To think having a cleaner should make life easier?

[thehourwaslate]

Every Wednesday night we dedicate an hour - or more likely 2 or 3 - in preparation. Clothes must be neatly tidied away, no washing baskets full of yet-to-be-folded clothes, and all toys are returned to their resting places. Skid marks removed, toothbrushes tidied, once-worn jumpers folded and piled up in hope of being worn again soon. For tomorrow the cleaner will come, and make our lives easier, but before that we must rush, rush to be tidy.

I know I cannot complain, because we are very lucky to afford such a luxury, but AIBU to have thought having a cleaner would have made life easier? I feel I stress out every week, getting the house to a pretty good standard, then pay someone to do the finishes touches.

AIBU to think paying a cleaner should make things easier?!

My bedroom and common areas usually tidy. Kids bedrooms not. However I have a cleaner/ housekeeper that tidies up as well. I said this would be a part of her role and I pay her for her time . Both are happy

I would just get a cleaner who can also tidy? Obviously don’t take the piss but our cleaner just sorts anything left out into tidy piles for us and cleans around it.

I try to do this every evening so it only takes 5-10 minutes but if things have been busy or chaotic I
throw anything that hasn’t been tidied onto the bed when our cleaner is due so she can hoover and dust

@Theala lots of people suggesting that here! Mostly the ones with the green emoji’s

Ours is once a fortnight and one of the main benefits to us is that Tuesday night imperative to tidy. Otherwise it would be me nagging and others saying “I’ll do it another night”. This way everyone in the family pulls together under the threat of losing their toys up the hoover the next day.

If you find weekly too stressful maybe try fortnightly instead?

I’m naturally untidy and totally relate to this.

You’re really paying someone for the kick up the arse to tidy. The cleaning bit would be just an extra hour on top if you really went for it.

I don’t have a cleaner at the moment but do have an after school nanny and we have to tidy and clean for about AN HOUR EVERY DAY in term-time just so it looks half-decent when she comes.

I have come to realise this (an hour every day) must be the level of chores parents must generally do, given that just keeps the main rooms of the house at the bare minimum standard (clean-ish floors and clean surfaces, dishes away, bins not overflowing, toilet clean, toys/school bags/ shoes not in middle of floor).

What’s annoying is that by Sunday, it’s a tip again and it’s the same work as if we had not tidied or cleaned for 2 weeks. So I don’t think ‘little and often’ is particularly efficient.

I know what you mean at first I used kind of get irritated but now I'm used to it and kind of helps me get my act together before the cleaner arrives. But the satisfaction you get when you come to a home that is clean is a different level. It's made me realise if I put the washing away after they are dry, tidying and putting things away allows me to designate a new task for the cleaner each week as we have a spare hour where I will say for instance " this week can you delegate a bit more time tidying inside the kitchen cupboards" or " this week can you reorganise the storage under the bed" etc.

This is exactly why I don't have a cleaner!

My cleaner has just retired. I already miss her. The mad tidy time was a small price to pay

Wind yer neck in. Nobody suggested that! One poster even mentioned kids should be able to clean up after themselves. Stop making something out of nothing.

Haha this made me laugh. I complain about having to tidy for the cleaner coming it is so worth it though when the whole house is clean and tidy (for roughly an hour)
Typical mumsnet everyone jumping on the OP about the skid marks 😂

The best cleaner I've had wasn't fazed by a bit of tidying up. She knew exactly where the kids toys and all the random bits and pieces were supposed to go. She'd always throw a load of washing in the machine, by the time she was finished cleaning the washing was done and she'd hang it. I miss her, she was awesome.

I do the same manic tidy and yes it is stressful, but it does keep me in check. Tidying and then cleaning after all in one go is a huge job.

if you didn’t have a cleaner you’d have to do all that stuff then clean too.

Clothes must be neatly tidied away, no washing baskets full of yet-to-be-folded clothes, and all toys are returned to their resting places. Skid marks removed, toothbrushes tidied, once-worn jumpers folded and piled up in hope of being worn again soon.

Gross. These are pretty basic things to do around the house.

You still aren’t actually cleaning so your life is being made easier. Although maybe without the cleaner you wouldn’t clean anyway therefore your life would be the same, but your house would be dirtier.

That for me was the point of having a cleaner (I don't have one currently) was that I had to tidy up at least once a week!

Meant my house started from scratch/was re-set every week

This is typical! The pre cleaner clean! Just think that you are tidying, but she's doing the actual cleaning. And she forces you to tidy - maybe get in the habit of 'don't put it down, put it away'!

I hate it when my cleaner tidies. I pay her to clean not tidy so try to keep the place relatively tidy all week. If it is not tidy then there's less time for cleaning.

I love that having a cleaner makes us tidy up!

Teach everyone to remove their skid marks with a bit of toilet paper. Get kids to tidy toys and everyone to pile clothes on a chair/bed -done

I don’t understand the question. Why would you think having a cleaner would make you tidy up after yourselves during the week.

if you chose to live all week with shitty toilets , toys thrown about, laundry unmanaged, I cannot perceive how In any way having a cleaner is to blame?

OMG yes! I have the same feeling every week. My cleaner comes on a Thursday and for at least 2 hours beforehand I'm tidying and putting away, making all surfaces easy to clean. My thought is that I want her to clean, not to waste time tidying up before she is able to get started. She's here for a set amount of hours and I'd rather that time be spent actually cleaning. She would tidy it up I'm sure, it's just my preference for her not to.

Maybe 2 hours is an exaggeration.....but it takes a while!

I could trust a five year old to say go to the loo, wipe themselves, wipe themselves,flush the toilet and clean their hands- but I would not trust them to take a piece of tissue and wipe their skid marks off or fling around the bacteria filled toilet brush to clean at this stage. I can foresee poo in nails because not enough loo roll, and the dripping of faeces on a toilet brush all over the floor. I'd rather wait till they are a bit older and more capable and sometimes have to check the toilet and do it myself, and if that leads to a made dash before the cleaner then so be it.

My house it tidy because I keep it that way for the cleaner. I'm much happier for it, they do an amazing job. They would tidy if I needed it. I do keep the house clean in between, but they see dirt I never knew existed.

I'm a messy person at heart, I'm fighting my nature trying to be tidy and organised🤣