The Housekeeper Dilemma

 

Okay I'll admit, it feels self-indulgent and lazy to hire a housekeeper. However, in my estimation, I've worked really hard in my career and while I still have career and financial goals to meet, I've decided to enjoy some of the fruits of my labor. There’s no point in being the richest lady in the graveyard, right? Since I'm a full-time working mama I HATE having to dedicate a day or more of my weekend to CHORES. I disliked it in the past, but it was worth the self-discipline to continue before I became a mom. Now I spend the majority of the week away from my sweet son, so I don't want to spend my time with him slaving away at chores, frustrated when he counteracts my progress, or frantically attempting as many quiet chores as possible while he naps. I want to relax. With two working parents one of the perks should be less cleaning right? It doesn't seem necessary to do it all; there's no shame in having a little help.

 

Good news, there is a way to translate your hard work at the office into cleaning at home! Hiring a housekeeper every other week to help maintain a clean household and get to those bigger chores that are impossible with a toddler (I'm looking at you mop!) seems wonderfully reasonable, affordable and yes, luxurious! Where I live this service costs about $400/month for the 2 ~6 hour cleaning sessions; for 4 relaxing weekends, that works out to $100/weekend. $100 on the weekend could be one super fancy dinner, or a whole weekend of relaxing in your clean home. You could go so far as to do the math of you and your husband's combined income by the hour and it's likely not more than a day at the day jobs. A day of work substituted for a day of cleaning- seems fair! I've come to the conclusion that I'll still be tidying and doing some daily cleaning, but I won't have the stress and the pressure and can relax and enjoy precious weekends with my family!

If a housekeeper isn’t affordable, the Roomba vacuum is a close second! I feel like the house almost constantly needs to be vacuumed and it’s one of my least favorite chores. I literally feel giddy when I can skip downstairs and with the press of the button be vacuuming downstairs while scrubbing toilets upstairs! I highly recommend a Roomba, especially if you have a toddler who enjoys throwing food and don’t have a dog to clean it up :-P

I did take a moment to consider the impact hiring housekeeper could have on our son. I don’t want him to expect someone to clean up after him or feel entitled to having a housekeeper, but after some thought, this isn’t a major concern. We will still have regular daily clean up. Heck, at 22 months he already helps with vacuuming, throwing away trash, and wiping up messes! When he’s older he can clean his own room and scrub his own toilet; the housekeeper will just be for the communal and parental space.

Now to start the search process for the perfect housekeeper….