Words from a REAL mom!
1. A house cleaner forces us to keep it together.
We don’t have a housekeeper, someone who does it all, right down to folding and putting away all the socks. As lovely as it sounds, paying someone to take care of us full-time is out of our price range for sure.
What we do pay for is cleaning the tough stuff. And that means the night before our maid comes, the house has to be tidy, with everything in its place, so nothing stands in the way of things that need a good cleaning.
If she wasn’t coming, who knows how messy it would get? Me! I do! It would get very, very messy.
2. It’s easier to get the family involved.
I have two sons, one daughter, one husband, and a dog in the house, and, without our wonderful house cleaner, it’s highly likely that most of the cleaning or the nagging would fall to me. She makes it easier for us to share responsibility equally. I still have to nag a little, but I’m just asking people to clean up after themselves, and it’s hard to argue with that.
3. I get to spend more time on household tasks I enjoy, like cooking.
Cooking is more fun than mopping, ironing is more fun than making a bed, and organizing a cabinet is more fun than vacuuming — at least for me. Paying her to do the things I enjoy least makes the time I spend doing the other things more pleasant.
4. I don’t have to make decisions about cleaning supplies.
I'm an essential oil using, chemical free cleaning mama but I work 80+ hours a week and the last thing I'm thinking about is if I have enough Thieves mixed up or if all my cleaning cloths are washed.
The maid brings all her own supplies in a cute organized little caddy and has every tool, cleaning product, and oil needed for every kind of surface. No worries from this girl!
5. Monday feels like a fresh start.
Monday is my cleaning day! Coming home to a clean house and cooking something I love, then sitting around the table talking about the week ahead makes me happy. It feels like an extension of a relaxing weekend. No matter what happened last week, no matter how busy the weekend was, Monday is a new day. Coming home to a little sparkle and a fresh smell and sitting down at a clean table helps me look forward to the rest of the week.
6. We really appreciate what we have.
I know, I know — but stick with me. There are times when the house cleaner can’t make it; either she’s sick, or on vacation, or doing any of the other things that make us miss work every now and then. In her absence, our home is a lot harder to maintain, and we know it. I’ve spent a lot of time talking to the kids about how lucky we are to be able to pay someone to clean, and how important it is to pay fairly. It’s a hard job, one worth paying for.
-Aly