As I sit here, eating a spicy dried tofu snack and admiring the shiny, spotless floor of my living room, it’s become glaringly apparent that China has officially ruined. We’re now a week into “Operation: Ayi” and so far all is fabulous. She comes three times a week, and scrubs like it’s going out of style. For all her hard work, we give her the equivalent of about two dollars an hour. In a couple more weeks, the intention is to eventually graduate her to some childcare duties so that yours truly can take up another spoiled housewife activity: going to the gym (Oh, I may also be taking up some very part-time work, but I’m waiting to see how that unfolds before I go into detail).
Actually, for all the work I’m now no longer doing, I’m still awfully stressed out. I spent portions of the ayi’s first two days here ironing sheets because I felt like I should at least look busy (and the weather was pretty gross). I constantly feel bad about my limited ideas for conversations (and my limited Chinese to carry them out). And don’t get me started on how icky salary negotiations were to carry out when the “boss-figure” possesses the vocabulary and verbal finesse of a five-year old. Plus now without the excuse of perpetual cleaning before me, I now have to come up with spectacular ideas for the enrichment of Nico’s life. Lately, we spend a lot of time wandering around the compound, ripping flowers off plants (Nico loves ripping stuff) and having our pictures taken by our neighbors (who shall heretofore be referred to as the Chinese Paparazzi).
All this quality time with Nico (as opposed to working independently in the room in which Nico is ripping leaves off the house plants) is leaving me with some niggling doubts about having a second child at all. I’m counting the days until he can do double backflips, sing the part of Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte, and debate the importance of Goya to the history of modern art, which by my calculations will take another six months. The idea of then having to start all over from scratch after I’ve already ripped thousands of flowers off thousands of plants, fills me with this hideous sense of dread.
In even happier news, on Saturday, Christian, Nico, and I leave for Hong Kong where we will be attending the Olympic Equestrian events. Covet my life!