to be annoyed that cleaner gave my house key to her friend?

[MumNWLondon]

I have had my cleaner for 6 years, and although she can be unreliable she is a very good efficient and good cleaner. Occasionally she had asked if her friend can come with so she can do the work in half the time, I have always said that was ok.

Over Christmas she went back to Poland and asked if her friend could come instead. I said that was ok only if I was actually in and she shouldn't give the friend my key.

Friend doesn't speak a work of english and after cleaning asked for £10 a hour I pay cleaner £9 and friend is much less efficient and I can't tell her what to do. Tried to tell friend after 4 hours it was enough but she didn't understand. I didn't have much choice put to pay her the £10.

Anyway cleaner texts me to say her father had died and she has gone back to Poland for a few days so can't come (fair enough) but can her friend come? I said ok but she needs to come before I leave for school run at 8.15am so I can let her in or after 8.45am. She didn't show so I did school run camback and then at 10am went out to do some shopping. When I came back at 11am and friend is there - cleaner gave her my key and alarm code!

Again she said she was there for 5 hours (normal cleaner would only do 4) and demanded £50.

So I am annoyed about cleaner giving her the key... also this morning when I went to get DS dressed I noticed that one of his shirts missing, also DH complaining one of his shirts missing too. Spend all day looking and can't find either. So now worried about friend stealing from me.

AIBU to be annoyed???

cleaning is a thankless task and some of the employers make you feel like er... dirt even then i just grinned and took it as i knew i was going home to a far nicer home than they had. Theirs might be bigger mines is prettier. Some employers are lovely though

yes see, i would battle with that only, i can imagine that there is alot of shit attitudes to deal with and that would stick in my gullet, seeing as i would probably be higher qualified than most of my clients

a woman i worked for took great offence when i sniggered when she said her husband was good with his hands

perhaps she thought he had been using them on you!!! some people were born with cats bum mouths

no thanks!!! one morning ia arrived and she asked me to change the sheets they had obviously just had sex as the big wet patch was very much in evidence>boak

My Ofsted certificate say that I can care for no more than 5 children under 8, and of those no more than 3 under 5 and of those only 1 under 1,
I only have 1 child at the moment, not thro choice tho Im afraid, hes with me 3 times a week.
A full timer would be nice as well as, or a couple of part timers even.
Im not greedy, and to be honest, I personaly wouldnt want more than children than this, simply as I dont think I could give the quality of care that I do, if I had more.

And for the record I dont get paid when Im sick or when Im on holiday, or when a child is at pre-school, my choice.

I enjoy my job, and working with children is all I've ever wanted to do, and dont get me wrong, but I would prefer to work in a school, but not brainy enough to get a teaching/or similar qualification.

It also means thet my children dont grow up to be latch key kids either.

And as for my 1st post, people may diss it, but I was astonished people would pay £9+ an hour for someone to clean their house, yet pay people £3+ an hour, to look after their children.

Sorry for the long post, but people are far to quick too flame other people, simply coz their opinions differ from theirs, but then I guess it wouldnt be so much 'fun'.

Well, I wouldn't want to childmind, and I admire anyone who does.
I set my rate at the start of the business and stick with it. It is much cheaper than using agency cleaners, and I think I give a better service. I had to be prepared to wait for the business to grow, but now I have as much work as I want, and it's happened via word of mouth.
I don't refer to my customers as my employers, they aren't my employers, I am self-employed, and to me that's important. It also means that I am clear about what crap I will and will not take.
What is involved? Well, take a normal 3 bed house, one bathroom, 2 downstairs rooms. That's 2 - 3 hours a week depending on how they use their "space" (£22 - £33). I clean the surfaces in the kitchen, the bathroom (using something to get rid of limescale on the damned shower screen!), dust everywhere with a nice polish, wash kitchen and bathroom floors and vac right through. I use disinfectant wipes for the loo and make life as easy as possible. People like nice finishing touches, so I take an old towel and polish shiny surfaces. What makes my service better is that if I see something needs doing I'll fit it in when I can. So windows will get cleaned inside on a rota, skirtings will get a wipe over with a damp cloth from time to time. Hand marks on doors are cleaned off. It's surprising, but it doesn't take long to keep things nice for people, and the longer I'm there I notice that they tend to keep things cleaner as well.
So anyway, it's not difficult, and there is reasonable money to be made. It's your business so treat it that way. If their loo brush is minging don't use it, ask them to get a new one. If they leave a loo in a disgusting state just mention that you'd appreciate it being brushed clean before you visit. You don't have to literally scrub shit. If people are arseholes to work for, get rid of them, life's too short.
I know some will mock this little post, but you know what, it works for me. DD is older now, so this means I have an income and also the time to enjoy life. Worth considering if you're looking to make some money I think.

I pay my cleaner £10 an hour because a) that's the going rate and b) I employ her for 2 hours a week, not 40. The maths don't add up.

Morloth - I'm in London if that's any good.
I don't mind the spunky sheets - I saw far far worse when I worked at a dry cleaners, believe me. I am actually thinking of going back into cleaning again - good cleaners are rare and I'm good (for some reason it's much less boring cleaning someone else's house than your own)

Oh, you should see the state of my house.

I've done both jobs. Clean in a Hotel absolutely hated it, but somehow managed to stay for 11 months! Used to get paid £4 an hour 8 years ago.

I looked after a 7 year old for 3 months (school holidays) in the summer in Spain. This was from 7.30 to 3.30, got paid about the same, but I loved it! Got to go to the beach if it was a nice day or do other outings if not such nice weather.

Now, I also looked after another two kids that where an absolute nightmare, boy 11 girl 8, and I only lasted 2 weeks; they swore at me, hit me, and spat at me. A very important dermatologists kids...

So I think everything is relative.