House Cleaning

I started to post something on Facebook yesterday morning about how thankful I was that my house got cleaned on Thursday…by a professional.  Someone other than me.  But then I decided that I had enough to say about it, that I would wait and put my thoughts down in a blog.  {your welcome :)}

Here I go.

I’ve paid for someone to clean my house.  I started paying for this service a couple of years ago, but it was always sporadic.  And the lady I was using then did a good job.  And really, at that point in my life, it was nice that someone else did it just so I didn’t have to. {If I’m being honest, and I am, I HATE cleaning.  Loathe. Despise}.

The problem, however, is that despite my disdain for cleaning, I really like a clean home.  It’s quite the conundrum.

Floors drive me completely batty.  Why is it that every time you vacuum, in less than 30 seconds of putting the machine up, someone tramps in some crud from outside?  Leaves are taking over the world right now and somehow those little skinny ones are ending up in the strangest of places.  Anyway, I digress.  I like a clean house.  I have that vision of someone coming in my home and scanning (judging) my furniture for that thin layer of dust that just never.will.go.away.

Last year when we moved I had our house cleaned initially and then it just sort of ended.  So this year, nearing the end of my maternity leave, I conversed with my beloved about how having someone else clean our home would make me a better over-all person.  It’s so true.  I wasn’t being dramatic or giving him a guilt trip.  I was simply acknowleding the facts that 1. I don’t have time to clean…not if he wants me to spend “shoulder to shoulder” time with him or face to face time with our kids (because there are 2 now…).  and 2.  Not having a clean home just makes me unpleasant.  I get anxious about it. And my anxiousness can take the form of frustration and you all know how that looks.  Let’s just say it’s not pretty, pleasing or gentle and quiet…

A couple of months ago, while I was on maternity leave, a friend posted on FaceBook that she’d had someone clean her home and what a great job this lady had done.  Her husband had not stopped gushing about what a great job she’d done, yada yada.  So I messaged my friend to get the details.  I talked to Andrew about having this individual come clean our home, and with him being a little more skeptical about having a stranger in our home, I was there the first time she came.  She was amazing..  This lady is a dad-gum machine.  It took her a full 6 hours to clean our home…from TOP to BOTTOM.  She cleaned fans and light fixtures all the way down to baseboards.  She moved swiftly from one room to the next and then I watched her (from the couch…) come down the stairs with a vacuum hose in one hand and a rag in the other, she made my stairs shine.  It was crazy.  I thought to myself, I have high standards for cleaning and this lady is raising the bar.  I was so excited about her that I posted on FaceBook and told friends to message me for details.  I ended up telling 5 friends about her.  I’m not sure who all contacted her (I know for sure one did and was extremely pleased with the outcome) but I hope they all do.

I’m happy to adjust our budget so that I pay someone who is trying to provide for her own family so that I can spend time with mine.  I will enjoy the smells of pledge, murphy’s oil and bleach knowing that our home is clean I had absolutely nothing to do with it 🙂