Carma not Karma

In Hong Kong, it's pretty typical for families to have a live-in helper to take care of the house and/or kids.  No one really has family to help babysit or offer other kinds of help, so the solution in most cases is to hire a helper from the Phillipines or Indonesia.  We were lucky enough to find Carmelita (or Carma, as Fin calls her).  She's a very kind, sweet, hard-working woman who has past experience as a preschool teacher and has raised four of her own children.  She moved in with us last weekend, and it's been great so far.  I can enjoy every moment of my day with Finley and not have to worry about anything else if I don't want to.  And Fin has really taken to Carmelita - she loves playing with her, hugs her good night each night and I learned today that she's okay being alone with her.

This morning, my friend Alicia and I were getting ready to take the girls to a play room, when Alicia suggested we send the helpers with the girls and run some errands together instead.  I was super nervous as I hadn't left Fin with Carmelita yet, so I walked them to the play room door, watched to make sure she was okay and left.  An hour later I came back and found that Fin did great.  Such a relief! 

And then this afternoon I put Fin down for her nap and headed out to a farewell lunch for my friend Gia, who is moving to Bangkok.  I was able to enjoy two whole hours of freedom and adult conversation knowing that Finley was at home napping with a toally capable babysitter.  It was AWESOME!  In fact, I think Carmelita suspects I had a cocktail or two at lunch since I was so giddy when I came home....unfortunately, not the case.