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 have a cleaner but would need to shift my cigarettes and alcohol addiction to be able to afford one. Until then im happy to wallow in my filth put up with my mediocre cleaning.
Now if I won the lottery I would employ a live in housekeeper. And maybe a butler. And a ladysmaid.
(I need to stop watching Downton Abbey)

YABU.

When I had 3 DC at school and I wasn't working I spent the entire day doing house work and MNing and watching This Morning.

If I had a cleaner I could have gone out and done something much more interesting instead.

I wouldn't mind a cleaner. if you can afford it and are paying fairly (ie not a child slave/illegal worker £1 an hour or something) then what is the problem? I don't drink or smoke so save money there.

You could say people are lazy for going to the car wash/buying ready meals/having a remote control insteadof standing up to change channel.

I dont have a cleaner but I work between 50-60 hours a week and if I wanted to spend some of my money on a cleaner then I would do so without guilt. At the moment I would rather have cash for other things, but if that changed I would have no issue with using a cleaners services, and I am sure as long as he/she got paid properly then they wouldn't care!

Hmmm...maybe you are onto something. A SAHP with school age children should also not have:

• A tumble dryer - they have plenty of time to Mangle
• A Dishwasher - they have plenty of time to hand wash
• Supermarket bread - they have plenty of time to bake their own

Just because you don't need something, doesn't mean you should feel bad about wanting/being able to afford it

netto just saw your post, oh dear you lazy cow, you should be out training for a marathon or something when your cleaner is in. ps if you fancy being lazy next Friday then I have serious need for a costa brownie! (thats if you can get your lazy arse off your sofa)

I sit on the couch and lift my feet so she can hoover, but I do make her a cuppa and pay her well.
Yep, Friday's good for me if I can be arsed of course

I am SAHM with a cleaner one day a week.
And I NEED her.
I have 4DC and a DH whose lives take up a huge amount of my time. I do my DH's accounts. He often works a 10 hour day. I am often picking up different DC from different places, watching them at sport, helping them with their homework, talking to them, sorting out their lives.
I also shop and cook from scratch. I do 6 people's laundry. I have a large house - five bedrooms, four bathrooms. On the days she's not there I do the cleaning too. On the day she's there we can get to the heart of the mess. She does all the week's ironing.

Just because I don't go out to a paid job, - but I also do voluntary work - does not mean I am sitting on my arse doing nothing. I don't have a nanny or au pair.

If I had more money I would have her two or three times a week.

OP, you have no idea what people do in their lives, and what they need or don't need.

I have a cleaner twice a week because I hate cleaning and have better things to do. We can afford it and I'm slightly better mooded when I don't have to clean the house!

I also think this is a bit odd OP BUT I am definitely jealous!!! I don't know why but even if I could afford a cleaner I would feel embarrassed to have one, which is very foolish I know. I bloody hate cleaning and am rubbish at all things domestic.

southernandcross that sound absolutely brilliant.

boring.
they're very unlikely to Need a cleaner (unless they have 13 kids or a disability etc) but I'm imagining they're, y'know, rich. If I were too I'd consider being the cleanee instead of the cleaner in a snap.

So what if they don't 'need' a cleaner? If they want one so be it. OP I bet you have lots of things you don't 'need.'

What they spend their money on is up to them, I wouldn't get a cleaner because I would rather use my money for other things but thats my personal choice.

You don't need to be rich either, I spend no more than £20 a week on having a cleaner, I'd guess that lots of people spend that on things they don't need.

I would love a cleaner but cannot afford it and when I worked full time I could have but was never there to let them in etc. I know what the OP means. You can't help being jealous and it can seem really unfair.

I have a friend who doesn't really work but still has a cleaner and her children are older.

They are just very fortunate that they can afford it.

Since when does need come into it?

Agree with Netto. I don't smoke, rarely drink, drive an old car, don't take foreign holidays, rarely eat out. I'd give up most things rather than the cleaner!

I am a SAHP of 2 school age kids and I have a cleaner AND and ironing lady. I'm very happy not to spend my time doing the mundane.

So rather than keeping money in the bank they are providing someone with an honest living. Why is that bad?

Totally up to them. If they have the cash to spare, what's wrong with them giving someone else a much needed job doing something they either hate, or actually might find difficult? Just because someone is a SAHP, it doesn't necessarily mean they have nothing but cleaning to do with their time.

Actually I'll share one of my mother's better moments with you. When DS was 1 I gave up work to be a SAHM. At about the same time, my cleaner who had cleaned for me for 12 years got a job as a dinner lady at her grandaughter's primary school and I decided I could manage without a cleaner as I wasn't working.

After about three weeks my mother visited and announced "but darling you weren't brought up to clean, don't let him think you will be happy to get into the habit of it, you will make a rod for you own back". One of the few times I am really pleased that I have taken her advice.

Why should anyone worry what other people do providing it isn't unkind and they can afford it.