Cleaning Lady

[SandeeAR]

I have never "had" a cleaning lady, but I have "been" the cleaning lady! I cleaned homes for a business when my kids were in school.

Just a few tips from the other side. Remember she is there to clean, NOT to do your daily "chores" or your childrens daily "chores".

What I mean by this is:

Have your "stuff" picked up. Don't let your kids leave toys all over the den or their bedrooms.

Don't leave a weeks worth of Dishes in the sink and on the counter.

Don't leave jewelry out on the nightstand, dresser etc. We don't want to be responsible for it.

Put your stuff up in the bathroom, so she "can" clean the counter and shower.

Leave a resonable list. Don't leave a 12 hour list of work to be done in 4 hours.

[AfterSchoolMom]

I have never "had" a cleaning lady, but I have "been" the cleaning lady! I cleaned homes for a business when my kids were in school.

Just a few tips from the other side. Remember she is there to clean, NOT to do your daily "chores" or your childrens daily "chores".

What I mean by this is:

Have your "stuff" picked up. Don't let your kids leave toys all over the den or their bedrooms.

Don't leave a weeks worth of Dishes in the sink and on the counter.

Don't leave jewelry out on the nightstand, dresser etc. We don't want to be responsible for it.

Put your stuff up in the bathroom, so she "can" clean the counter and shower.

Leave a resonable list. Don't leave a 12 hour list of work to be done in 4 hours.

I have cleaned homes as well, and agree with the list above. I'd also like to add: A cleaning lady and a house keeper are two different things. If you want your cleaning lady to fold your underwear, you need to pay more for that.

[JJPlaycare]

Well the cleaning lady was a success! She got here and went to town! I took my kids to T ball and then returned to tuck them in! She finished up that part of the house and I was able to tuck them in decently and to my luck they were cooperative, with someone in the house at bedtime and went right to bed! I had some one on one time with the baby while she finished cleaning and I am SOOOO happy that I had it done! No cleaning for me this weekend!! Just that dreadfull never ending pile of laundry, but if that is all I have to do, so be it! Wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be! She came in knew what she was doing, made me feel comfortable and it wasn't as awkward as I thought it was going to be!! Yeah, love the smell of a clean house! Daycare is here today and of course toys are everywhere, but at least I know under all these toys it is clean!!

[JJPlaycare]

Can you write this off come tax time?

[sahm2three]

Soooo I hired a cleaning lady to come tonight and now I am nervous.... LOL or slightly embarassed! I don't know someone comming into my own home to clean! EEK! This was my mothers day gift, sounded good at them time, now I am freaking! Have any of you done this? If so what did you have her do? My daycare is in my home, not a seperate area!! We talked about what she will do and she asked for me to leave a list on the counter, ahhh I don't know, she will be here at 5pm, right after I close daycare!! Tell me this is good, very, very good and I deserve this! I don't know why all of a sudden I am getting cold feet for this.....

Yep! After getting zero help from my family with cleaning, I hired someone to come once a week to deep clean for me. She does bathrooms one week (I have 4 bathrooms, so it takes a while) and dusting and floors the next. Now it doesn't take her as long to do these things since she got them really good, and I maintain them, so they she can throw in things like cleaning the tops of my cupboards, scrub cupboards and counters, whatever I need done. It is the best present I could give myself! I have enough to do in the evenings, I don't need to do house work for 3 or more hours (which I was doing) every evening, and then 4 or more hours on Sundays. It has given me a lot more freedom! Totally worth the $40 a week! You TOTALLY deserve it!!!