The Help: Do/Did You Have Help?

My darlings, are you as excited about seeing the movie The Help as I am? Did you also read the book by Kathryn Stockett and love it? If not, you must read it, it is SO good. It shares the stories of black maids in racially segregated Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960s and what it was like helping  raise the children of their white employers and the complicated relationships that ensued. As incredible as the book is, can you believe that it was turned down by over 60 publishers before finally being published? Kathryn Stockett is one persistent lady. Do you think you’d have the same persistence in the face of rejection? I’d like to think I’d let it fuel my fire, but I’m not so sure that’s true.

I’d also love to know, did you grow up with help? A maid? A nanny? Both? Or do you have help for your children now? Do/did you find the relationship to be complicated? (For the record, aside from my lovely parents, the only help I had were my own two hands – ha! – so I’m quite curious. And, in all the years of growing up, I can only remember being left with a babysitter once – oh, my poor parents.)

Do you live (or have you lived) in the south? Did/do you find there to be racial prejudice? I spent almost five years in a small town in South Carolina in the mid-to-late ’90s and can sadly attest to there still being plenty of racism and a lot of self-segregation (whites sticking with whites, blacks sticking with blacks, and not much happening in between). I wonder if anything has changed… I’d LOVE to hear your thoughts on these topics.