If you SAH, do you clean your own house?

[Anonymous]

I have always cleaned my own house, did the laundry and plenty of lawn care. I never understood the appeal of a 2X a month cleaner. You are still doing plenty of cleaning in between. And also question those who paid their cleaners during Covid, but wouldn’t allow them in the house. What?

[Anonymous]

Never hired house cleaning service except before selling houses. We don’t want strangers in our house in a regular basis and also concern about germs from houses to houses even pre covid. I do most house chores and DH is always willing to help after work and during weekends.

[Anonymous]

It's on me.
Part of the deal of me quitting my job to stay at home was cleaning, meals, and staying on budget given we're down to 1 income.
No cleaning crew, no grocery service, no camps for the kids, etc
So I squeeze in cleaning at night, naps, weekends, whenever I can. Piecemeal it sometimes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hire- I do the dishes and laundry and stuff like that but actual cleaning of a house is not my forte. Staying at home has nothing to do with cleaning. It’s organization of schedules, time with the kids, errands while they harvest school, being able to volunteer at their school, and taking them wherever they need to go for all of their activities and as such I’m relieving the stress of all that off my significant other. But not cleaning. 🤣

THIS!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have always cleaned my own house, did the laundry and plenty of lawn care. I never understood the appeal of a 2X a month cleaner. You are still doing plenty of cleaning in between. And also question those who paid their cleaners during Covid, but wouldn’t allow them in the house. What?

For us there are a couple benefits. First, it gets areas that we happened to have neglected. Second, it forces us to make sure everything is put away and in the process we tend to purge. It was a little easier for things to get out of control when we didn't do this.

[Anonymous]

Nothing has changed in the world. Rich people pay poor people to clean their toilets

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I stayed home after DC#1 was born, we kept the cleaner because I was eventually going to go back to work, and didn't want to lose our cleaner.

Years later, after DC#2, and I decided to be a sahp for a bit, I cleaned the house, but I could do it because my youngest was in half day preK, which is when I cleaned. I did not expect my working spouse to do much cleaning during the week, but they did do the heavy lifting of the yard work, though I did also do yard work. I lost weight when I was a sahp and cleaning. It was pretty good for my health. Now, I just sit in front of a computer all day, like I did before. I hate working out.

I don't understand the comment about how you are a sahm not a maid, therefore you don't clean. Do you consider yourself a cook, a chauffer because you cook and drive your kids around? Weird comment.

Not weird at all, some of us do not find any joy or satisfaction in cleaning. In fact for some people, it’s a source of stress.

? I don't find "joy" in cleaning, but it needs to be done. Just because I clean my house doesn't make me a maid, just as driving my kids doesn't make me a chauffer.

I hate cooking and find it stressful, but I do it so my kids can have home cooked, healthy meals. Does that make me a cook because I hate doing it? I clean so that my kids (and I) don't live in a flithy house.

Some of you are really weird.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Split. I’m a stay at home mom, not a maid.

So husband works and he has to do half the cleaning? ok…he’s happy with this arrangement?

have you ever been a sahp for young children? Yes, he’s happy, why wouldn’t he be? He didn’t marry me for my cleaning skills.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nothing has changed in the world. Rich people pay poor people to clean their toilets

Yes and we still paid during covid and pay when we’re on vacation and offer time off and increase pay annually and give big holiday bonuses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, and it is good exercise too.

+1 I work full-time and still clean my own house, but when I was a SAHM with little kids, house cleaning was good exercise and a good way to pass the time while also teaching kids how to take care of their surroundings. Cleaning up the kitchen and having them play around with pots and pans or measuring cups was a thousand times more interesting than playing some kind of “pretend” game over and over.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, and it is good exercise too.

+1 I work full-time and still clean my own house, but when I was a SAHM with little kids, house cleaning was good exercise and a good way to pass the time while also teaching kids how to take care of their surroundings. Cleaning up the kitchen and having them play around with pots and pans or measuring cups was a thousand times more interesting than playing some kind of “pretend” game over and over.

I work but also clean my house. I completely agree however. I clean so much on the weekends that I go to bed with a post workout feeling. It’s great. I love cleaning, but do bare minimum cooking and lots of eating out. Everyone is different. But I don’t recommend separating cleaning from child care. Kids should be involved from an early age. Making that work invisible to them sends a bad message IMO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nothing has changed in the world. Rich people pay poor people to clean their toilets

Isn’t that better than the poor people not having jobs?

[Anonymous]

I need two or three of you reminding DH that I’m not the maid and that he has to do his part.

[Anonymous]

We paid for cleaners once a month until my youngest went to full day school. That was our agreement. Then I started doing it myself again.

That said, I do not put everyone's crap away for them. That is each person's own responsibility. They are supposed to do it daily, but realistically it happens on Saturday morning. Everyone runs around putting their stuff away. I am responsible for what the cleaners would have done - cleaning bathrooms, mopping, vacuuming, dusting, changing linens.

DH and I still share dinner cooking and dishes. The kids now also help with dishes.

[Anonymous]

No, we have a cleaning service that comes weekly.

HHI $300k-$500k depending on bonuses.