To want a cleaner?

[happyhopefulmummy]

My DH and I have a 10 month old baby. At the moment, during the week I try and stay on top of housework as much as possible and cook dinner every day. I am
Not going back to work (nursery fees made this a no brainer).

My DH is a great help and often cleans up the kitchen each night: our house is relatively tidy, but I don't feel its clean. This is going to sound awful, but baby's room hasn't been dusted since he was born. AIBU to suggest we get a cleaner for 2 hours a week to help us keep on top of things?

We used to have a cleaner but as soon as i fell pregnant we stopped her so as to save money. My DH doesn't earn a great income (£22,000) but we are in the fortunate position of owning our house with no mortgage. At the monent we spend a large chunk of the weekend cleaning, and i feel we could be putting in quality Family Time. DH says he doesn't mind doing this on the weekend. I feel that as our baby gets older this will prove harder and also not really fair on him; he should have some quality time with his parents, esp as during the week he'll often watch me tidy.

I was going to talk to him about it tonight so would appreciate some thoughts, and perhaps suggestions to boost my argument if I'm not being U!

I don't necessarily think you are BU but I can't tell if your DH actually objects to you getting a cleaner or not. I think if you have the money to spend then why not. If it's a priority for you both then it's worth it.

One thing though, your DS should soon be able to help you tidy as you go along - it's a useful skill for them to learn, rather than growing up expecting mum to clear up after them. You can make it into a game - with DC1 I incorporated it into a routine in our day and we tidied just before mealtimes.

You'll probably find as your DS gets older that you'll have more time during the week to clean as you go along while he plays by himself or naps - so you could just pitch it as a temporary measure for a year or six months.

Sorry - realise that your discussion was supposed to happen last night so hope it went well.

Ah, just seen your other thread.

I couldn't agree more. One of the reasons we moved to Qatar was so we could have time and money as a family. We have a live in housemaid and all time outside work and school (which ends at 1.30pm) is spent doing our own thing. I think people think there are rewards for doing their own housework, either feeling virtuous or because of middle class angst about employing people. Either way, as long as you don't exploit people why the hell not?
And if money is short, maybe sacrifice another luxury to make up for it.