The main reason I give my husband is that I don’t like to
manage the cleaner(s). It was a consistent
pattern to have them start off like gangbusters and do a really great job. Then each week they stayed a few minutes less
and did a little less until they were cleaning my house in an hour and a half (and
charging me for 4) and I really couldn’t tell the house was cleaner. Finally I would get frustrated and let them
go because I could do what they were doing for free so why pay for it?
Managing other people requires confrontation when the job
they do starts going south and I am just not good at it. I become friends with them and chat while we
work. Yes, I said we because another
problem I have is sitting around while someone else is working. I tried reading magazines once while they
worked but that felt terribly wrong.
There have been two people that always did a wonderful job but they quit
to go to college or change careers. (I know what you are thinking, but we were
friends and they really did go to college and did change careers.)
So, another option is that I am cheap vs. being thrifty. I have been accused of this before so this is
not a new revelation but one I need to look at a little closer. A friend of mine from Brazil once told me
that even cleaning people in Brazil have other people clean their houses. She said that it is impossible to clean your
own house efficiently because there are too many distractions and being a tad
ADD I can appreciate the distraction part.
FLYLADY is a cleaning program designed for perfectionists and easily
distracted adults. But like any self-help program we slowly
think we can handle it on our own or get busy with an all-consuming project
like costuming a show and Flylady goes right out the window.
Once my house was the cleanest it has ever been and it was
totally free! A good friend moved across
town so we decided that we would get together every Tuesday and visit while we
cleaned together. We had only one rule
and that was that we never cleaned each other’s bathrooms. I was doing Flylady at the time and my house
was getting better every week. My husband
was in heaven! But it started to get
harder and harder for both of us to schedule the trips across town. Sick children, school commitments, her part
time job, it just fell apart. We are
still very good friends, we just get together for a glass of wine instead of
Windex and paper towels!
I still do not have an answer to my dilemma. Should I hire a cleaning service or light a
new fire under myself with Flylady and renew my resolve to keep up with the
house? I don’t have an answer today but
I do know that since I am feeling better, I am tackling a few dust bunnies
while I ponder this some more.
