You Need an Alice in Your Household

How would Cindy, Bobby, Jan, Peter, Marcia, Greg, Carol and Mike Brady, and even Tiger have survived without Alice? She cooked their food, shopped for their groceries, helped them find misplaced items and even helped tend to them when they were sick. She even helped them track down the source of Jan’s allergies in one episode, saving Tiger from life on a farm. Alice was the reason the Brady Bunch household ran as smoothly as it did. Alice made it easier for Mike to focus on his architect firm, and for Carol to do whatever it was that she did. Without her, their lives would have been chaos.

Alice was in fact the errand / concierge provider. She wasn’t just the maid; she was the driver, cook and more.
According to the Surface Transportation Policy Project, "Going to work accounts for only 18 percent of the average American’s trips; whereas, shopping, chauffeuring and conducting other errands accounts for 46 percent of trips." And these are things that an "Alice" can easily do for you while you concentrate on more important things, like spending time with your family or having more time each day to conduct business.
If the Brady Bunch household needed an Alice in the '70s and '80s, just think how badly we need her now in the 21st century. Time is limited and an extremely precious commodity; the Brady parents understood this and took action to seek the outside assistance they needed to effectively and efficiently manage their household.

The Brady’s employed Alice so Carol could spend more time with her kids and her husband. According to the Families and Work Institute, 63 percent of married employees say they don’t have enough time with their husbands or wives. And a recent CareerBuilder.com poll showed that 25 percent of working mothers are dissatisfied with their work/life balance. Part of this dissatisfaction comes from the fact that when mothers are not at work, many of their off-work hours are spent grocery shopping, running errands and taking care of the necessities of life, instead of being able to spend quality time with their children.

In today’s terms Alice could have been a contractor or employee of a lifestyle management company. Lifestyle management companies help clients reclaim their lives by providing time-saving solutions that increase the amount of time the clients have to devote to endeavors that mean the most to them. Personnel from lifestyle management companies take care of menial things so others don’t have to, doing everything from running errands-grocery shopping, picking up dry cleaning, pharmacy delivery and pick up, banking, film processing, post office, etc.-- to waiting for repair persons, scheduling appointments, planning surprise getaways or parties, pet sitting and modified house sitting. And considering what your highly-prized time is worth, all this is a deal for a nominal hourly investment ranging from $20 - $50.

After all, isn’t an hour of time spent doing something fun or money-making worth more than the cost of hiring your own personal Alice? You could end up with an extra hour or two a day to spend with your Mike or Carol or half a dozen (or less) kids instead of cooking, cleaning and running errands. And you won’t have to worry about your Alice sneaking too much alone time with Sam, the Butcher, on the clock, as lifestyle management service providers are carefully screened and selected.

Recent statistics clearly indicate that the average household is actually spending much more time in completing their daily household errands and chores than perceived in the past. The need for a household manager - better still a "lifestyle" manager - and the corresponding benefits must be realized by households if they wish live a more fulfilling life.

Tracey Crockett is the Chief Lifestyle Manager of Chores, Errands 'N More, a full-service lifestyle management and errand / concierge company located in Upstate South Carolina. The company was founded with the objective of enhancing the quality of life for its customers by offering an extensive list of services and service packages - and thus providing its clientele with the opportunity to enjoy life without its day-to-day complications. More information can be found at www.choreserrandsnmore.com, or by calling 888-509-5533.

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