Do you have a houskeeper?

[Anonymous]

okay so i'm confused a "housekeeper" is different than a cleaning lady? i have 2 cleaning ladies that come once a week for about 2.5-3 hrs. they charge $100.

Yes, its different. A housekeeper is someone like Alice from the Brady Bunch (best pop culture example I can think of). She works every day, or at least more than half of the week, in your house. A housekeeper does more than just clean. A housekeeper actually "keeps" your house (shopping, cooking, wash, ironing, cleaning, organizing, errands). Housekeepers are often salaried and get perks like paid vacation time.

On the other hand, a cleaning lady, a cleaning service, a maid, or whatever you feel comfortable calling her/it, is someone(s) who comes either once a week/every other week, or so, and cleans the house: mops, dusts, vacuums, scrubs bathrooms, scrubs kitchen, changes sheets. Some will do wash but usually those are the 2x a week cleaners or the full day once a week cleaner.

[Anonymous]

She comes bi-weekly and charges $75 to clean my 1500 sq ft 2br/den/2ba apt in Georgetown.
I hate to clean and am happy to sacrifice other things in my life to have the money to pay someone else to do it.

Its also a lot cheaper than marriage counseling

[Anonymous]

Some of you need to get over yourselves. We had a live-in housekeeper when I was growing up, plus a gardner. Us three kids all learned how to clean, cook, and take care of a house anyway, and we are all self-sufficient adults now. I can scrub with the best of them, but I don't have to, and there's nothing morally superior about cleaning your own house. Hey, if you like it, fine, but I'd rather do something else, like make nice meals or exercise. I have a cleaning lady once a week, and I love coming home once a week to a clean house, with the sheets changed and the bedlinens and towels washed. Of course we tidy up during the week, wash dishees etc., and my children make their beds, keep their room tidy, and help our around the house, but I'm not about to spend my precious free time scrubbing floors. Now, if I could just get my husband to agree to the yard service . . .Listen, if you can afford it, and it makes your life easier, go for it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some of you need to get over yourselves. We had a live-in housekeeper when I was growing up, plus a gardner. quote]

We did too, I grew up in South Africa and is completely normal there. Especially with the growing middle class, even more people have full time house help. Its actually abnormal not to have one. Our lady (who is still with my mom after 45 years!) even cooked meals. She and my mom pratically married couple, she even travels with mom when she comes to visit here. I went on to teach in Spain, Central, and South America, again totally a normal common place practice.

I wish I could afford that level of help here. In the states it is a luxury only reserved for the super wealthy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No - at those rates I realize we could afford one, but I just can't imagine someone cleaning up after my family. I'm usually in the "whatever works for you" category, but I just don't understand paying someone to clean your house (a chore which most people are physically cable of doing and it doesn't require expensive or many tools). I'm not trying to be condescending, but how do you teach your DC how to clean or to be self-sufficient when they move out.

I outsource things in which I am not capable of doing (cutting DH hair) or that tools would cost too much (major car repairs) but we find the time to do the rest. Some of my fondest memories are turning the radio up loud and dancing, singing and cleaning the house with my mom. It also taught me responsibiliy of taking care of a major investment (MY house) and "how" to clean.

Again, to each his own, but this is just something that I don't get.

Um, did you dance and sing and clean when you were a baby? I'm guessing that no, you were sitting in your play yard while your Mom cleaned. Many people on here have young babies/toddlers who not only can't clean, but make it virtually impossible to clean in their presence. It doesn't sound like you know what a house cleaner actually does. Cuz if he/she/they are coming once or twice a week or less, you still need to do all the day to day cleaning you normally would. So DC learns the same things as your DC learns. We have a cleaner who comes every other week. I vacuum every day (2 dogs), do laundry 2x a week, daily dishes, straightening up, bathroom and kitchen cleaning, etc. My young toddler "helps" fold and sort laundry, brings his plate in, etc. and these things will obviously change and evolve as he gets older. Why do you bother to say over and over "to each his own" when you obviously don't feel that way? You can know how to clean, teach your children to clean up after themselves, and still pay someone else to come in occasionally so you don't spend a whole day Saturday scrubbing your floors and windows while your DC sits watching tv.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[Wait until you have two kids! It's exponentially more work. Write back and let us know if your current cleaning routine is still working.

I'm sorry 2036 if you think I got nasty in my response. I don't think I was nasty, just giving my opinion. I'd also say if telling you I enjoy cleaning my own house and would NEVER let a stranger in to clean it (barring some very serious and unusual circumstances) is showing you my roots - than good for me. The roots I'm showing our those from a family that taught their children responsibility and hard work.

Having 2 kids will not change our minds regarding who cleans out house. That's just ridiculous! Most of my friends have more than 1 kid and none have cleaning people. There were 3 of us kids and again, everyone pitched and got it done quickly. I find plenty of time to spend with my DD, have friends over, and even enjoy a few hobbies. I just keep laughing when everyone keeps saying how they have hours and hours of cleaning to do. One way I cut down on the cleaning was to only buy a house that was reasonable for our family size and managable to upkeep. In this area people with only 1 or 2 kids live in these McMansions and don't have time to clean them. I wouldn't have time then, but it's not worth it! Again - there I go showing my roots - being raised to manage our money and lifestyle in a responsible way!

I think you are accidentally posting here instead of on the DCUM Farce thread. Because I refuse to believe anyone could actually be this sanctimonious and judgemental. But just in case this is real...you are *really* defensive and scary about this whole thing. And you've gone on to a really puzzling tirade about "people in this area" that you must know is an erroneous and inaccurate generalization of an entire region (as generalizations usually are). That's great you do all your own cleaning and still have lots of time and hobbies. Why do you care if some other people outsource some cleaning? Maybe they make up for it by doing hair cuts themselves. But they probably aren't going to be going off on you for paying a professional or calling you all sorts of nasty names.

[Anonymous]

RE "I have a 2 yo and 1 on the way. We both work f/t and manage to NOT spend our entire weekend cleaning. If you do chores throughout the week there isn't anything left to do on the weekend."

Just wait until your second child arrives and your kids are a little older and are more mobile and more demanding. By the time I get home from work, I have to rush around to get dinner on the table, bathe the kids, get them to bed -- try to squeeze in some quality playtime during that chaos -- and then I finally have a chance to do some laundry, clean the kitchen, run the dishwasher, sweep the kitchen floor and if I'm lucky I have time to tackle another cleaning project. I'm at the point where I've finally realized that I can't do it all and I don't want to spend half a day over the weekend scrubbing toilets, bathtubs, floors, etc. I understand the complaints about the importance of teaching your kids how to clean -- but I feel like anyone who has a cleaning person once a week or twice a month still has to clean on a daily basis -- they just rely on the help for a deep clean. What's wrong with that?

And again, to the PP: just wait until baby #2 comes -- your life will completely change.

[Anonymous]

yea, I'm not so much into scrubbing with Chlorox, Comet, and all those other caustic products when the kids are around, which is why the maid does it while everyone is out of the house. Not sure how teaching a toddler how to scrub a tub and exposing them to fumes that even makes me light headed is somehow a major life lesson.

I also am not interested in scrubbing during the evenings when its time for my marriage and on the weekends when its time for family fun. We dance and have fun in the living room, but not with brooms!

No one is going to convince me that having a maid a not one of the best uses of our disposable income. I'd cut the TV out before I cut the maid!