Cleaning the good the bad the ugly!
Have you ever gone to a house and you are barefoot and you can just feel the dirt sticking to your feet? I’m that house! It takes so much work to keep my house clean with three kids, two fluffy dogs, and a limit of time. I always feel so embarrassed when people come over and my house is messy. There is typically only one day that my house is super clean and that is Sunday. Why do you ask? You would think it is because I don’t have work on the weekends. But actually, I hired a family friend’s daughter to come and help me clean once a week.
I went back and forth about telling people about my help because I didn’t want to be judged that I can’t keep my house clean on my own, or have people think I have all this money that I can afford a maid. My husband hates it when I call her a maid. But I am finding out how wonderful it is to have help! I want everyone to know they don’t have to feel ashamed to get support. If you struggle to do it all, then don’t! Our family friend is a 15-year-old girl who is trying to make some extra money. She is saving up for a car and her mom is willing to match her on how much she makes so we give her $20 an hour and she typically works 4 hours. So, we are spending about $80 a week to get the majority of our house clean in a short amount of time! For some people, I understand that this still might not be an option for you.
For my husband and I, this wouldn’t have been an option a few months ago when we had two mortgages and were just getting by with each paycheck, and a credit card. But now we can afford it and it is such a blessing to have help! In four hours she is able to clean my entire basement which includes sweeping, mopping, cleaning windows, dusting, vacuuming the couch, and cleaning the bathroom. Then she vacuums the couch on the main floor, cleans the upstairs carpeted stairs, and vacuums upstairs. While she is helping I am also cleaning. I feel like it would be weird if she cleaned my house while I am sitting down watching tv. So I work on cleaning the kitchen and mopping the main floor. Then by the time she is done my house “looks” well kept. Just don’t show up out of the blue on a Saturday. I guarantee the house will be a disaster. Ha!
Do you always put dishes away when the dishwasher is done, or when you are done drying them? Do you always fold laundry as soon as the dryer is complete? If you do, then you are some kind of alien! What I am trying to say is that it is okay if your house isn’t perfectly tidy. I am sure my inlaws have seen my house full of dirt, a stack full of dishes in the sink, toys everywhere, and food sitting out from the night before, on more than one occasion. It is what it is. And I am not saying that my inlaws judge my house, I just want to impress them the most. My mother-in-law’s house is always so neat and put together so I strive to do the same.
I definitely do not recommend paying someone to help you if it is going to put you in debt, just know it is an option and it is not frowned upon. If someone judges you for it, then they can skedaddle out of your squeaky clean house. Byeee!
