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 cleaner does tidying and cleaning.. obviously i have to pay her for more hours but it is worth it. I have a busy job and 4 children and a disability that makes even picking stuff up and tidying quite hard. I made it clear that was part of what I needed my cleaner to do however

This is the reason I don't have a cleaner.

I need a tidier and a cleaner, really.

You can ask them to do that kind of thing, obviously will cost more as is more hours.
Mine puts on a load of laundry and hangs it out, changes the bed, loads and empties the dishwasher, tidies kids toys away (just a few, I'd never leave the living room strewn with toys). She also cooks us a meal like chili or bolognaise.

When the dc were small I paid a cleaner for extra hours to tidy. As long as the expectations on both side are clear, it’s not a problem.

I’n not sure the weekly cleaning visit is the issue. Maybe more regular tidy up sessions with a quick clean and more storage is needed?

Yeah the skid mark comment was a bit grim, but sadly my 4 year old isn’t great with a toilet brush (and to be honest I wouldn’t want him touching it anyway!).

Don't have a cleaner then? Or am I not getting this.

SAME in action and sentiment. And my cleaner is always late which stresses me out but I can’t bring myself to say anything

Ha! I know, sounds rank doesn’t it, but it’s not like they are constantly covered in shit, just sometimes if my 4 year old has been to the loo it will need a once over, so this is just one of the ‘night-before-the-cleaner-comes’ jobs to go round and check each loo!

Thanks for all the replies! I actually think our cleaner would be happy to tidy too, but I could never leave stuff lying about for her, it would stress me out too much! So I only really do this mad rush because I feel I have to, not necessarily because she requires it. We’ve only had a cleaner for a few months, so maybe I’ll settle into it a bit more in future and just let her do more.

It’s great to see that many others feel the same way, glad it’s not just me! I’m generally a fairly untidy person, though mess stresses me out, which isn’t a great combo. On the whole having her come every week is a good thing as it makes us ensure the house is tidy for her arrival, but as other PP have said, the actual cleaning bit is probably easier/more enjoyable (though as least I don’t have to do both!). I’m definitely not complaining, I’d just had a few drinks last night and felt the urge to post about it as thought it quite a funny situation to be in each week!

I do like the idea of swapping to fortnightly though….might well do that!

Yes, small children are grim. I'd forgotten that. Luckily (🤔), mine used to always announce they'd done a poo like they were expecting a medal, so we could go in after them to check. And we only had one toilet when they were that small anyway, so it was always obvious.

Anyway., moving on... 🤗