If you love your helper as much as we do, nominate her for Sassy Mama’s first ever Helper Awards!
A couple months ago, I just had one of those days. Work was a never-ending series of fires that I had to put out. The dog wouldn’t stop barking. I twisted my knee. My toddler refused to nap (or really do much of anything besides climb on my back as I tried to work while demanding to watch YouTube videos).
At the end of the day, I climbed in the shower and heaved a long sigh of relief. Finally, a moment of peace. Of course, that peace was only made possible because my wonderful helper, Leylani, was downstairs cooking dinner and folding the laundry now that the toddler had gone to bed.
I don’t know what I’d do without her is such a cliché, and yet it must be one of the most commonly uttered truisms in Singapore. Helpers allow women in Singapore to fully participate in the work force. They give us the ability to spend quality time with our children while alleviating stress about household chores. They feed us. And so often, they do this while leaving behind their own families so they can financially support them as best they can. It is such a tremendous sacrifice that I personally am not sure I could ever handle myself.
Leylani has been with our family for 3½ years, and still not a day goes by where I don’t thank her profusely for everything she does to help our family. And yet, I wanted to do something more. Last year I read about a local initiative sponsored by the Foreign Domestic Worker Association for Social Support and Training (FAST) and the Association of Employment Agencies (Singapore) to recognise helpers working for Singaporean families, and it got me thinking: Why not do something like this for ALL families in Singapore?
And so, we put our heads together and reached out to three fab organisations that support foreign domestic workers in Singapore – AIDHA, AWARE and HOME – to organise our very own Sassy Mama Helper Awards.
First and foremost, we want every mama to take a moment to think about why she appreciates her helper, and share her story. We’ll be soliciting posts on Facebook and collecting official entries on our website. Helper posts always seem to be such a lightning rod for negativity on social media, and we’d like to generate some positivity for once!
Every helper who is nominated will receive an official certificate that she was nominated for a Sassy Mama Helper Award. We will also celebrate helpers with an event for families on Saturday, 1 October held at The Pantry at Loewen Gardens; the first 150 families to RSVP and attend will also get a special goodie bag for their helper including Sophisca classic candies, $20 ALT Pizza vouchers, and more prizes to come. We will also have fun activities for kids, including a pop-up playground from Chapter Zero, with more activities in the works, all while the lovely ladies from Littleones Photography capture amazing photos throughout the event.
Here are the categories:
- Childcare Award
- Pet Lover Award
- Master Chef Award
- Helper of the Year (this overall award will be chosen from amongst nominees in the other three categories)
Prizes include:
- A $150 Guardian Health and Beauty Hamper
- Helpers workshop ( Healthy Family, Healthy Kids or Healthy Entertaining) hosted by Carrotsticks and Cravings & Health and Vitality
- 4 Flower bouquets for top prize winners from Sophie @ Wild for Flowers worth $150 each
- 4 Sudio Sweden headphones worth $165
- 4 Schwarzkopf Packs with shampoo, treatments and serums from Expat Hair Studio worth $180 each
- 4 Gift vouchers for shampoo, stylecut, blowdry and a Kevin Murphy Express in-salon treatment also from Expat Hair Studio worth $142
- 4 sets of Full eye exam (worth $80) and a pair of Smarty Sunglasses (worth $120) each from The Lens Men worth a total of $200
Winners will be chosen by a panel of judges including board members from AIDHA, AWARE, and HOME, along with the Sassy Mama editorial team. We will announce the winners at the event on 1 October, so mark your calendars, mama, and click here for more details on how to RSVP!
In the meantime, please take a minute to consider everything your helper does to help your family, and nominate her today in the form below, mama!