Not a cleaner but not a housekeeper either …

[Chipsriceandgravy]

Does anyone have a person like this to help them around the house?

We are DROWNING. Drowning.

I need someone to come and help me for a few hours every week. Basically be the me that I should be. A bit of laundry, ironing, sorting out. I really am not sure yet specifically.

It’s definitely not a cleaner that we need because that would imply that the house was kept tidy enough for this person to come in and clean. I need ongoing, regular assistance rather than someone to come and shine the sinks and floors once a week.

Please tell me about the help that you have that isn’t just your average cleaner.

I think if you rang your local leaning agency, they could probably identify someone who could work.

You will just have to be very specific with your tasks and instructions, if they aren’t an experienced Housekeeper with a capital H.

Sorting things out sounds like it’s more of a clutter clearers job - unless you can break it down into simple tasks, or do it with them.

I think you do need a cleaner if you are thinking of paying for a few hours a week, but you obviously don't want a clean the kitchen and bathroom, vacuum and mop once a week type of cleaner. More like a 'Mother's Help'. I think Facebook local pages could be your answer - there will be plenty of people up for this sort of work. But you will need to draw up a list of chores that can be completed in the time you're paying for. Unless you're very lucky, I don't think you'll find someone who will walk in, see what you need and roll up their sleeves.

Wouldn’t that be a ‘Home Help’? Broader role than a cleaner but less grand responsibility than a housekeeper.

You may want a Domestic Staff agency rather than somewhere that only employs cleaners.

No help but just solidarity-you had me at ‘drowning’!!

I am right there with you. Drowning.

The problem is I am so embarrassed to need this help that I can’t bring myself to post on Facebook to find someone

I think Home Help/Mother’s Help is probably exactly it. Is Fairy Godmother an option?! I should spend a bit of time thinking about exactly what I actually need done and bite the bullet and do a Facebook post.

Sad to see I have fellow drowners but also a little bit glad I’m not alone here

I posted similar about getting one off help.

let us know if you find anyone and what to ask for. Really I wonder if it's more just a cleaner who is all right with being asked to tidy? I have never had a cleaner so I don't know.

Our nanny does this on days when the kids aren’t home. She helps with taking out the recycling, organizing the pantry, identifying what clothes are too small that we need to give away, tells me what new clothes and shoes to buy, tidies away random bits (…only drawback being that I find them in random places… like my sister’s voter’s registration card underneath some cello sheet music and a box of Christmas chocolates just earlier today, in my bedside table 😳) Overall she is a godsend, who makes my life infinitely better, and I tell her so frequently!

Well, this is annoying. There’s a very excellent Agatha Christie with a heroine who offers exactly the kind of one-off Domestic Fairy Godmother service EmmaH2022 might want. I thought it might be Crooked House - but it isn’t.

I want to go to bed, but Wiki is tempting me …

Not Mary Dove in Pocketful of Rye.....?
but I think she is the regular housekeeper.

if it makes anyone feel better, I'm single, childfree and living and working in a small flat. My wardrobe is the one job I've done. But otherwise I am sick of decluttering and missing stuff I wanted to keep, want someone to do a big tidy and organise, which might include getting furniture, etc as every storage plan I make goes awry. I literally put things in baskets and then clean.

then the place being so untidy makes my head explode and irritates me.

I have been exactly this person. I was looking after the children one day a week while mum worked from home. She already had a cleaner but was struggling to keep up with the chaos created by two preschool children while working full time too. She asked if I knew anyone that could just help a few hours a week with tidying and sorting. I started going in on a day the children were at nursery or while they were away at relatives over weekends. I called myself a home help.

thanks POTC

Do you know what sort of price should I expect for a home help? I'd want to use an agency.

How about something like this? www.extra-help.co.uk I haven’t used it but saw an ad in my local Co-op.

I’m so glad to see someone else say the same about a cleaner. Everyone’s solution to everything is to get a cleaner. She can’t clean a surface covered in the souvenirs of a busy week. I need a tidier!

Advertise for Home Help or Family Fairy

I've used exactly this service before. I advertised at the nearby University on the job boards / student job website.

My cleaner tidies for me and irons, turns a mountain of clean laundry into neatly folded piles. Just be clear about what you want.

Mrs Doubtfire!

“HELP IS ON THE WAY, DEAR!!!”

So my friend has a housekeeper but what she does sounds like what you want.

Tbf my cleaner would put the washer on, hangs out my washing, puts it in the drier, takes it out, irons depending on what's needed. She also tidies up - used to leave me a big pile of stuff in the kitchen to sort which never really went down until covid & wfh.

4.50 From Paddington. Lucy Eylesbarrow
Any way you just need to advertise for what you need doing, but more importantly teach the people you live with to tidy up.

Have a look on care.com. in mu Wrea losd of people advertise as home help abroad state that they are happy to do lots of jobs outside standard cleaning

If you have any bodies you need finding she’d be perfect

Don't be embarrassed. We got someone on gumtree for exactly this when we had 2 under two. We had a separate actual cleaner.

She did washing, folded and put away washing, wrapped Christmas presents, unloaded the dishwasher, fed pets, helped tidy toys, watched a child occasionally whilst I showered or ran to a shop. Literally all life 'stuff'!

I used to be a self employed 'Jane of all trades'. I honestly never knew that people were supposed to tidy up so I could clean till I read in on MN (I was doing it in the early 2000s, so pre social media i suppose)
Most of my work originally came by answering a couple of ads stuck in shop windows or in free ads papers.
Later through word of mouth.
I met a lot of people who just didn't know where to start with getting themselves out of their mess. Some of them just wanted me to go to their home and empty bins, make beds, clear the washing up, pick clothes off the floor and put shoes etc away.
My favourite jobs were the ones where I made a big difference doing that, so that the people who paid me could come home to a bit less chaos. And then they could start again without that overwhelmed feeling. I got quite bored cleaning spotless homes. Over time the chaotic homes would become a bit easier.

My talents were fairly basic, as was my cooking so I'd never have answered an advert for a housekeeper.

But if your home is chaotic, and you find someone, don't expect it to be tidy and spotless in two hours. Also, take a look at home much stuff you have, because you're wasting money paying someone to just put it in boxes or piles, just so your kids can spread it all out again.
There must still be people out there doing what I did. I think a post on FB just saying 'Help, I'm overwhelmed, I need someone to give me a hand' rather than 'cleaner required' is your best bet. And don't expect them to petform magic for a pittance. Stick the kettle on, have a chat over a coffee and get to know each other then let them get on with it. That's how you'll find a 'treasure'.

Good luck!