I have a dirty little secret.
Me, the mother-come-housewife-come-cleaner-come-organizer extraordinaire has a house cleaner.
Wait, let me cover my ears so I don’t have to listen to the loud gasps.
Crazy right?
And not a once a month or every two weeks cleaner but one that comes once a week. For three hours.
Is this where I surrender my Tidy-Up Tuesday crown?
It’s all fairly new (she’s been with us for a month) but I already wonder how we ever lived without her. Because despite being a neat freak and actually enjoying cleaning, the half-day +++ that it buys me every week is golden.
I went back to work when the baby duck was four weeks old and since then have been managing kids, house, and business, without any additional child care. Thankfully my husband was able to take six weeks of paternity leave but baby duck is now 14 weeks old, which left me with 8 weeks of trying-to-balance-it-all single handedly.
Our search for a part-time nanny this summer proved fruitless (that deserves a whole series of posts on it’s own), I needed time to edit, and so a house cleaner seemed like a good solution to save (a) sanity (b) time. Apparently friends have suggested it before but I looked at them like they had three heads; amazing how a little (lot) of desperation will change your mind.
In my mind I’m still a stay-at-home mom. I’m here, everyday, seven days a week, with my boys. What I constantly fail to remember is that on top of that I also run a business. A business that was supposed to be a little something on the side but turned out to be much more.
My weekdays used to look like this:
Monday: Dust. Nurse the baby. Play with the 4 year old. Retrieve lost toys. Return to dusting. Answer the phone. Respond to emails. Try to remember where I had dusted.
Tuesday: Clean bathroom #1. Get side tracked by toys, babies, laundry, the telephone, or other shiny objects. Get halfway through bathroom #2 before the cycle of distraction continued. Did I mention that we have four bathrooms?
Wednesday: Vacuum the basement. Entertain children, run a business, feed children. Vacuum the main floor. Entertain children, nurse the baby, feed the children. Vacuum upstairs. Grocery shop, feed the family, nurse the baby. Return to find the basement a complete disaster.
Thursday: Kick all crap aside and mop the floor, which should have happened on Wednesday but see reasons #1-7 why it didn’t.
Friday: Remove 39 stuffed animals, pillows, blankets, from the beds. Get distracted. Wonder why there are sheets and towels in the hallway. Remember you were changing the sheets and towels. By bedtime I’ve forgotten yet again and no one has any linen to sleep on.
What would take me at least 7+ hours to work through every week takes our lovely cleaner 3 because she is not encumbered by 3 small people, 2 cats, a business, and 59 shiny objects wrestling for her attention.
I am still run ragged but at least I’m not pulling a vacuum, mop, and dirty dust rag behind me. Instead I have extra time to work but mainly time to chase this guy:
Who is 4 and so damn fast.
Not to mention spending time with the lanky 6 1/2 year old who I keep looking at and wondering ‘who are you?’ because he’s growing up at warp speed.
And that cherubic little baby? Well a ridiculously strained budget and penny pinching is worth every second I get to spend with him.
The guilt over not being able to do it all?
Our lovely cleaner threw it out with the trash the last time she was here.
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
Sara, I have had a cleaner for over a year and I love it! In my case, it means that the house actually get cleaned properly, which never happened before. But once a week instead of every two weeks? Sigh, maybe some day….
I thought no one but the select ‘lucky’ had them until I started asking for recommendations and they came pouring in from all sides! Keeping my house tidy is manageable now that I don’t have to keep it clean too
No crown surrendering required! Good for you! As much as we’d like to, we just cannot do it all. Now you can use those precious hours to spend with your beautiful family, on your business, or on yourself!
When I went back to work, getting a house cleaner was #1 on my to-do list. Currently she only comes once every two weeks, but I just don’t find it’s enough. I am looking into somebody new who would be able to come in once a week – at a more reasonable cost, and be able to do a better job. That’s the one downfall of having a house cleaner – finding one that lives up to your standards! Enjoy!!
My husband was convinced we wouldn’t find someone who could clean the house as well as I wanted but she does an amazing job! What I think I like most is that she cleans everything in one day which means our whole house is clean for at least another 5 days. When I did it myself it felt like something, like the bathrooms OR floors, was always clean but it was never all clean at the same time.
I gasped in jealousy not shock. Hooray for someone else dragging the vacuum around!
As much as I love my vacuum I’m happy to share it
Good for you!!! We decided to go the live-in nanny route when the Little Man was a year and with both of us working in the west end and living in the east end, coupled with a little guy with crazy allergies and health issues, she was a God send. I often felt (still feel) guilty about admitting that (it seems like something only the very wealthy do – which we aren’t), but our nanny changed our lives for the better . . . not only because of her loving and stellar care of Jake, but also because of the house work and cooking that got done while we were working.
I’m in awe of stay at home moms, and even more so those who run a business at the same time! Our nanny has moved on, but asked us if we’d hire her to clean once a week so she could make some extra money and I don’t feel badly admitting that I jumped on that incredibly fast.
I’m with Kristin – hooray for someone else dragging the vacuum around and giving you more time for your photography and your boys.
If I was working full time we would have gone the full time nanny route as well because I prefer that my kids are in our home with someone whose sole responsibility is them. It’s amazing how much guilt we feel even when we’re doing something that is good for our whole family (and our sanity)
Every year I ask for a house cleaner as my Christmas, Anniversary and Birthday presents… don’t get me wrong I get awesome gifts, but I keep asking. Some year I hope hubby listens.
I love that you are so real and you are right – it is so worth it!
I still feel like I’m running in 32 directions at once but at least it’s not in a filthy house and I definitely feel a little less exhausted
{Two words} Awe. Some.
Six words:
Much more time with my boys!
That is awesome. I would love one too. I am hoping our penny pinching will pay off soon.
You deserve it, don’t feel guilty at all.
No guilt! Just appreciation for more time with the boys. Since I don’t get maternity leave this is my self-employed version
This is a great use of pennies. Having the constant chore list sitting in the back of your mind, always chirping that you are falling behind, is really negative. Good for you.
I spent Wednesday morning at music with the monkey and baby duck and then a whole hour and a half with the baby duck and a big group of babies on Thursday. I don’t want to miss those moments.