to get a cleaner?

[DeliaRose]

We are not exceptional well off, we get by.

I'm a SAHM to 18mo, 3yo (at nursery mornings) 6yo (at school).

I do a bit of voluntary work (once a week, couple of hours) and am intending to go to college next year.

Dh works long hours.

I can't cope with the volume of cleaning/washing/cooking/ironing.

I feel like if we got a cleaner I wouldn't be able to tell anyone. Especially DH's family as they would be at the fact that hero DH is working every hour god sends and I can't run the hoover round once a day.

Other supermums manage, why can't I?!

[GoldShip]

OP is your username after the little girl with progeria? Just wondering as I watched her recent video this morning!

[BustyStClaire]

You are a lazy cow, get off your arse & do some housework!

[GoldShip]

Sorry OP I missed your earlier question, its because we have this topic about once a week? And the outcomes are always the same :o

[charlottehere]

Honestly OP don't bother trying to do it yourself, just dive in and get one, you won't regret it.

[FunnysInLaJardin]

I have a cleaner because I hate cleaning. I had one when I was pregnant with DS2, not working and DS1 was at nursery. I preferred to go swimming tbh. I still have one and we now both work FT

[Ephiny]

I would have a cleaner even if I was lying on the sofa eating figs while she cleaned around me :)

I might offer her a fig from my golden bowl as she goes past with the duster though. I'm lazy but I'm not a cow.

(only joking, I hate figs )

[Goldenjubilee10]

Get a cleaner if you want a cleaner OP but a new tumble dryer may be cheaper in the long run. I couldn't manage without mine.

[charlottehere]

I'm the same funny, DD3 is at nursery 3 times a week but I prefer to sleep.

[TryDrawingAPicture]

Mil and sil give me a hard time about having a cleaner. Must be awful for them to live with such envy

As others have said, I have a clean house, a clear conscience and more time to spend playing with dd.

[calypso2008]

DeliaRose Get one!

I have just started having a cleaner for the first time ever. 3 hours a week (minimum she will do - costs 21 euros) It is fabulous - as am forced to do all the extra tidying and putting away of stuff for an hour before she comes, then I go out and three hours later it is immaculate IN A WAY I COULD NOT DO. It is the extra things like a clean oven, clean windows, clean utility room, every other week a pressing issue is addressed! It is a large flat with masses of windows and 2 1/2 bathrooms

Ironically my DD4 has just started school - I am less busy than I have ever been and I only work PT with my own business.

After the initial guilt - I am just happy. It is also SO true, you are giving someone a job, my cleaner is really happy to have the job and I am happy to give it to her, happy also to spend money on that rather than going out (never, ever do) or buying anything for myself (never, ever do)

It takes at least 2 hours a day just to keep on top of general mess and general bathroom wiperounds and mounds of washing and ironing (in connection with my business), therefore, I never felt my house was properly clean, clean. Now I do, and what a difference!

[redexpat]

www.flylady.net/

[ethelb]

I don't have a cleaner as I cant afford one. But if I could I would get one like a shot and I have no childrne and a DP who does lots of tidying/cleaning.

TBF if you had a plumbing problem or needed some accounts doing, you could strictly speaking learn how to do them youself and find time to fix your problems. But you don't. Why? Because those are seen as men's roles and something you need a 'professional' for.

Don't get sucked into the trap of believing that cleaning and running a home is a simple, easy, skill-free job that can be done in your "spare time". it's hard work and if you need to call in the professionals, call in the professionals as you would do with any other need.

Rant over.

[calypso2008]

Exactly ethelb

[Chubfuddler]

Well said ethelb.

[ThreeEdgedSword]

A friend of mine, his mum has a cleaner come in every week, hoovers the house, cleans the bathroom and kitchen. That's with a husband and two adult children! They all work different hours, so it's just easier than arguing over who should do it.

Get a cleaner. I wish I could afford one, I don't see the point of doing it all just because I'm a SAHM!

[lastSplash]

I sometimes have a cleaner, like I sometimes have a takeaway. Sometimes the mess and dirt get me down and I can't get it together to sort it out, so I pay someone to come round and do it, just like I would get a takeaway or ready meal if I didn't feel like cooking.

Usually I feel SO HAPPY with my clean house after they are gone, It weirdly prompts me to want to clean. So I end up defrosting the freezer, sorting the limescale in the kettle, getting on top of washing and stuff after they have been. The house also stays clean for ages, as I'm much more inclined to run the hoover round when it needs it a little, than after the house has got into a state and everything needs doing.

[DameFannyGallopsAtaGhost]

Applauds ethelb

[lastSplash]

...my point (which I may have failed to mention), being that no-one feels the need to confess to their MIL that they sometimes have a takeaway, or goes round pulling their hair out with the guilt of it.

[captainbarnacle]

Ah! I have a 6yr old, 4yr old and 15m old and am a SAHM with a husband who works away for months at a time. I finally relented and got a cleaner last month - 5 hours once a fortnight. Am studying for a part time degree and the start of term was the tipping point! She sweeps through the house cleaning all surfaces, ironing, hoovering - just brilliant! I pay her £40 every two weeks.

[Shesparkles]

I work part time, have a 15 and 10 year old, and have a cleaner

Does that help?

[charlottehere]

My cleaners have just left, its so nice to pop out and come back to a spakling house. Ahhhh.

[birdofthenorth]

You're a SAHmum not a SAHCleaner

No judgement from me.

[charlottehere]

Although I did tidy up for 1 2 hours before they came. pig and sty spring to mind.

[OscarPistoriusGirlfriend]

£40 every two weeks sounds like excellent value and to my mind a necessary university expense, like my train fare is a necessary expense.

[arthurfowlersallotment]

Oh get a cleaner. I would if I could spare the cash. Go out, have a coffee and a cream bun, and come home to a clean house. Heaven..

stares resentfully at laundry pile