Would you have a cleaning lady come in if you could?

[muffinmom]

Do it...I do.

 

With homeschooling, 2 small kids who can't help much yet, and dh's business in our house, it's a no-brainer. It helps keep our house and minds peaceful. I wouldn't be able to get homeschooling and cooking done and keep the house straight AND clean. I can do 3 of those but not 4 (at least not very well or regularly). Or if I did do all of it, I would never have a moment to myself, which I find essential for my mental health.

 

Now as my kids get older, things may change...we'll see.

[Guest janainaz]

I would just love to have a lady that stands in my laundry room all day long - folding and putting stuff away.

[The Governess]

If my girls were in public school and I was a SAHM, I would probably feel guilty having someone come in and clean my house. But with two little ones home and making a mess all day long, I don't feel the least bit bad about it. And when I am homeschooling two school-aged children, I won't feel bad about it either. :001_smile:

[Aubrey]

First of all, YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!

 

Second, though, I imagine having a cleaning lady would

a) free up more time to do the things that you're already doing, but better.

b) free up time to do more things, if there are things to get to. For me, I'd spend more time sewing, baking, painting, writing, planning for school, & actually hs'ing. Ooh...maybe I'd take up something new....:lol:

c) actually produce (in most of us here, maybe even most people, I don't know) the *opposite* of slothfulness. We don't want them to see how messy our houses actually get. We don't want them to see us wasting time online or napping. And we don't want to waste the time that they're saving us anyway. I think I'd be superwoman w/ household help!

[runamuk]

If we could afford it, yes. I would love to have someone come in and do the big stuff once or twice a month - scrubbing showers and tubs, cleaning behind the stove and fridge, moving all the furniture to vacuum and give everything a good going over.

 

I clean here and there throughout the week as time permits, but I'd really like to have the whole house clean all at the same time. :D

[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

I could hire out the housecleaning, but I choose not to do so. I did have help at times in the past, due to my difficult pregnancies and subsequent surgeries. Those are extenuating circumstances. But an average, healthy family ~ especially a family with no young children underfoot ~ should be more than capable of cleaning their own home, imo.

 

 

Wow-Laura didn't say that she wasn't capable!

 

I think it is more a matter of where is her time best spent. If someone else is coming in to take over the heavier cleaning tasks that doesn't make her incapable that allows her to manage her time better.

 

I've had household help and it is wonderful. As far as I am concerned homeschooling is a job and if more of my time can be freed for that job-all the better.

 

As someone said-it is good honest work. And so it is, whether I do the work or pay someone else a good, honest salary to help me. Perhaps they need the work as much as I need the help.

 

Laura-if you are in a position to have some help-go for it. Perhaps you can hire someone on a few weeks or a month trial. See if you can all get along in the house and work together.

[Laura in VA]

Yes! I have someone coming next week to see what type of work I would like to be completed. It will cost $65 for 4 hours of work. I'm hoping to have them come every other week and I am soooo looking forward to it! :)

[Christine]

What would you do?

 

I used to daydream about this.

 

But then, after giving it much consideration, I realized I wouldn't.

 

Because, to me, the hardest part of "cleaning" is picking up, and I'm not naturally a put-it-right-back-where-it-belongs kind of gal. (Do they even do such a thing? Pick up, that is?) Once I've got it picked up, the cleaning itself is a breeze.

 

Plus, if I had a person come in to clean, what chores would I give to the kids? And, on this note, I'm seriously not joking. I feel it's part of my job to teach my kids how to clean a house so they will leave and be able to take care of their own house. I want them to be able to help their spouses. What if they had a job but didn't allow them the opportunity to hire help, would they feel they had somehow not acheived a certain level? (Don't all kids generally want what their parents had and more?)

 

And, then there's the whole "I would feel terribly uncomfortable with someonelse in my house dealy-o".

[Blessedfamily]

........I think it is more a matter of where is her time best spent. If someone else is coming in to take over the heavier cleaning tasks that doesn't make her incapable that allows her to manage her time better.

 

I've had household help and it is wonderful. As far as I am concerned homeschooling is a job and if more of my time can be freed for that job-all the better.

 

......

 

And even for those who don't consider it a job, it can take up as much time as a job (depending on your situation).

 

For me, homeschooling (including research, purchasing, planning and implementation) takes as many hours as a (part-time) job. If I had an outside job I wouldn't feel bad about it, so I wouldn't feel bad about it now.

 

I have two small kids and a DH who works long hours, so I would definately do it.

 

If they were older, and more independent, I might still get someone to do the heavy work. The family would still have to clean between housekeeping visits. That would give us time for other pusuits.

[snickelfritz]

For me, homeschooling (including research, purchasing, planning and implementation) takes as many hours as a (part-time) job. If I had an outside job I wouldn't feel bad about it, so I wouldn't feel bad about it now.

 

 

If you worked a part-time or full-time job and the kids were in school or daycare, the house wouldn't be getting messed up as fast as you could turn around during the day. No lunch dishes, no craft messes, etc....

[Vanna]

Doubt this wish would ever come true. Ah, well, dreaming is "free".

[classics4us]

If you can afford it do IT!

I would if I could :D

[linders]

love it! Still have to stay on top of the "daily mess" but now I know the bathrooms will be done regularly, the dusting, the whole house vacuumed (not just the main living area, which I have to do every other day), etc.

 

DH had tried to get me to do it for years and I caved in for health reasons. I think it was pride (a superwoman complex) that stopped me before, plus a nagging feeling that it sent the wrong message to my DS. Well, I have gotten over both - the DS still have myriad chores, and now I feel better about my house.

 

The car analogy is appropriate - I could change my own oil and but I don't.

 

Do it.

[dangermom]

I've always had weird hangups about hiring a cleaner, but I'm almost over them. The fact is that with all the different things I do, I'm running out of time and ability to handle everything. However, the budget doesn't really allow for it, so I'm pretty much out of luck.

 

I do have the same qualms as many of the folks here--my kids are learning to do a lot of chores and I want them to take responsibility for our home. I feel like I ought to be able to do it myself. And so on. In reality, though, we live in a messier house than I would like and it's not getting better.

[G5052]

I live in a neighborhood where my neighbors on three sides have them and two of those have garden help that comes regularly, and for some reason they never stop at my house!

 

Maybe because they wouldn't get paid? ;)

[Colleen]

Wow-Laura didn't say that she wasn't capable!

 

No, she didn't say that. But she asked if we'd hire a cleaning lady and I answered with my opinion that the average family should, imo, be capable of keeping their own home clean.

 

I think it is more a matter of where is her time best spent.

 

And I think keeping a house clean ~ especially when two adults and two children are involved ~ is a worthwhile use of time. I believe it's valuable for young people not to have hired help cleaning up after them. As well, keeping one's house clean doesn't actually take a great deal of time.

 

As someone said-it is good honest work.

 

I never said otherwise. My own mother did it.

 

Perhaps they need the work as much as I need the help.

 

Maybe. Again, though, that isn't what I'm addressing here. I'm addressing the question asked in the original post.

[Peri]

I've always had weird hangups about hiring a cleaner, but I'm almost over them. The fact is that with all the different things I do, I'm running out of time and ability to handle everything. However, the budget doesn't really allow for it, so I'm pretty much out of luck.

 

I do have the same qualms as many of the folks here--my kids are learning to do a lot of chores and I want them to take responsibility for our home. I feel like I ought to be able to do it myself. And so on. In reality, though, we live in a messier house than I would like and it's not getting better.

 

The issue is that the cleaning person is probably only going to come in for once maybe twice a week. Does anyone who has kids clean their home only once or twice a week? You are still going to have the opportunity to teach your kids to pick up after themselves and keep their areas tidy. That one day a week cleaning service comes in to do the things that are only supposed to be done once in a while like a good dusting, a thorough vacuming and mopping, a deep scrubbing down of the bathrooms. Stuff like that. You and your kids still have to make your own beds, pick up and put away your stuff, unload the diswasher, cook, set the table, clean up after dinner, load th dishwasher and turn it on, do the laundry ... and the list goes on.

[mo2]

If I could afford it, definitely. But I'll probably never be able to afford it.

[BamaTanya]

In fact, I'm trying to hire someone right now. The problem is, I don't have the time to declutter before someone gets here. So, I guess, what I really need is a decluttering person first and a cleaning person second.

 

I didn't always feel this way. I used to feel private about my home and guilty that I didn't keep it up and money was tighter and (I felt) better used for other purposes.

 

Now, though, the guilt is gone. I'm over the privacy. Maybe because I have so many children and other kids are coming in and out? I'm still embarrassed, but I don't feel guilty. I do what is on my priority list, and cleaning doesn't make it to the top very often. Sometimes watching a movie with the kiddos is at the top and sometimes reading a book is. I can't fit everything in and I've stopped trying to.

 

And, of course, I like the idea of stimulating the economy. One person I interviewed is an older lady with a tight budget; the other is a college student trying to work through school. I think hiring someone else is a wise use of our resources right now. And I think it's good for other people when jobs are scarce.

[Peri]

As well, keeping one's house clean doesn't actually take a great deal of time.

 

I don't know what your household is like, but with a 30,000 sqft home and two toddlers there were times when I was literaly cleaning all day long. When the youngest was still a baby I had two choices: I could either make sure the house was clean or I could do a semi cleaning and make sure dinner was cooked. Either way I was seriously pooped by the end of the day.

[dangermom]

The issue is that the cleaning person is probably only going to come in for once maybe twice a week. Does anyone who has kids clean their home only once or twice a week? You are still going to have the opportunity to teach your kids to pick up after themselves and keep their areas tidy. That one day a week cleaning service comes in to do the things that are only supposed to be done once in a while like a good dusting, a thorough vacuming and mopping, a deep scrubbing down of the bathrooms. Stuff like that. You and your kids still have to make your own beds, pick up and put away your stuff, unload the diswasher, cook, set the table, clean up after dinner, load th dishwasher and turn it on, do the laundry ... and the list goes on.

You're right. The things I would most like to have a cleaning person do for me are all once-weekly things like mopping the floors (we have wood in half the house and I have a hard time getting to it), deep-cleaning the bathrooms, and scrubbing the kitchen. None of that is on the kids' list of chores.

 

Oh dear, between the guilt and the wish for help, I don't know how to feel! :willy_nilly:

[Veritaserum]

Oh dear, between the guilt and the wish for help, I don't know how to feel! :willy_nilly:

 

Ditch the guilt. ;) I've come to the realization that I am not superwoman--and that's ok! :)

[2cents]

I wouldn't have a cleaning person. I did once and I felt that before she came I had to clean up (hence making a cleaning person less reasonable) and I am kinda critical about how well I want the cleaning to be done. I'd never criticize the cleaning person but after they left I'd re-do it. I'd be a really bad candidate for a cleaning service. :laugh:

[coralloyd]

First I just have a problem with someone touching my stuff. Second since I am home most days all day long, it would be weird for someone to be cleaning while the kids and myself were still here. I would feel like I have a servant, can't stand that feeling :tongue_smilie:. I have had dh offer, and have interview ladies, but I just can't get past my hang-ups.

 

I have had yard guys in the past. However, they are not in my personal space, and they are doing something that dh and I are really horrid at. We just end up killing plants :blushing:.

 

I have a 2700 sq. ft. home, and 3 small children. I somehow get what needs to be done, done. Dh at least says I do a great job :). I quess I also realize that this is a season of life and just let some things go. I get to washing the windows maybe once a year, I don't wipe the base boards on a regular bases, I wait till I can see the dust on the ceiling fans to clean them, etc...

 

Things like the floors, kitchen, bathrooms, laundry, dusting; I can keep up with. However, if I did not have the before mentioned hang-ups, I would do it. So do what you really want to and feel comfortable with.

Edited February 6, 2009 by coralloyd

[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

 

No, she didn't say that. But she asked if we'd hire a cleaning lady and I answered with my opinion that the average family should, imo, be capable of keeping their own home clean.

 

And I think keeping a house clean ~ especially when two adults and two children are involved ~ is a worthwhile use of time. I believe it's valuable for young people not to have hired help cleaning up after them. As well, keeping one's house clean doesn't actually take a great deal of time.

 

I never said otherwise. My own mother did it.

 

Maybe. Again, though, that isn't what I'm addressing here. I'm addressing the question asked in the original post.

 

Colleen,

 

There is stating your opinion and then stating it in language that is, although literally benign, actually a snide jab at the other person.

 

Your response seems to have been in the later category.

 

How much time cleaning takes certainly is dependent on the size of the home, the number of family members, number and type of pets and the environment you live in. It also depends on how you define clean. I've known perfect house keepers with floors cleaner than most people's dishes and folks who figure if the mold is less than a week old the house is still clean.

 

There is actually nothing wrong with someone hiring domestic help; housekeeping, gardening, babysitting, cooking... That is a highly personal decision depending on your financial situation among many other factors. Goodness knows that when it takes nearly three hours just to get a load of laundry through the washer that is task enough to keep one person busy all week.

 

Of course taking care of your home is a worthwhile use of time and a necessary skill for all young folks to acquire. That being said, there is still nothing wrong with hiring help. However, there is something wrong with an attitude of reverse snobbery that implies those who can do and those who can't hire.

[Colleen]

I don't know what your household is like, but with a 30,000 sqft home and two toddlers there were times when I was literaly cleaning all day long.

 

I'm going to venture a guess that you didn't mean 30,000 square feet.;) I'm familiar with having two toddlers but no, but it didn't result in my needing to clean all day long. Everyone's experiences are different, of course.

[Mommyof4ks]

Yes, I believe in community helping one another. If I could afford a cleaning person, then I would love to help them to pay their bills in the way that my husband's job pays our bills. We are hiring more things out these days since our economy is suffering in hopes that we can do our part to help some people keep their jobs.

[Peri]

I'm going to venture a guess that you didn't mean 30,000 square feet.;) I'm familiar with having two toddlers but no, but it didn't result in my needing to clean all day long. Everyone's experiences are different, of course.

 

OOOPPs! I meant 3,000.

[Colleen]

There is stating your opinion and then stating it in language that is, although literally benign, actually a snide jab at the other person. Your response seems to have been in the later category.

 

It wasn't intended as a jab, but I can see how it might be interpreted that way. Nonetheless, I believe the average family should be able to keep their own home clean, and I'm not going to apologize for holding that opinion, or for expressing it here. Someone else stated she "would never even dream of (hiring someone to clean) unless I was physically unable. I guess it's a self-sufficiency thing in our family. Everyone does a lot of work around the house every single day." Is that wording more acceptable to you? Either way, what it boils down to is that some of us wouldn't hire help based, among other things, on the fact that the people living in the home are capable of cleaning it.

 

There is actually nothing wrong with someone hiring domestic help; housekeeping, gardening, babysitting, cooking... That is a highly personal decision depending on your financial situation among many other factors.

 

You keep coming back to this. I never said there's anything "wrong" with hiring domestic help. A point-blank question was asked. I answered. You needn't defend your choices to me.:)

[Tammy]

The OP did say this: "I suppose I feel that I should be able to do this, as most other people do." Colleen obviously agreed. I agree also....that most families SHOULD or ARE CAPABLE of cleaning their own homes. Of course there are circumstances that warrant help....like being pumped up with fertility drugs and having 8 babies at once, LOL!

[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

 

It wasn't intended as a jab, but I can see how it might be interpreted that way. Nonetheless, I believe the average family should be able to keep their own home clean, and I'm not going to apologize for holding that opinion, or for expressing it here. Someone else stated she "would never even dream of (hiring someone to clean) unless I was physically unable. I guess it's a self-sufficiency thing in our family. Everyone does a lot of work around the house every single day." Is that wording more acceptable to you? Either way, what it boils down to is that some of us wouldn't hire help based, among other things, on the fact that the people living in the home are capable of cleaning it.

 

 

 

You keep coming back to this. I never said there's anything "wrong" with hiring domestic help. A point-blank question was asked. I answered. You needn't defend your choices to me.:)

 

 

Actually I am not defending my choices-I have no need to defend the choices I or my family have made as they are, in truth, none of anyone else's business and I am quite comfortable with them.

 

What I dislike is those who take jabs at the people who make different choices. I particularly dislike it when it is done with an air of superiority such as when you implied that any self-respecting family should be able to care for its own dwelling.

 

I can and have taken care of my own home and I'm sure many who have some form of help are also capable.

 

Your pride in your "self-sufficiency" while I'm sure is truly earned by the members in your family shouldn't be used as a base for insulting those who make or consider other choices.

[Colleen]

Whatever you say.:)

[hsmomof2boys]

Yes!

 

I'd love to have someone come in every week and clean the bathrooms for me at the very least. I have fibromyalgia, so cleaning the shower is out of the question for me, and my dh doesn't clean it as often as I would like, LOL! Finances don't allow it right now, though.

[newbie]

Yes.

[imeverywoman]

It is important to me for my kids to know what it is to keep up with a home and in doing so, they must pitch in. If a cleaning lady comes, I believe we would be more laxed in our attitude toward keeping the home.

 

However, this is my opinion for my family, not for what I believe is right for everyone. That said, it would be nice for my son to marry a woman who is accustomed to cleaning her own home and for my daughter to marry a man who enjoys hiring a cleaning lady! :D

 

Happy day!

[Alice]

All I have to say is that only here could a question about hiring a cleaning service get to page 9 and become controversial. This is why I have post-a-phobia.

[Guest Lorna]

All I have to say is that only here could a question about hiring a cleaning service get to page 9 and become controversial. This is why I have post-a-phobia.

 

 

Post-a-phobics unite :001_smile:

[Joanne]

Originally Posted by Colleen

As well, keeping one's house clean doesn't actually take a great deal of time.

 

When I added job #3, I added a cleaning service. In spite of the fact that DH and I work 5 jobs, he 7 days a week, and me 6, all 5 of us are here many hours other families are not. Add to that the reality that one of my jobs includes having (and feeding) other people's children in my home - I have an aggregate of laundry, mess, clutter, books and "life" that creates a great deal of cleaning mess.

 

My children are responsible for many daily and weekly tasks; we each have areas of homemaking we are responsible for.

 

Yet, I still found that it was worth it and an investment in time, emotional energy and family resources to have hired help.

[vettechmomof2]

I would not but that is just for too many reasons.

We have a lot of pets and most of the mess is from them. Hair, hay, dog toys, cat toys,etc. So for me cleaning is set up just where I need it to be to get all cages, litterboxes,etc taken care of. If I had someone else come in I would probaly follow them around wondering if they were using a cleaner that was toxic to my birds and statying away from the dog crates and so forth.

Not worth the stress level for me.

Now having a day where I was not disturbed for about 6 hours I could get ALL of m scheduled cleaning done every week. Instead, the kids and I have chores and we get most of it done every day.

So nope. I am not paying someone for that but envy others who do.:tongue_smilie:

[Colleen in NS]

You are still going to have the opportunity to teach your kids to pick up after themselves and keep their areas tidy. That one day a week cleaning service comes in to do the things that are only supposed to be done once in a while like a good dusting, a thorough vacuming and mopping, a deep scrubbing down of the bathrooms. Stuff like that. You and your kids still have to make your own beds, pick up and put away your stuff, unload the diswasher, cook, set the table, clean up after dinner, load th dishwasher and turn it on, do the laundry ... and the list goes on.

 

This is helping me feel less and less guilty about thinking of hiring help for deep cleaning. Thanks for spelling out the details here!

 

I also think about things like cobwebs in ceiling/wall corners, dusting ceiling fans (hardly ever gets done here), scrubbing walls that have grime all over them from years of not getting cleaned, glass globes on ceiling lights....all the things that bother me that I never can get to unless I run like a robot.

[Home'scool]

I am more than capable of cleaning my own home ..... yet the second I can (as soon as some construction being done around the house is done!) I will be hiring a cleaning lady. You bet!!!

 

I am capable of A LOT of things that I choose NOT to do. I can change the oil in my car, I can sew my own clothes --- but I don't.

 

I revel --- absolutely roll-around-REVEL -- in the fact that I am at a point in my life where I am completely self sufficient and can do ANYTHING I CHOOSE to do, but don't have to.

 

I think having THAT mindset makes life grand, don't you? You will find the happiest people usually think somewhere along these lines.

 

I left martydism back in my youth and have moved on.

 

Go for it, honey.

[Aubrey]

The issue is that the cleaning person is probably only going to come in for once maybe twice a week. Does anyone who has kids clean their home only once or twice a week? You are still going to have the opportunity to teach your kids to pick up after themselves and keep their areas tidy. That one day a week cleaning service comes in to do the things that are only supposed to be done once in a while like a good dusting, a thorough vacuming and mopping, a deep scrubbing down of the bathrooms. Stuff like that. You and your kids still have to make your own beds, pick up and put away your stuff, unload the diswasher, cook, set the table, clean up after dinner, load th dishwasher and turn it on, do the laundry ... and the list goes on.

 

This reminds me...when I was a kid, I heard some moms debating over having a dishwasher for the same reasons--they were afraid that the machine would send their dc the message that they could be lazy, didn't have to clean, etc.

 

Maybe it's just a matter of perspective!

[Veritaserum]

I left martydism back in my youth and have moved on.

 

Go for it' date=' honey.[/quote']

 

*claps*

[Stacy in NJ]

Did you mention in another post that you had help when you were in China?

 

So, other than geography, what's changed?

 

Is it culturally more acceptable to have help when living in foreign lands and less so when living in the West?

 

Just sayin.

[Allearia]

 

I left martydism back in my youth and have moved on.

 

Go for it' date=' honey.[/quote']

 

:iagree:

 

I love this! I think this is my new mantra.

[Harriet Vane]

I am more than capable of cleaning my own home ..... yet the second I can (as soon as some construction being done around the house is done!) I will be hiring a cleaning lady. You bet!!!

 

I am capable of A LOT of things that I choose NOT to do. I can change the oil in my car' date=' I can sew my own clothes --- but I don't.

 

I revel --- absolutely roll-around-REVEL -- in the fact that I am at a point in my life where I am completely self sufficient and can do ANYTHING I CHOOSE to do, but don't have to.

 

I think having THAT mindset makes life grand, don't you? You will find the happiest people usually think somewhere along these lines.

 

I left martydism back in my youth and have moved on.

 

Go for it, honey.[/quote']

 

:iagree: Well said indeed.

[Kisa in CA]

I had a housekeeper for a few months and LOVED it! What a difference it made. I was constantly telling my husband how much I appreciated it. Can't afford it now, but I enjoyed every minute I had one.

[snickelfritz]

I wish I could rep you.

 

I am capable of A LOT of things that I choose NOT to do. I can change the oil in my car, I can sew my own clothes --- but I don't.

 

I revel --- absolutely roll-around-REVEL -- in the fact that I am at a point in my life where I am completely self sufficient and can do ANYTHING I CHOOSE to do, but don't have to.

 

I think having THAT mindset makes life grand, don't you? You will find the happiest people usually think somewhere along these lines.

 

I left martydism back in my youth and have moved on.

[TwinMominTX]

In my married life - I've never been without fulltime cleaning/housekeeping help. Hire someone and enjoy the free time!

[AnnetteB]

:iagree:

but, no, I wouldn't. I just can't get past the guilt that I would feel having someone else doing something that I could do myself.

 

Also:

 

Cleaning is good, honest work that my children do along with me.

 

I can't imagine spending money on cleaning! I'd rather spend it somewhere else.

 

I'd be too embarrassed to have someone else cleaning up my dirt.

 

It feels, I don't know,...... slothful.

 

 

Oh well, guess I have plenty of my own issues, Laura. Whatever you decide, have peace about it.....:001_smile: