Housekeeping, home organizing

[Anonymous]

I am a recently widowed father of 2 teens. Between work, the kids, the house, my own needs, I'm overwhelmed.
How can I find general assistance with home decluttering, cleaning, organizing, maybe some assistance with basic errands?
We live in DC.

[Anonymous]

I’m so sorry for your loss OP. I’d post a job for a house manager/driver (assuming you need help driving the teens places, but if not then just some sort of house manager since you don’t need traditional childcare for teens).

I know some people will recommend Care.com but I’ve never had good luck there. People don’t always update their profiles once they find a job and/or keep up with checking messages on there. The two times I tried it were a bust.

I’ve had been luck with local listserves (I’m in Arlington and have found all sorts of referrals through MONA). Hopefully your DC area has something similar. Also look for hyper local Facebook groups (childcare specific ones or just general neighborhood groups). Plus word of mouth.

The hardest part will be finding someone part time (assuming you don’t need full time hours). But if you can offer a lot of flexibility so they can pick which hours they work (within a set flex band for instance) you may have better luck finding someone looking to pick up part time work.

[Anonymous]

Teens are able to help you do housework. Buy each kid their own rubber gloves and assign and teach them how to do tasks. You will be surprised at how much there is to teach with simply spraying and wiping a mirror! We crank up whole house music and each person does a different cleaning task. The kids find it very rewarding that they cleaned the baseboards or mopped a floor! It shines, it smells clean, and it’s something noticeable that they did with their own hands. You are teaching them for a lifetime. I’m shocked to see how little kids learn on what chemicals are appropriate for granite, versus faucets, versus toilet bowl, shower door track, tiled walls, etc. Few know how to prune a bush or cut some grass. Etc.

[Anonymous]

OP what’s the budget for help? That’s the main factor that will help you decide how/what to hire.

[Anonymous]

My budget is $400-500/month for 3-4 months, maybe 100-200/month thereafter.

I agree in principle with advice to engage the young teens. It's just that I need a surge of support. The house deteriorated, particularly in the final months of her illness. One of my teens is eager to assist, the other has severe emotional/psychological/educational iss And will be attending a residential program soon. I believe that once I set everything up maintenance will be easier. It's the combination of all the demands which makes tackling this challenging for me: daily meals, groceries, full-time work, etc.

[Anonymous]

I’d hire cleaners for a deep clean. Then a professional organizer if you need it. If laundry is backed up take a trip to the laundromat or wash and fold service. Then I’d find someone that can come once a week to just clean and do laundry. Get that covered and see what else you need. You could probably find a college student to assist a few hours a week with meal prep and shopping and helping the kid learn what needs to be done.

[Anonymous]

OP again - I'm willing to shell out a couple grand it's initially to help with a full declutter and help setting up systems, beautifying, etc. in addition to the cleaning, organizing...

[Anonymous]

. Break out the cash and pay your kid to help box up or trash things that no longer benefit the family.

[Anonymous]

Poplin.com is good for laundry pick up at about $15 a bag

Post on your neighborhood Facebook page to find a biweekly maid for about $400 /month - pay them extra to do an initial deep cleaning

A home organizer will come do a one time session for a few hundred but imo they are not that worth it. You can find them on neighborhood Facebook pages.

[Anonymous]

Aunt Jamie Organizes is a local home systems organizer - maybe reach out to her!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My budget is $400-500/month for 3-4 months, maybe 100-200/month thereafter.

I agree in principle with advice to engage the young teens. It's just that I need a surge of support. The house deteriorated, particularly in the final months of her illness. One of my teens is eager to assist, the other has severe emotional/psychological/educational iss And will be attending a residential program soon. I believe that once I set everything up maintenance will be easier. It's the combination of all the demands which makes tackling this challenging for me: daily meals, groceries, full-time work, etc.

Very slim budget, few would take the bait. I’d ask the maids if they’d be willing to take on that job as side job/weekend job. Labor is very expensive

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My budget is $400-500/month for 3-4 months, maybe 100-200/month thereafter.

I agree in principle with advice to engage the young teens. It's just that I need a surge of support. The house deteriorated, particularly in the final months of her illness. One of my teens is eager to assist, the other has severe emotional/psychological/educational iss And will be attending a residential program soon. I believe that once I set everything up maintenance will be easier. It's the combination of all the demands which makes tackling this challenging for me: daily meals, groceries, full-time work, etc.

You will never find anyone with these hours or pay.

[Anonymous]

OP I’m very sorry for your loss.

[Anonymous]

Way way too low. Basic cleaning is like $250 every other week (cheaper if you do weekly), but they won't pick up clutter. I do think you should get a biweekly cleaner at the very least.

I think most of us would like help with the items that you mention, but it's not really a thing unless you're super high income and can afford a housekeeper/house manager full time. It's just the invisible labor.

I'm very sorry for your loss and also the mental health issues your child is going through.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’d hire cleaners for a deep clean. Then a professional organizer if you need it. If laundry is backed up take a trip to the laundromat or wash and fold service. Then I’d find someone that can come once a week to just clean and do laundry. Get that covered and see what else you need. You could probably find a college student to assist a few hours a week with meal prep and shopping and helping the kid learn what needs to be done.

I agree with this.