Do you have a cleaning lady?

[Freyja]

I keep getting asked at work whether I have someone who comes and cleans my house. I don´t.
As a full-time working mom of 5 it would obviously be great to come home to a clean house once a week but I have never found the cost to be justifiable. I´ve always thought: "Wow, the cost per year, is that of a short family vacation." And then I also worry that I would end up cleaning the house anyway before the person who I would pay for doing it would arrive. Or that I wouldn´t be happy with how she does it.
Do you have domestic help? Do you have any of the problems I described above?

 

[lizabu]

No. I would be too embarrased for anyone to see a mess in my house and would end up cleaning before the cleaners came so it would be a waste of money.

 

[momto2girls]

Yes, I have a cleaning lady (a team of two people, actually). They come every other week, and it is SO worth it to me. I don't feel the need to clean for them, but I do make sure that everything is straightened up so that they can clean effectively. I actually think that having them come helps me keep from letting my house get too cluttered.

 

[Big Cuddly Bear]

We do.... every other Friday.

I could do this, and have, but my wife thinks the cleaning lady does a way better job, though I think I do just fine. We don't clean up the house as it isn't that messy. But we do put away all medications and money that may be laying around.

She's a nice woman, and she does a good job...

 

[mjkacmom]

I did, starting when I had my third baby, and ending when my twins were in school all day. The great part was we were forced to clean up clutter on a regular basis, put clothes away, etc. I do a better job cleaning than they did, but I'm now less on top of the clutter.

 

[BCDisneyFanatic]

Yep. I usually have a maid three days a week. She does all the cleaning, the laundry and ironing. Of course, she went to Peru for the month of May so I'm having to do it all myself right now...and counting down the days until she gets back . I realize I've been thoroughly spoiled.

Before moving to Chile, I had a maid service come in every other week. I always said that I would happily get a job to pay for someone to clean my bathrooms and floors for me...I hate it!!! However, I don't mind cooking, doing dishes, doing laundry, etc.

 

[Aisling]

I'm with you, Freyja. I'd love it, but like you I'd rather put that money towards a vacation. If you can clean your own house as a working mom with 5 kids, I have no excuses being a SAHM with 2 kids!

The things I'd want help cleaning would be things like baseboards, windows, deep cleaning the oven, etc, not the general mopping and dusting, so I just set a schedule that on the first saturday of the month I get my deeper cleaning done. It only takes a few hours and I've saved the money for myself.

I honestly wouldn't have an issue with having to clen or straighten up before a cleaning lady arrived, though. I figure she's seen all kinds of messes, so I'd just let her have at it.

 

[NatashaDisneyCM]

I also have a team of two that come every other week. Been in a cast, and getting ready for knee replacements, so they do the heavier of the work.

 

[mickeyboat]

Nope, but I would love one. We talked about it several years ago, but decided it wasn't that big of a job if all of us helped, and we would rather save the money for other things.

 

[Thundergod]

Only when I dress in drag!

 

[Declan2]

We did for a short period of time but I agree the money is better spent on trips. I also want my kids to know how how to work and do for themselves.

 

[descovy]

I do, although admittedly I had to be talked into it. It was actually a mom in my gs troop... needing to make some extra $$ on nights and weekends when her dh is home to do childcare.

She comes every other Sat. So yes, my kids still have chores, and so do we. We certainly aren't lying on the couch doing nothing for two weeks. Dishes, laundry still accumulate. We still have to vacuum and mop every few days.

She does the cleaning. That means we have to do the straightening. You should see this family fly through the house on Friday night to get everything "Cecelia-Ready" for Saturday morning. For example, she can't vacuum as well with a lot of junk on the floor. She can't polish the dining room table with all our clutter on it.

Having a cleaning lady 2x a month really keeps me straight. I HAVE to put things away on a regular basis if I expect Cecelia to do a good job. I'd rather her time in my house be spent washing the bathroom floor, than picking up towels off the bathroom floor. So the family picks up and puts away , Cecelia does the actual cleaning.

We do our own laundry, and our own dishes. That stuff is daily "maintence" in my mind. She does the dusting, vaccuuming, gives the kitchen floor a good mop and scrub... you know the deep cleaning. For the next 13 days we just try our best to maintain, and then pick up our clutter the night before!

I have to say as a busy family, we really do enjoy our house more now. I can have guests over with little notice and not feel embarrased like I used to. There are other things that families spend more money than we do, it's just a matter of choice.

 

[liamsaunt]

I do. It's just my husband and I, and we are pretty neat, so she comes every other week. We both work full time and appreciate not having to clean on the weekends. We have a lawn service and a plow service in the winter for the same reason.

 

[princesshannahsmom]

We do the normal every day cleaning ourselves, split between myself, DD and DH. When we are on our way home in the afternoons, we decided who gets what jobs. DD of course has her own room and her bathroom, DH has our bedroom, I have our bathroom, then we decide who gets the living room, the kitchen, the porch area and the spare bathroom. Of course not all of those are every day jobs, but we work it out.

Now, I DO have a cleaning service come in once a month to do the deep cleaning like baseboards, windows behind and under the furniture and stuff like that. It is well worth it to me and we have known the lady for years, so she cuts us a pretty good deal.

 

[minkydog]

I have had a cleaning lady from time to time. Usually it was in times of great stress, when I was working and caring for my sick husband or when i was depressed or had just had a baby. I only have 3 kids, but sometimes it feels like more. I had a hard time justifying the expense, but then I just made peace with that. There are only so many hours in my day and when I am stressed, housework went by the wayside for weeks on end. I had to chose between giving my energy to my children or my house. Children win.

My cleaning lady came every 2 weeks and cleaned from top to bottom. I knew that the dirt would be knocked down at least twice a month. After the first time or two, I didn't feel like i needed to pre-clean. I did have to pick up clutter--most cleaning people will not handle clutter. They just vacuum or mop around it. I really enjoyed coming home to a fresh smelling, clean house with clean floors and bathrooms.

 

[diznygirl]

If I have to clean for the cleaning lady, then I'm not having a cleaning lady. If I could pick up the clutter, my house WOULD be clean!

 

[minniecarousel]

If I have to clean for the cleaning lady, then I'm not having a cleaning lady. If I could pick up the clutter, my house WOULD be clean!

I used to think that!

But having to de-clutter so that someone else can do the heavy work assured that the cleaning actually got done.

We had a cleaning crew for several years. Currently, our house is on the market. It looks great & I'm finding it pretty easy to clean since the de-cluttering is always done.

 

[HFC1969]

Yes we do....

 

[WicketsMom]

We did for a while after DS was born, but had to drop it when we enrolled our son in a better preschool that cost more. It did force us to keep the clutter picked up so she could clean, and I am hoping to start back once my son starts public kindergarten and the cost will fit in our budget.

 

[FINFAN]

I have never had one, but I gotta tell ya, would love it for the bathrooms! I would never be able to justify the cost either, unless I was REALLY wealthy, But when you are on vacation and you come back to your hotel room and that bathroom at least looks clean, nice.