Tuesday, November 2, 2004

Working Class Baby

Just a few months before Baby Jesse came along, we contemplated on how we would manage this new little addition to the family. Would we send him to a babysitter when we went to work? Or would we hire a live-in maid?

It was a pretty tough decision. Would we leave our firstborn to evil babysitter-slavedrivers who operated sweatshops producing cheap Nike knock-offs on child labour? Or would we fare better with psychotic serial killer live-in maid who would murder the family in their sleep and take off with the baby? Ah... decisions, decision!

Finally, Mae decided that she would want to be there at every stage of Baby's development. And since she worked for herself at a job that didn't require her to leave the office, we came to our solution.

So, for two weeks now, Jesse's been going to work with Mommy as her new assistant. We've got a crib (now christened crib-icle) set up at Mae's office along with a small cabinet of his stuff. And everyday he'd put in his daily 8 hours. And although he sleeps on the job a lot, Mommy will never fire him.

On one hand, it's kinda tragic that he's gotta go to work at such an early age. Yet on the other, Mae gets to be with him 24/7! As for me, I get to walk across the street to Mae office and have lunch with my family. And that's as ideal as we can make it. :)

30 comments:

  1. awww.. that's so convenient!!
    One question, where is your office now? Is it at the same place or have you moved?

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  2. i think baby jesse is gonna be a great accountant... hahaha! :P i still wanna hold baby jesse... hmmm

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  3. wowww...sounds like a very happy family :)
    it brought a smile to my face when i read it....
    hope next time when i have kids, my husband will walk across the street and have lunch with me and our baby too...

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  4. too much sugar!!!!!!!
    (read: very sweet :P)

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  5. it's sweet :) happy family :)
    and great that mae has a job that allows her to do this :)

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  6. Wow must've been a tough decision to decide to work from home. Always think there should be a parent with the kids but with two working parents often hard and yes dunno if can trust maids or day care. Lots of benefits to the kid for such an early age, lucky guy :)

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  7. great idea james. i think lotsa modern parents these days prefer to work from home (if they hv the choice to choose from).

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  8. Aww man... you guys sound like one of em purrfect family shows on tv. The kind i'd rush home from work to catch, and have dinner in front of so i dont miss anything. Dam Nice~! =)

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  9. how sweet! he's so lucky! and its cool that you work so close to home as well.

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  10. awwww... how sweet! It's a great arrangement. You guys are so LUCKY!!!

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  11. one question :p
    Which company is Mae working for?? I WANNA WORK THERE :p

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  12. Cribicle. That's really cute. =)

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  13. "And although he sleeps on the job a lot, Mommy will never fire him."
    but he's not getting paid... :P
    ah well, cant trust ppl (eg maids, babysitters) these days.

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  14. "And although he sleeps on the job a lot, Mommy will never fire him."
    but he's not getting paid... :P
    ah well, cant trust ppl (eg maids, babysitters) these days.
    post more pix of baby

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  15. just two words "Super Jealous!" We are through with maids, so now no choice, gotta engage a daytime babysitter for my 2 girls. Good that Mae can look after Jesse. My wife would be "Super Duper Jealous" ;)

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  16. Mami is "Super Duper Jealous" (borrowed from buaya) ha ha ha...

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  17. You both are very lucky. I may not be so lucky when my maid goes off for a three-month holiday this Raya! Take care James! A kiss for Baby Jesse for me!

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  18. yes it is very important to be 24/7 with baby during his first few years.
    jesse is so damn lucky to have you and mae as parents.

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  19. AWWWWW.... that's a very good plan. I assume Mae's boss was OK with the plan then. ;) Praise God.

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  20. kewlness! then jesse still gets TLC while mom works away..
    'crib'-icle ;) ur blog cracks me up!
    cheerio

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  21. Madam, Mae is her own boss. Just hope baby don't make noise when mommy is attending phone calls.
    Now.. still manageable as baby cannot move about. Wait till he is 7 month's old. Jeng jeng jeng. The Tan's family would have no choice but to hire a baby sitter.
    Hope Mae trains Jesse to behave well while on job.

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  22. No Kat, we finally move out! Our offices are currently in a nicer place, swankier neighbourhood.
    Accountant, Kev? *biff*
    I would like to take all the credit, Glinar, but most of it is purely miraculous. :)
    :lol: Cherry!
    No Ryuu, there can never be too much sugar! :lol:
    Thanks Adriene. We're very much more fortunate than we know.
    No, no, no Kervin. We're not working from home. We're parenting at work - in the office! :)
    Olivia, when I'm at home, I prefer to just vegetate! :lol:
    :lol: Annu, if we were a TV show, we'd be cancelled quickly enough!
    CC, we used to work 5 minutes from homw. Now it's slightly further, but still no more than 20 minutes!
    Thanks, BabeKL. We count our blessings each day.
    Satine, Mae went and started a company of her own. ;)
    With a toilet attached, no less, Anonymous! :)
    It's an all-women partnership, Mdmafia!
    We pay him in kind, Ikeika! :) Will be posting more pix. Been too busy to edit any!
    Buaya, I suppose eventually we'd need to get some help. Especially when he's awake more than he's asleep!! :lol:
    Then Mami must start her own business soon, Papi!
    I feel for you, Zsarina.
    Thanks Lucia.
    In a manner of speaking, Angeline!
    Thanks Chun. And we get to goof off and play with Baby too. Win-win situation here!
    Gina, he's grown up quite a bit. These days he's a pretty good boy at the office. :)

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  23. sighhhh dunno when my dream gonna come true :(

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  24. adoi wrong emoticon... nvmd.
    we must count our blessings!!! i got a shock after checking today's paper
    The Star Online > News
    Thursday November 4, 2004
    Baby found buried under bedclothes
    BY PARVEEN GILL
    PETALING JAYA: A mother's hunch that her three-month-old baby was in danger turned out to be horrifyingly true when she discovered her daughter drugged, buried under bedclothes, and her mouth stuffed with mittens.
    The new temporary maid was gone and the back door was wide open.
    Vinnie Chong Ooi Lhar claimed that after a long frantic search, she found her baby wrapped in a T-shirt and buried underneath a pillow and comforter in the master bedroom of her house in Jalan Wawasan, Puchong, at 10.45am on Tuesday.
    Petaling Jaya Selatan deputy police chief Asst Comm Muhammad Fuad Talib confirmed that the baby's 43-year-old engineer father lodged a police report at the Puchong police station the same night.
    Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia director Prof Dr Mohamad Abdul Razak said he would issue a statement on the baby's condition later today.
    HORRIFYING ORDEAL: Chong checking on her three-month-old daughter, who is recuperating at HUKM.
    Yesterday, Chong said she left her house at 8.15am on Tuesday to drop off two of her children, aged three and five, at a nursery and her eight-year-old son for tuition classes.
    “I felt uneasy about my baby girl when I left the house, so I called home and spoke to the maid while I was on the way to work,” she said.
    “When I heard the baby screaming in the background, I questioned the maid but she told me that the baby wanted to sleep.
    “At 10am, I again felt something was wrong but when I called home, the maid did not answer my call.”
    She said she sensed that something was amiss when no one picked up the phone after she rang home several times.
    The draftsman said she immediately alerted her neighbour and asked her to check on the baby before telling her husband to rush home.
    “While I was on the way home, my neighbour contacted me on my mobile phone and told me that the maid was not answering the door bell,” she added.
    “My neighbour said that although the front door and grilles were locked, the back door was wide open.”
    She said that when she reached home, she and her husband looked for the baby all over the house but when they could not find her, her husband alerted the Puchong police station.
    However, moments before the police arrived, she went to her bedroom and heard some noise.
    “I was hysterical and looked everywhere. I pulled the comforter and pillows from the bed before I spotted my baby,” she added.
    Chong claimed that her daughter's mouth was stuffed with mittens.
    She and her husband rushed the baby to several clinics but the clinics did not have oxygen masks. They then admitted her to Sunway Medical Centre.
    The baby was later referred to HUKM and it was there that Chong claimed she was informed that her daug

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  25. Babe KL, tha's too much reality for a blog like this.
    James, I want to sleep on the job too. 8) But there's no mama here to protect me.

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  26. sweeett.. wish we can be like you guys ..

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  27. do u think mae can take me in to work and take care of me too? i can play with baby jesse!!! yaya!!!!!!

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  28. That's a horrible story, BabeKL!
    Fly, couldn't you take sleep breaks in the stairwell? :lol:
    Just do it, nana! :)
    Don't even think of breastfeeding, Kev! *piak*

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