In one of her latest posts, the Saudi blogger Farah said she imagines herself living in a home where there is no maid around. But this is not the case for most Saudi families, because, according to Arab News, the “average Saudi family has at least one servant helping in the daily chores of the house.”
The paper says that maids, or servants, provide a service to their sponsors — a service that the sponsors are perfectly capable of doing themselves. However, it does not seem it is a matter of capability. “Yet society dictates that all “prestigious” families have a servant to keep the house in order. Having a servant is expected in this society; not having a servant is seen as “shocking and out of the ordinary,'” the newspaper added.
Here is a few questions for the members of our little Saudi bloggers community. Do you have a maid? Or should I ask how many maids do you have? Can you imagine living without the help of a maid in the house?
I know that some of you may say: why are you making a problem out of this? Actually, I don’t have a problem with that at all. It’s a personal choice, after all. I only want to see how the society looks at this issue of maids in general.
Saudi Jeans 
I grew up in a household with THREE house workers and it was great … until I ventured out in the real world! Not being used to making my own bed, fixing my own meals or even washing/pressing my own cloths, I had a bit of a challenge living on my own! To this day I have a hard time making my own bed!
I know most Saudis complain about having nothing to do all the time. Getting rid of the help might just be the answer! Now when you are bored, do house chores! It’s a great exercise!
We currently have two maids at home, but before men begin pointing any fingers at Saudi women (or prestige) one has to consider what is expected of Saudi women from their male counterparts. Add that to the evergrowing pressures of modern life.. Saudi man+ Modern Life – hired help = WOMAN GONE NUTS!
We women are willing to make compromises, if and only if Saudi men are willing to make some as well. My mother and I stayed together here in germany for a whole month without finding too much trouble I willingly washed the dishes, cooked,and cleaned daily, not to mention did the groceries almost every week. But subhan Allah as soon as baba and my messy teenaged brother came along I found it exceedingly HARD to do anything for them. I just don’t know what it is about Saudi men that makes it SO hard to serve them. Could it be their refusal of EVER lending a helping hand or their continuous criticism of anything you ever may kindly, voluntarily make for them, or is it that holier than thou attitude, the one that conveys the “e6be5y ya merah hatha wajbets bil 7ayah w la tmneen 3lay, mu lazim ashkerts wila agoolits kelma 6ayba.. el5 el5” message? Subhan Allah.. I may never know wallah. (DISCLAIMER: The fact that I used the Gaseemi dialect does NOT mean that this behavior is limited to Gaseemi men.. I can easily say that MOST Saudi men are this bad or worse)
All I can say is I MISS SUTEENAH MAN! I miss you soo much Sooti, I swear I never realized what a wonderful person you were. I love you. Mahal kita ya shai5 bas :'(
You know, if men actually gave a hand in some chores instead of yelling for tea and sweets after every meal there wouldn’t be a need for maids. My family doesn’t have any maids because my father and brothers actually help my mother, my sister, and me with the daily chores. It’s not that hard.. Your friends can wait for you in their tent in the desert an extra 30 minutes… trust me…
Don’t give me that.. I’ve been working all day bull… most of the men have office jobs sitting at a desk working on a computer and talking on telephones! I am not saying women don’t sit too.. but if you can sit.. she can sit and do what she likes as well… taking care of a house is a family effort.. especially with the huge houses we have in Saudi.
ok, since this is more of a gulf issue, I thought I would give my say now ..
I lived in a house with maids too. I grew up, went to study abroad and learned to do all the chors by myself .. wasnt difficult .. but I was in ONE room, and I have very little socilizaing and family visiting to do .. (dont forget that I am working)
at that time, I clearly thought that I would never have a maid unless I have 2-3 children and I cant handel them.
but then now I realise that no matter how much I deny it, maids make life much much easier .. Instead of coming back from work in the afternoon and worrying wether to wash the dishes or vacuum the floor, I can take a nap and be ready for any family visiting or any outing I need to do because I am obliged to do it social wise.. (and its not about men, my husband is very wounderful to help me out with many household chors)
I dont have a maid, but I asked one of my parent’s house maid to come help out with house and I pay her per visit.
Its like you are paying her to relax abit .. if I wasnt working, maybe the story would have been different.
My parents didn’t like the idea of a live-in maid, and I’m glad they did it that way, I don’t think I would have enjoyed having someone around all the time. My mother grew up in boarding school, so she was always making my brother and I pick up after ourselves and make our own beds (since I left the house, I haven’t ever made a bed except when I change the sheets)
We did have someone come by to clean, do the mopping, the dishes, the bathrooms and vacuum the house. My father used to have the neighborhood car cleaner do his car every other day, but I suspect it was more as a favor to him than to us (although my dad did like having his car spotless).
Even my grandparents had servants who would take care of everything in their house, but they never lived with them. Privacy is really important to us, and I always wonder about how most people can have someone in their house who knows everything about what goes on with the family.
At times, it would have been nice to have a servant around to serve the guests, but in retrospect I think it was a good lesson for me and my brother. I think our guests respected and admired us more for it than having some live-in tea-boy.
Personally, I have a lot of admiration for those people who, if they have servants treat them well and are clear about what chores they are responsible for and what the family is responsible for. Take te help where you need it, modern life is hectic, but don’t have them aroud to enable your laziness.
I may not be saudi but the thought of my maid leaving this coming ramadhan is worrying me. I’m glad she is returning to her family, two years is alot. But the thought of cleaning this huge house, cooking, tending to children, and having somewhat of a life without help is nausiating.
It doesn’t help with a typical saudi home (HUGE) with too many bathrooms (do people really need that many sinks??) marble flooring, large spaces.. give me a break. Oh yes I’m looking to move this year too, to a smaller home. Keep in mind I’m American I’m used to doing it all on my own.. but certainly not six bathrooms worth.
There are good things with domestic help. But there are times I want to kick everyone out and have my home to ME.
I shudder to think my husband would sit back and think I was to ‘serve’ him like some king on a throne. Unless men of today became better than Muhammad pbuh who mended his own clothes and served himself than good luck trying to get me to serve you.
Whats so difficult about making tea?? My goodness you can do that.. clear a table.. not hard I see men do it all the time in restaraunts.
Nothing so difficult about making tea. I mean I can make tea, but I never do that because I don’t like tea very much. But what about making some eggs for breakfast? Now, that’s a serious problem for me!
the key to good eggs is a good non stick pan. Its really difficult to mess up eggs when you have a non stick pan, a small one. And don’t use alot of oil, that will surely mess up eggs. If my husband can cook eggs I am confident any man can get it :)
Thanks for the advice. I’m sure I can use that, and I’m sure that mom would be happy to learn that her eldest son is finally able to do anything :-)
please tell me how can I tell her I wont to marrige her