Thursday, June 6, 2013

I am not my mother...

So I have posted a ton of really embarrassing things on here.  So why I would be reaaalllyyy embarassed to talk about this, I don't know.  Other then maybe it makes me feel like a failure or something?  

When I was a kid, our house was so clean!  My mother was a cleaning maniac.  Every Saturday morning I can remember laying in my bed trying to sleep in and she would be cleaning my brother's room and my bathroom singing at the top of her lungs.  In my selfish teenage times especially, this would realllllyyyy annoy me because #1) It woke me up and #2) While she had a good singing voice she typically would sing the same 20 seconds of song over and over and over again rather then singing the whole song!  

She would then move on to dusting and vacuuming.  And my mother was NEVER the type to let dishes sit.  Nope - as soon as the meal was over they would get washed and later, when we had a dishwasher, they would get placed in the dishwasher.

She did this all while working full time and taking care of the family.  My father never helped out with indoor chores and neither did my brother and I.  

I did not inherit this drive.  I HATE cleaning.  I mean I HATE it.  I was always a SLOB as a kid.  Not dirty, mind you, just messy.  And that has continued into my adult life.  AND Marc helps out a lot so I have no excuse!  But, it is what it is.

So last week after just feeling completely overwhelmed and having no time to do ANYTHING and looking at our bathroom that needed to be cleaned, I threw up my hands and called a housekeeper.  She came out and gave me an estimate and she was hired.

As we speak she and her team are scrubbing my house top to bottom.  I can't wait to get home to a sparkling clean house.  There are better things I could be doing with that money, I know.  But I guess when weighing it out, it's about priorities and balance, and this is worth it for me.

After she cleans today, she'll let me know how often she recommends coming in and how much it will be.  I'm thinking I won't be able to afford it, but starting with a clean slate will help me - in theory - keep up and if I do a little each night, I won't need her to come in again.

That's my hope!!  Because this I will never be:

4 comments:

  1. My housekeeper is the best money I spend and she single handedly saved my marriage. :) Enjoy!

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  2. Good for you!
    I was and kinda am your mom...at least I was until I discovered exercise and the computer!So many other things I have priorities for!!! But I getter done quick and fast when I do it in a fell swoop..and get lazy again with other things.
    When I was raising my son {he is older than you 42 this month} and working 60 hr work weeks and playing hard on the weekends I had to be super focused..Not so much now...2 days of work.And my hubby works long days I have tons of time on my hands LOVE IT!!!
    I wish I could afford a housekeeper BUT I am so neurotic I would clean before she got here.
    GOOD FOR YOU TO KNOW YOUR LIMITS AND FIX IT!!!!YEAH!
    Gayle

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  3. I can't understand it. You inherited the love of gardening gene but not the cleaning gene. I hope you were happy with your whole house cleaning and I think it's no one's business but yours what you spend your time and money on. Whatever works for you is what is important.

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  4. Gayle - my co-worker used to have a housekeeper and would clean before she got there!

    Mom - maybe I should plant a garden in the house....hmmm...

    House is totally clean - it looks wooonnnderful. Need a quote from her about how much it would be to come in every other week or so, but my goal would be to keep up on it and then I wouldn't need her!

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