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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU to prefer a chef over a cleaner?

41 replies

EuclidianGeometryFan · 13/02/2026 13:06

If you could employ ONE person for your home, which would you pick:

Cleaner
Laundry-person
Housekeeper, for admin/shopping/dealing with trades/tidying etc. not cleaning
Day-nanny (daytime plus either early morning or after school, but not both)
Gardener & DIY person
Personal trainer or health worker to come to your house 7 days
Chef for up to 7 evening meals

OP posts:
Vodka1 · 13/02/2026 21:46

Housekeeper who doesn't clean!!

If I didn't have to put the brain work in then I could surely get much more on top of the rest of the list. Plus he/she is shopping for me too, so thats also a menu plan, which means cooking will be eaaasy!!

TheeNotoriousPIG · 13/02/2026 21:18

I have recently signed up for a weekly cleaner (14 hour days for almost a fortnight in a filthy, manual job does not leave me with the motivation to come home and clean), so does that mean that I can have an extra person?

At the moment, it would be a gardener and DIY person. I have so many projects that they are all piling up and taking over!

Post-children, it would be a nanny. More specifically, it would be a Welsh-speaking nanny, so that they would have more of a chance of picking up the language and being bilingual from birth, while I persist with lessons!

I don't mind laundry, as I can bundle it in and walk away, and I'm trying to expand my cuisine. I have no need for a personal trainer. They would probably faint after doing part of my job!

Emmz1510 · 13/02/2026 20:56

Cleaner

dudsville · 13/02/2026 20:38

What if we all club to together and get one each day of the week?

Ireallywantadoughnut36 · 13/02/2026 20:36

Definitely a cleaner every day. I wouldn't mind cooking if someone cleaned up after me, plus dh loves cooking but uses every single surface and kitchen appliance every time. I do have a cleaner once a fortnight but it doesn't last very long, she also strips and changes/makes beds and takes the bins out, plus organises all our shelves and things. If she could come daily, that'd make my life tbh, can't even imagine what the house would look like!

nowahousewife · 13/02/2026 13:23

Who decides the menu and shops for the food?

FairKoala · 13/02/2026 13:13

Cleaner

I hate cleaning

My food tends to involve lots of chopping and little to no cooking. I don’t have the interest in food others have.

Passingthrough123 · 13/02/2026 13:13

Chef. I don't mind cleaning, I find it quite cathartic, but I get fed up cooking and meal planning. But only for six days a week as I like cooking a roast.

Evergreen21 · 13/02/2026 13:12

Laundry person. I hate sorting it, putting it out to dry, folding and putting it away.

RichardOnslowRoper · 13/02/2026 13:12

Def chef. I hate cooking and the mental load of getting groceries.
I can just about manage cleaning and it doesn't have to be done daily.

Indianajet · 13/02/2026 13:10

Gardener and DIY

Morepositivemum · 13/02/2026 13:09

God a cleaner definitely here. But it would have to be someone who didn’t mind tidying too as most of my life is tidying!

blankcanvas3 · 13/02/2026 13:09

Laundry person. Free me from the shackles of the washing machine

NewUserNewName · 13/02/2026 13:08

Personal trainer

WeepingAngelInTheTardis · 13/02/2026 13:07

Chef for sure, i actually like cleaning. 😂

Middlechild3 · 13/02/2026 13:07

Cleaner who cooks