Subtitle: And should I?
When I was in grad school I swore that the first thing I was going to do when I got a job was have someone to clean my house. But I could never really justify the expense, so I never did it. Now I am living in the biggest house I've ever lived in, and I'm thinking that it would be really nice to have someone to vacuum and dust and mop and clean the bathrooms every couple of weeks. Really, really nice.
But then I start feeling guilty....Shouldn't I be able to keep up with this myself? Isn't' it awfully indulgent to pay someone to do my chores for me? Don't I need to just get away from the computer and get to work?
On the other hand, I'd be giving work to someone who needs it (is that the lamest justification yet?). It would be so nice to come home to a clean house, and to have a day off when I didn't have to think about all the cleaning chores that I ought to be doing.
Sheesh, why do I have to make everything so difficult?
15 comments:
I have two words for you: Do it. We have someone clean once a month just to do the really thorough clean and then we keep up with it. We think about cutting out this indulgence from time to time, but she is so effecient and wonderful that we just can't bring ourselves to do it. And when there are brief moments when I can spend time with my husband and two year old, do we really want to be mopping the floors?
And why is it bad to give someone a job? We pay well for this once a month cleaning and aren't looking for a bargain...
Can you tell I have a bias?
Hey, I know plenty of stay-at-home moms who have their homes professionally cleaned! Not me, of course. I would feel too guilty.
I wrestle with these same things, but the truth is, someone could probably clean house faster and better than my husband or I could.
A trained monkey could clean house better than I do. The kids would probably think he was a lot more fun, too.
Hire them. Hire them now.
My husband is VERY frugal and he would do it in a heartbeat if he was working full time.
If you can swing it, do it guilt free. Time is also a commodity.
Last year I really couldn't cope. I had a young man come in once in two weeks and he did a superb job.
I'd have continued but my hours at work were cut and hubby lost his job and is in the throws of setting up his own company (working all hours God send and more - no money coming in yet) - but even I've been thinking if I could ask the young man to come in and help before Christmas. He did so much better job than I ever do (I clearned today! hallelujah) even though he went around saying 'yes. Your house is dirty. very very dirty.good I came!) I was a bit offended at first, then looked at it as if he was justifying my needing him - and that brought encouragement.
so, if you can afford it, employ someone. There's no need for calvanistic work ethics to come into play here.
be blessed and at peace whatever you decide to do :)
Do it. Don't look back.
This is the first time in our life together that OEH and I have both been gainfully employed full time. As soon as we had all the furniture for our new house, I started interviewing house cleaners. For the first 8 months they came every week. Now that I have a little more grip on things they come every other week.
If our situation changes, we would certainly re-evaluate, but for now it is money extremely well spent.
I went with an agency, and I took the care and the time to make sure that the empoyees were paid a living wage, had health insurance and paid vacation. I have those things--so should they. It costs a little more, but I sleep better at night.
Take off the hairshirt, girlfriend, and hire! It's the best money you could ever spend.
What in heaven's name was that about????
Anyhow, back to the topic. Get the cleaning service, even if you only use then once every two weeks.
You're providing employment for someone else who can use the work and you're making room in your life for something productive.
When my FIL and MIL went to Africa as missionaries 35 plus years ago, they were told that they were expected to hire local folk (Dawili was the cook and there was another guy who helped with other chores); my in-laws made two cents more than nothing while in the mission field, but they had more than those they served, so they hired folks to help out. It was a good thing for them, and it will be a good thing for you.
BTW, my wondering was about goat's post...
Yeah, I was wondering about the goat thing, too, but I decided just to ignore it.
I didn't realize this when I first started, but you can delete unwanted comments. Just go to them and click on the trash can underneath their comment.
I think revmom's point is a good one. If the person who cleans your house is being paid a fair wage and has health insurance, than having someone clean your house is no different than paying for any other service. If only D. and I could afford it, we'd do it in a heartbeat.
And mibi52 makes an interesting point in the comment about Africa. When I read Alexander McCall Smith's Ladies' Detective Agency novels, set in Botswana, I was interested in the characters' discussion of the moral imperitive to hire people if you can, since it helps everyone make a living.
Thanks, Will Smama. I knew there was some way to delete comments, but I hadn't figured out what it was.
And yes, the living wage and benefits piece to this is very important to me, too.
Thanks, everyone.
We did it when Offspring was first born, but now the guilt has the best of me, which basically means my house is really dirty in the late middle of the semester. Funny how we have no problem paying someone to mow the lawn, though...
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