My essay, “So You’re Thinking of Hiring a Housekeeper: A List on How to Treat Your Potential New Employee,” has found a home in Queen Mob’s Teahouse and is featured in the Misfit Docs section.

This essay speaks to the frustrations, the uncomfortableness, and the comedic situations that housekeepers and their families face. I attempt to highlight some of the standout moments (via a list piece) that I, along with my brother have shared with my mother and the many many employers she has had over the years. Please don’t get me wrong, this is not a hate-filled project meant to take aim at her employer’s or at the profession of being a housekeeper, in fact, I am most proud of my mother, a Guatemalan immigrant and single mother who has managed to raise two creative minds all while traveling from home to home cleaning up after other families. I am also deeply indebted to many of the kind families that my mother has worked for over the years. This piece just pokes fun as well as holes at the sometimes skewed world of housekeeping. 

Please take some time to read the piece. I hope it makes you laugh. I hope it makes you angry. I hope it makes you bored. I hope it makes you cry. Whatever you feel, I hope it makes you feel.

So You’re Thinking of Hiring a Housekeeper: A List on How to Treat Your Potential New Employee