by Cyndi Li

Created on: November 04, 2008   Last Updated: November 05, 2008

I've been a domestic engineer for a better part of 30 years. I've managed a number of different job sites in that time, and I can honestly say the duties of a domestic engineer are many and varied, and they play a critical role in keeping the ship afloat. Here's a general list.

Gather, wash, dry, fold and put away the crew's laundry.

Create, buy and prepare all meals so the crew is nourished.

Keep an ample supply of in-between-meals snacks on hand.

Keep the job site clean and free of clutter to avoid potential falls or prevent a fire hazard from developing.

Coordinate all extracurricular activities the crew participates in so they are dropped of and picked up on time.

Answer the phones to insure any important messages get delivered to the appropriate people.

Attend Parent/Teacher conferences and make adjustments where necessary.

Make sure all employees have completed their homework.

Make school lunches for the crew.

Manage the finances of the job to insure all venders are paid on time to avoid potential collection injunctions.

Take members of the crew to doctor or dentist visits.

Nurse the crew back to good health when they fall ill.

Can you imagine what the job site would look like if the domestic engineer called out sick or went on strike? Here's a little peek.

Johnny Don't Embarrass Me Mom is sleeping on the couch which is where he fell asleep the night before while playing video games. The waiting buses' honking horn jolts Sally BUT MOM from her peaceful slumber, sending her into a complete state of panic. Seems cheerleading try-outs are today; oh the horror! And, the man of the house isn't faring any better.

That look of confusion on his face is because he realizes he can't figure out how to tie his neck tie? Wouldn't be such a big deal if it were not for the fact today's the day he's making that presentation in front of the company's CEO's; one of which is the engineer's father; so much for good impressions. The chores are being neglected as well.

The dog hasn't been fed, and there's smoke billowing from the toaster. The smoke alarm is going off and the phone is ringing incessantly because the Brinks home security guy is trying to get through to the engineer. Apparently she's the only one who has a clue, and he wants to know if the fire company should come over. As if the first half of the shift wasn't bad enough; take a look at the second half of the day.

No, that's not the neighbor waiting for someone to answer the door. It's the take-out delivery guy. It seems Dad

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