenty of money for her food / other needs while we are away) as well as contact numbers for managment and us in case of an emergency), clean beds day before, washes the car and is generally ready to welcome us home. Also if there are any courses that she would like to do, such as a particular style of cooking or first aid for kiddies etc then the YWCA and some of the other cooking schools tend to run some in the summer.

Ness,

What do you think is an appropriate amount of money to leave per week for food when the family is gone? Also, do you provide your helper with toiletries such as shampoo, or just toilet paper?

Thanks!

Amy

Thanks Ness. Spring clean is a good idea. But we don't have a great deal for her to do while we're away.( 3 weeks.) If the helper has completed the tasks given, should we let her go out to do her own things? (basically, free holidays.) What's your view on this? thanks.

Our helper is a bit hyperactive so she finds her own things to do. When we have been away she cleans all the shoes, golf clubs, reorganises all the pantry, hall cupbard and kids sports gear, cleans fridges (2) freezers (3) wine caves (2),wipes over washing machine dryer and cleans all filters and dispenser drawers. Turns all the mattresses, wash all the mattress protectors, send all the duvets / pillows to be dry cleaned. Polishes anything silver or copper and wipes over the good crystal which doesn't often get an outing. She does all the bookcases as well to stop them getting mouldy and cleans all the filters on the aircons. Light fittings get a clean if appropriate. Applies the liquid polish to the floorboards. Dusts all baseboards, clean all windows inside and outside and the windowsills. Checks all the pantry items and out of date food - she buys and fills up anything we are out of (we have a pantry checklist). Cleans the cars and airs them to make sure they are not going mouldy. Sorts out the linen closest, relines and refolds etc. Children's toys can also be organised (boxes repaired, puzzles checked). Clean out all the cupboards in the kitchen (cutlery drawer, tupperware cupboard and clean all the vases etc).

When we went away before Christmas she batch cooked more than 40 meals and froze them, from spaghetti bolognaise to boiled fruit cakes (because she was then going home for christmas /new year). We had the luxury of a large freezer at that stage.

These are all things she does of her own volition.

I am happy she does what she wants in the time while we are away as long as the beds are made and there is milk and bread in the house when we get back so I am alway pleasantly surprised.


I leave lots of money (about 2,000) and she just leaves the receipts for what she has bought with the change in the kitchen drawer when we get back. We have a lot of trust so we also always leave a blank signed check if she is alone or alone with the kids. She is welcome to any of the food we have in the house/pantry but in reality she eats either what we eat if there is a serving left or I buy those packets of frozen chicken,fish, port, beef at PNS (the PNS brand) and she can just take out a portion when she wants and that is sort of her private supply. She has never asked me to buy her toiletries although she has a high salary (5K plus bonuses and overtime and birthday gifts, houseguest tips etc probably takes it closer to 7.5 a month). Our helper is 45, not married, no kids and has worked in HK for 18 years and the middle east before that, she has a degree in hotel management, so you would have to really go with your insticts with regard to what your helper can be expected to do with regards to initiative and trust with money etc. She is very highly regarded, her previous employer just came up from Oz and popped in to have morning tea with her, bringing presents and cash bonus, and that was from 2 years ago. Her employer from 8 years ago just invited her to his second wedding. She was with both families for over 6 years and they only ended her contracts because they had to leave HK.

She keeps her own hours, no rules about when she can go out, she just lets me know out of courtesy if I am here that she will be out if we are away when she gets in she pops her head in the door to say hello and goodnight when she gets back.

Thanks for the advice, Ness. Your helper seems great. Hopefully, it will work out fine with our new helper. ( Trust is the key point.)