to think that a SAHP of school aged children really doesn't need a cleaner.

[leeds79]

I know of a few mums at school who have 2/3 dc who are school aged. Neither work but they they still have a cleaner. Obv know its their choice but it does seem crazy to me.

I'd love to have a cleaner as I have a house full of lazy buggers that don't pull their weight. Sadly I cant afford it but the one 'cleaning luxury' I have is to have my oven cleaned once a year - looks fabulous afterwards and well worth the £60.

I hate cleaning so I have a cleaner. I'm not a SAHP, but if I was and could afford it I would damn well have one and having a cleaner for me would be above holidays and cars and nice clothes in terms of priority for me tbh.

You're just jealous.

lazy feckless BARSTARDS

Not this again.

Why is it crazy if you have the money to comfortably pay for it?

What I would really like us someone to put the washing away!!

"Have all the help you want but don't claim to be stressfully busy!!"

This is a bit disingenuous - how much help you have or not doesn't correlate to how much of your time is filled or what other demands you have on that time.

I can have incredibly busy and stressful weeks - much of which was my own choice to have that on my plate now the kids are in full time school and I have so "much" free time. I've also had periods of my life where I've had very little time and no external help whatsoever, but have been far more realistic about what I can achieve with that time and have had a relatively calm existence

Bit mean to say people can't ever feel stressed just because they can pay for some external help or have family nearby to ease the load.

If I was minted there's not much I wouldn't "outsource" tbh.

Nobody needs a wardrobe full of 40 tops or a Wii or a laptop or an iphone but those people who can afford them, do.

It's the way society is today and really, always has been for a long time.

Why not have a cleaner if you can afford one?
As polly says, you don't worry about paying someone to cut your hair when, if you had to, you could cut your own or grow it long or you don't maon at people queuing at the supermarket to go through the car wash - you could quite as easily get your bucket and do it at home.

Tne person you are talking about op perhaps studies whilst the kids are at school or cooks their meals from scratch for the freezer and takes pride in doing the garden etc

People live different lives and having 'cleaner envy' is pointless.

Oh and also, why would anyone ever go to a restaurant for a meal out again? heavens above - having someone, like a chef, cooking you a meal - that's plain lazy

nomiddlename we do need 40 tops (well I do anyway) as when I can't be arsed to wash & iron the buggery things I just sling a clean one on,the wii is an essential so I don't have to listen to the dc arguing about complete crap instead they can argue about who is the best on the wii & as for laptops,how would we have debates on mn whilst sitting on our arses with cups of & glasses of & without one :o

YABU people buy loads of stuff/services they don't need but it is up to them and somebody gains from the money being spent. I am home with a toddler now but have been a SAHM with school age and I was still busy!

I have a cleaner and I'm on benefits.
I could do the cleaning myself most of the time, but I don't want to.
I do my own nails though

Who knows, maybe the SAHPs with cleaners are spending their time enjoying themselves. Which must be stopped, obviously.

YABU and none of your business.

Not many people truly need a cleaner - it's a luxury. And if you can afford it, why not? There are far more rewarding things to do in life than clean your house. Even when you have a cleaner there's still daily cleaning/tidying/cooking/laundry to be done anyway.

You know, I've just got a minimum wage part-time job in a shop and I'm wondering if I can get a cleaner with the money.

I am perfectly happy to earn £6 an hour and engage a cleaner at £10 an hour.

I hate cleaning to the extent that, actually, I never do it. But I would love to live in a clean house.

I'm surprised when a sahm has the big house, enough money for a cleaner but everyone in the family expects her to do 4 hours cleaning a day.

Not my friends or anything, but on some crappy show like wifeswap where the woman cleans all day.

This has been said, but really it's not about what people need, but what they want.

How many millions of people have an engagement ring for example. How many of those people need an engagement ring - zero. But nobody minds people having engagements rings.

Tobyrat that is very profound and true.

I am on maternity leave and would love a cleaner, someone to do the ironing and generally a PA to sort the random odd jobs (like form filling/arranging plumber to come round etc etc). God I would LOVE that and then I could spend all my time with my baby and walking the dog and not feel bad because I need to put the ironing away.

I hate having a cleaner ...I don't have one at the moment & whilst i don't enjoy cleaning & my house is not spotless, I do feel more connected with home when I don't have other people running parts of my life that i just don't have time for because I'm working too much....bit different to the example given I agree.
-ves of having a cleaner
1\ They phone you up at work asking where the hoover is when it's in the same place it always is
2\ They have their own needs in terms of what cleaning materials they want to use...another job for me
3\ They take the cleaning cloths home to wash for you when this has not been agreed, then forget to bring them back the following week
4\ They ask you to bag up the baby things upstairs that you no longer want so they can pass them on to their friends in a poor eatern european country (who said they were no longer needed?) they then remind you to bag them up...several times.
etc etc etc

oh dear...rant over! basically, it's easier to do it myself

I have a cleaner and I am a SAHP. Have had the same lady coming in for 8 years and it's lovely. She started three years before my kids arrived and I can't see a reason to let her go.
She does only come every other week now though.
I still tidy and clean almost every day but when she comes she does a really thorough deep clean.
We actually sort of do it between us. I run around tidying ahead of her wiping, dusting , hoovering and window and skirting board cleaning.
It's a fairly large house and with two young kids messing it up every day I'm really grateful to have my cleaner helping out.

Erm maybe they just want one. And maybe it's none of your business....

What does "need" have to do with it? That could be extended for lots of things - most people can paint a wall so shouldn't need a decorator but people often still hire one. My friend was recently made redundant but they could afford to keep the cleaner so they did, why not? I work but we can't really afford one and I'm not too fussy about a dirty house so we don't have one. It's finance that dictates for me, not whether I have the time or not!!

SAHM - happy because has cleaner

(presumably) working dad - happy because home to happy mum and no arguements over cleaning in the evening

Kids - have happy parents and nice clean house to bring friends home to

Cleaner - employed!

Local businesses - get cleaner's wages spent in them

You - ......

so what, and how do you know they aren't quietly stuggling with knackering pregnancies, ME, depression... and even if they're not, so what, its not a bad thing to do, makes them a bit happier, re-distributes money locally...

YABVU - If someone wants to hire a cleaner do go ahead. Nothing to do with anyone else unless taxpayer money is being used to pay for said cleaner and the person isn't disabled.

We have been debating if we should get a cleaner and are the only people on our street without a gardener or cleaner. It is super expensive here in the US - about $50 a week for 2 hours. I would rather save the money or spend it on DD.