My house is such a damned disgusting pigsty. Tomorrow, for the first time in six ungodly weeks, the cleaning lady is coming back. Due to vacation our regular schedule was all whacked.
Every time she comes, I end up cleaning up so she can clean! It’s fucking perverse!! It’s not her fault, it’s ours, how is she going to get anything clean if she spends 80% of her time moving stacks of junk around?
What I really need is a second cleaning person who comes before the regular cleaning person. He or she could handle the house how it is now, getting it in order. Of course, I’d be so ashamed to have this person see my living conditions, I would have to strangle them after they finished the job. I couldn’t sleep at night knowing another living person (other than my spouse) knew what a disorganized maniac I am. And then I’d have to find ANOTHER person for the next time, who would then also meet an untimely death. So then I’d have a body count going… this can’t be good.
Screw that idea, once our usual person sees what is growing in the shower scum, I suspect she’ll keel over dead herself. So in addition to scraping the rat droppings out of the way prior to her arrival tomorrow, I’m going to have dig a goddamned grave.
Where’s my fairy godmother? Didn’t we all get promised a fairy godmother? Does anyone want to come clean my house? Does anyone else do this, clean for their housekeeper? It’s sick I tell you
I’ve BEEN the cleaning lady and I suspect you are not alone.
I went into houses where everything was in place, not a dropped paper or glass left out. I don’t believe that all those people live that way. I did, however, clean for a guy who told me to “dust around the piles of stuff”. I did clean the bathroom and kitchen, but the rest was pretty much a waste. Don’t sweat it, you’d be pretty surprised at what they see!!!
I wish I could AFFORD a cleaning lady…sigh…I hate housework. Betty Crocker/Matha Stewart I ain’t…My biggest hate? LAUNDRY! I frigging hate laundry. I’d rather scrub toilets than do laundry.
My parents have a cleaning lady to make the house “clean”; but they themselves (as well as my brother) make the house “tidy”. That is, they put away their own junk, and Olympia (yes, that is her name) dusts and polishes and vacuums and whatnot.
I’ve always wondered why my mother had to clean the house before the cleaning lady came. I never understood it–she’s paying this woman $100 to come over and clean, but she spends the night before doing everything this cleaning lady is going to do the very next day.
I think you finally verbalized the thought process she must go through. I must go put her out of her misery…
I kinda LIKE doing laundry. It’s a classic example of “getting something done while you’re not actually doing anything.” Beyond the initial work of separating the dirty clothes into darks and lights and delicates and non-delicates, and the subsequent work of folding and putting away, there’s a nice long period while the machines are doing the work and you can read the paper, make a pot of soup, arrange flowers, stare out the window…
I never clean before the cleaning lady gets here- I love her! She just makes neat little stacks out of all of my shit- occasionally she’ll load stuff into bags or boxes for me to “sort through” when there isn’t enough room. She does my microwave, my oven, my windows- everything. My tub is spotless! In the spring and fall she stays an extra hour (I pay her for it) and does “spring cleaning”. She has lined my cupboards, scrubbed on TOP of my fridge and other things I never would have thought of. At Christmas time each year, I give her double her pay and the day off plus a present. She’s worth every penny, and I let her know that.
It’s not like you’re mopping so she won’t see the dirt, right? I “pick up” ahead of my cleaning people all the time. Especially if they’re new. They don’t know where all my crap goes, and I’ve got it ALL OVER THE PLACE. It would take them hours just to clear a spot to dust. (And, of course, since that spot was covered with books/receipts/plates/newspapers/to-do lists it’s not even dusty.)
Once I get to know my cleaning person, and she’s cleaned my house tons of times, I just let it slowly slide…and increase the tip.
It really varies. Ours charges $20 an hour which is pretty cheap for around here. She only comes every 3 weeks (which isn’t often enough, really) and stays 2 1/2 hours. She brings ALL her own stuff. I believe services like “Molly Maids” charge more but they come as a team and get through the house faster.
In my experience, it’s a bunch of tradeoffs. Our previous cleaning lady was a horrible duster, but great on floors. She was also sort of unreliable. This one is a good duster but sort of skimps on the bathtub, which is a big deal because the MAIN reason I hire one is so the bathrooms and kitchen get a good cleaning on a regular basis. But it’s hard (around here) to find one who has openings, so we suck it up and focus on her good points. When I worked in leasing, our favorite cleaning person gave perfect results but she was slow as molasses.
