Introduction

Mrs. Lubber had a lot of love for children. She turned a one-time request to take care of children while their parents went on holiday into a blossom childcare enterprise called “Mother Replacements.”

Who is Mrs. Lubber?

She was a fifty-year-old lady. She had several grown-up children of her own. She and her husband were “retired” and were looking forward to how they could supplement their small pension to live a better life.

How mother replacements all started?

Vivian and her husband wanted to go on a two-week holiday at the invitation of their friend but were challenged with how the children would be looked after for the period they would be away. A friend of theirs who had known Mrs. Lubber for some time suggested to them to engage Mrs. Lubber to look after their children at some fee. The children, at the time, were two, four, and eight years old. She was contacted and she agreed to look after the children for $250 a week, plus the upkeep while taking care of the children, the homestead, and the family chores. The deal was concluded and Vivian and her husband went for their holiday.

Mrs. Lubber’s work?

She stepped into the house and took over everything: cooking, shopping, cleaning, laundry, feeding children, bathing them, coupled with getting them off to school. Everything indeed,she loved children and they loved her too. To her, it was not “work,” it was doing and enjoying what she loved most in the ordinary sense of the word.

Return from the holiday

On her return, and given how she found the home and children, Vivian described Mrs. Lubber as “Mother Replacement.” She shared her story with several friends and in a short while many families in the town started using Mrs. Lubber to take care of their children while they were away.

“Mother Replacements” turning into business

Eventually, Mrs. Lubber became an institution in their town. Every couple who had children whom they wanted to leave behind for any length of time from a week to a month or even longer, would simply call in Mrs. Lubber to take over. She later started placing ads in the local newspaper, but after some time it was no longer necessary. Every woman in town who needed such services knew about her.

Soon, Mrs. Lubber had far more business than she could handle. Amusingly enough for this gentle, motherly-looking lady, she started to create branches for her services. When she became quite busy and much older, she handed over “Mother Replacements” to one of her two sisters and charged them a percentage. She had commercialised motherhood in the name of “Mother Replacements.”

“Mother Replacements” became nationwide. She had turned and changed what used to be a problem for most working couples into an opportunity for them and a source of income, which many people enjoy today.

Lessons and takeaways

1. Mrs. Lubber created an opportunity for both husband and wife to work, even when several children were present in the family.

2. She created a business opportunity that is rapidly growing across the world.

3. The pressures of modern life are so great that unless both husband and wife have periodic time of their own “vacations,” they often find themselves unable to bond, cope, and revive their family as a couple.

4. In developed countries, servants are becoming so expensive that only the wealthy people can afford them; which has led to a great boom in such institutions as babysitters, day nurseries, and “Mother Replacements.”

5. There are many examples like these, however, as guidance, many parents prefer older women, or even a couple, to look after and interact with their children.

6. The pay is usually $20 to $25 per hour for babysitting in developed economies, it is of course much lower in developing countries, and often parents will bring the children to the babysitting home. This makes it possible to look after and watch over several children at once.

It is believed that babysitting services, daycare, and so on are growing and developing services. Is this something to think about?

Dr. Charles Barugahare