Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To pay my child to clean?

79 replies

CleaningForPocketMoney · 05/03/2022 18:38

Back story, I had a cleaner, I paid £35 a week. This is a luxury, we do not have much disposal income however this adds immensely to our lives and time with our children and stops the arguments over who does what. We have cut back elsewhere to have this luxury.

We have a 15 year old who wants to earn money, they have found a job pot washing but the hours are late and the money is similar. Our cleaner has retired, I want to pay DC to clean, DH says that is cruel. I know DC will do a good job and understands if they don't I will have to get someone else.
I do give them pocket money but they would like more.

Aibu to let my child clean the family house?

OP posts:
Original poster
CleaningForPocketMoney · 05/03/2022 18:39

To add DC would prefer to clean for us as the hours work better (they will do it on a Saturday afternoon, pot washing is Fri and Sat night)

OP posts:
lateral · 05/03/2022 18:40

I think it's ridiculous but I'm sure plenty will come along and tell you it's a great idea.

1224boom · 05/03/2022 18:40

Why would it be cruel? If they want to earn the money I don't see why not as long as they do as good a job as you expect for
The money you are paying.

Gowithme · 05/03/2022 18:40

I don't see why not.

Bananarama21 · 05/03/2022 18:41

I don't think you would get it to the standard a cleaner would clean for personally.

GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing · 05/03/2022 18:41

What would be cruel about it?

Gowithme · 05/03/2022 18:42

@lateral

I think it's ridiculous but I'm sure plenty will come along and tell you it's a great idea.
But then you need to say why it's ridiculous. Otherwise you really have no argument.
DreadPirateRobert · 05/03/2022 18:43

If they're doing the same job for you as someone you would hire to do it then why not?

In our house pocket money is dependent on two things. Doing the small chores we ask and doing them straight away and not kicking up a stink about it.

CremeEggThief · 05/03/2022 18:43

Well, I don't see the harm in giving it a go.
It will either work out or it won't.

TwentyTOoo · 05/03/2022 18:45

We don’t do pocket money we pay dc set amounts for jobs we need doing so if they want more money for something one week they know they need to do more it works perfectly

Original poster
CleaningForPocketMoney · 05/03/2022 18:45

@Bananarama21

I don't think you would get it to the standard a cleaner would clean for personally.
I do agree with this, but I would expect it to be the same standard as if I'd done it rather than a cleaner.
OP posts:
Original poster
CleaningForPocketMoney · 05/03/2022 18:46

@lateral

I think it's ridiculous but I'm sure plenty will come along and tell you it's a great idea.
Same as pp, why? DH says it is cruel but can't articulate.
OP posts:
lateral · 05/03/2022 18:46

@Gowithme

But then you need to say why it's ridiculous.

No, I don't. Ridiculous is fine. I could have simply said no, neither require explanation.

Otherwise you really have no argument.

I'm not trying to have an argument Confused

MissAngorian · 05/03/2022 18:47

It wouldn't bother me in the slightest, but would they take it seriously if they were working in the family home? I'd be more annoyed if I'd paid for a clean then ended up going over it afterwards!

lateral · 05/03/2022 18:47

Same as pp, why? DH says it is cruel but can't articulate.

I'm not know for being articulate either. I don't think it's cruel though.

AllThingsServeTheBeam · 05/03/2022 18:48

[quote lateral]@Gowithme

But then you need to say why it's ridiculous.

No, I don't. Ridiculous is fine. I could have simply said no, neither require explanation.

Otherwise you really have no argument.

I'm not trying to have an argument Confused[/quote]
Yeah... But why?

Flexitarian · 05/03/2022 18:49

I quite often pay DS to clean out house. He’s cheaper and does a decent enough job. He needs the cash, I need the cleaning done. It’s a win all round.

Isgooglebroken · 05/03/2022 18:51

DM used to pay me to do a bit of housework 30 odd years ago.

I’ve been known to pay DS to mow the laws & push the hoover round because when he asks if he can have some money I tell him to do things for it. Not cruel at all.

Knittingnanny2 · 05/03/2022 18:52

One of my teenage sons wanted to be the cleaner after mine retired. He did it for about a year but to be honest it wasn’t done to my standards! It helped keep on top of stuff til each half term though
20 years on we laugh about it now, he said sometimes he sprayed polish into the air so that I’d think he’d dusted everything and shuffled a few things around in the bathroom and sloshed a bit of bleach around the toilet.

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 05/03/2022 18:52

Why not?

Ds did loads of jobs to earn extra money at that age- cutting and shredding the hedge, washing and cleaning the conservatory, painting etc.

This was on top of normal family jobs that he was expected to muck in with and help.

IsThisNameTaken · 05/03/2022 18:52

DM used to pay me to the ironing many years ago - I wish I could persuade either of my DCs to do it for me. Would happily pay them.

BlanketsBanned · 05/03/2022 18:53

Will dc still work potwash. That would be too much I think and they would have no free time on a Saturday. It sounds a good idea as long as the rest of the family dont take advantage and end up doing nothing themselves to help. will the other dc get jealous and expect to be paid for tidying their rooms etc.

PiperPosey · 05/03/2022 18:56

Absolutely..
I suggest you put her on probation first to evaluate how her cleaning skills are and if you are satisfied.
Skill level and house cleanliness will determine pay.
Sounds like a win-win to me. Grin
If she's willing to clean pots it sounds like she a good hard working girl. My daughter used to babysit and they paid her extra for ironing.

joydivisionovengloves71 · 05/03/2022 18:58

It's a great idea. If he said he was going to be cleaning next doors house instead, that wouldn't be cruel. I think pot washing and probably getting moaned at would be crueller 😄

PiperPosey · 05/03/2022 18:59

I also want to add..."You DH says it's cruel."
I think it would be more cruel to your daughter knowing that you are paying someone else to clean the house when she has volunteered to do so.
He acts like she is being treated like Cinderella...ha..

Swipe left for the next trending thread