Despite the fact that I watched a few episodes of the show Sister Wives a decade ago, I never thought I’d be in the position to even remotely compare my life to theirs. With my hard-working husband safely tucked away alone back home in the States, I can truly say that I’m enjoying some of the perks of having my own version of a sister-wife – minus the immorality and legal brouhaha.

For the past couple of years, I’ve had housecleaners come to my home for a monthly deep clean. I love walking into the house right after they leave; it makes me happy. The expense is something that could responsibly be saved or used elsewhere but this 4th kid did me in and, as frugal as I attempt to be, the cleaning service is the last thing that I will let go of if the ship begins to sink.

I share this background to put my current situation into perspective because it’s not like I’ve never had domestic help. But since being in Bolivia, I realize that there’s paying a housecleaning service and then there’s hiring a sister-wife, and they’re not the same thing. Our empleada [literal translation: female employee], as housekeepers or maids are referred to here, is not just a hired contractor with a set service offering but actually another woman to come alongside and help share in the responsibilities of running the house. Somewhere in my mind, I knew that women elsewhere have this kind of help, but I wasn’t one of them and didn’t internalize how life-changing it could be.

Well, now I know.

Having another woman here to help around the house is so amazing that it’s actually enhancing the quality of our Worldschooling experience. I know that sounds crazy, but as a homeschooling mom whose brood is home all day, every day, housework and laundry comprise a big slice of my neverending responsibility pie. She has a key, lets herself in, and begins to assimilate into the flow of our day. She completes tasks that I’ve walked away from, begins new jobs, helps direct the children and miraculously calms my shadow (2-year-old) when I leave my room for 30 seconds. And all the while, she keeps the laundry going throughout the day before separating it into expertly folded piles. Can you imagine???

Despite my below average mastery of her language, we’re able to communicate well and laugh about the differences between our cultures and how we each typically handle certain household dilemmas. She is a sweet woman with her own home and children who can, at times, anticipate my unarticulated needs with laser-sharp clarity. Once the basics are done, she makes a significant shift from mere housecleaner to sister-wife as she begins working on what must be an ongoing to do list in her mind. She meticulously organizes the pantry, cleans the refrigerator with precision, takes out the garbage, and handles potential problems that I never even recognized as such. She does all of this while simultaneously redirecting the kids, saving the baby from a precarious fall, and attentively checking in to see if I need help with whatever I happen to be working on.

Alas, at some point her day with me is over – not when the checklist of offered services is complete – but when everything is done. Yes, everything gets done. I didn’t even know that was possible. Having her here not only alleviates some of my workload, it also makes me more efficient as I’m acutely aware that every moment she spends at my house helping me with my kids is another moment that her own children are home alone [summer vacation here] anxiously awaiting her arrival.

In a couple of months, I’ll be back home in the midst of my normal routine of doing it all on my own. But in the meantime, I’m going to soak up this experience of having a “sister-wife” here to lend the most helping hand I have ever and probably will ever have.