That is my new name. I can’t say that this is true across all of Oman, but all the house help I have met so far call their employers “Sir” and “Madame.” As in, “is Sir at home this morning?” (he wasn’t.) or “Madame, do you want me to hold the baby for you while you eat breakfast?” (I did.)
Crazy, huh? I feel like I’m faking it most of the time – I couldn’t possibly be old enough or powerful enough to have someone call me Madame. It’s like I’m the ruling class in a Jane Austen movie or something. And it sort of does feel like royalty when you’re finished eating breakfast and you get up to clear your cereal bowl and Lucy swoops in and says, “Oh no, Madame! I will get that for you.” CRA-ZEE.
She gets here at 7am, lets herself in with her key, and by the time I get downstairs around 7:30 she has already washed the dishes from the night before, wiped down the stove and countertops and has probably swept the backyard or taken the clean clothes in off the drying rack. I asked her to help Caleb get his cereal one morning so now whenever Caleb comes down she gets his cereal bowl out, pours his cereal and milk, and carries it to the dining room for him. She treats all the boys like little princes and would wait on them hand and foot if I would let her.
She does everything I can think of around the house until 3:00 when she heads home. Washing dishes, clothes, ironing, making beds, sweeping, mopping, taking out trash, putting away groceries, baby watching . . . I was even cooking beef stew this afternoon and she came in and helped me prep all the vegetables.
I talk about her being our “housekeeper” because I think it sounds more empowering (or PC) than “maid,” but in the embassy information packet they had an entire section devoted to Hiring a Household Servant, so I think calling her our “maid” might not be so bad after all.
Tomorrow is our weekend so Lucy has the next two days off. The boys (and I) are going to be in for a shock when our dishes don’t magically disappear from the table and we actually have to clean up after ourselves. Only four days in and Madame is already spoiled.