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November 21, 2009
4.21: Sparkle!
The last time I had someone come clean my house for something other than a move, I was 6 months pregnant with Jamie and was hosting my first ever Bunko for the women in my neighborhood. The next time we had that house professionally cleaned was after we moved out and I never even got to see it.
We were barely in the next house long enough to get it dirty, and the two times I paid someone to clean it were in preparation for showings, and again, after we moved out.
The apartment, the rental house, I took care of the move out cleaning of both of those myself.
I've always felt a bit guilty, paying someone to come clean my house. Not as much when we're moving, because at those times I usually have so much on my plate that I'd delegate to a street person if one would be kind enough to wander by. In normal times, though, cleaning is part of my job description, right? Shuttle the kids, shop for, well, everything, pay the bills and clean the house.
Besides, it feels wrong to make someone else clean up my mess. I was taught growing up that you clean up your own stuff and take care of your own crap. And I'm generally cool with that. I take care of the regular cleaning: vacuuming, dishes, kitchen counters and table, laundry and parts of the bathrooms. What I don't get to is dusting the blinds and fans, windows, more than spot cleaning the floors, doors, etc.
I decided long ago that it was probably worth the money to have someone come in and clean quarterly. It costs a bit more per cleaning, but is still way cheaper than having someone come in every two weeks. I just really have hard time actually making that call.
I did it, though. Today, a woman and her daughter came over and spent SEVEN HOURS cleaning. S-E-V-E-N. That's 14 man hours of work, and they weren't interrupted by other people's needs, no one snuck up behind them and pressed their face to a freshly cleaned window, and the entire house is done in the same day. It would have taken me at least a week to do what they did, and by then I would have had to start over again.
I can't tell you the weight that's been lifted. My house is CLEAN. I have company coming for Thanksgiving in a few days, and my number one to-do has been crossed off my list.
It was worth every penny.
Posted by me at November 21, 2009 8:01 PM