Just call me "The Cleaning Lady"

Right up front here I'm going to admit that I paid someone to come clean my house about a month ago. Gast! What?! Good money...gone. YEP! And it felt great. The feeling lasted about a week until she was supposed to come again, but was out of town. Then the revelation hit and has been working for several weeks now...

I spent well over an hour Monday night picking up, doing dishes, clearing out the sink, doing laundry... all so someone else could clean my house on Tuesday. What?! An hour of prep work so someone else can spend 4 hours cleaning. No wonder I hate housework!

The following Monday I did the same prep work, it took less time, and I felt more ready this week. I wasn't sure if she was out of town or not, but I thought, "better safe than sorry". I had a miserable morning and was actually hoping that she wasn't there when I got home. She wasn't, and I took my frustrations out on the floors, bathrooms, and dust bunnies. WOW, did that feel great! Could cleaning actually be satisfying?! OK, I've had brief glimpses of that satisfactory feeling when I go from a clutter zone to spic-and-span for a party or vacation, but never on a regular weekday!

So I put it to the test...the next week I did the same thing. (I didn't have the money to pay anyone this week!) Tasha seems to be pretty satisfied with a morning of TV on Tuesday since it is not a regular occurrence. She also appreciates a warning that the floors are wet...and slippery! She took a major butt dive down the hall the day I neglected to isolate her to the living room! After the initial shock and bruise, she thought it was pretty funny and enjoyed reenacting it with great dramatics.

Then there was the problem...the reoccurring mess that I know I have asked people in this house to take care of time and time again (as "the mom"). That's when it occurred to me...you are NOT the mom right now, you are "The Cleaning Lady". The CL doesn't know the slobs that live here and she can either hide the stuff or clean around it. A revelation worth all my sanity...not just for the moment, but to last until the 2-legged beasts arrive home with all their clutter. I can yell at them when they get home, "pick up that stuff, the cleaning lady was just here and I like the way the house looks!" without taking a personal hit to my hard work. After all, it wasn't me, it was that other lady.

Now comes the miracle...the CL was not going to be able to come this week and I knew it. It was going to be a busy Tuesday and Monday was a holiday. After the parade on Monday morning, and a bit of lolly-gagging around town, I broke the news to my family. "I don't have time to clean tomorrow so we're all going to have to do it today. It takes me about 3 hours, so we all will give it our best effort for an hour and a half." I got blank stares until I dished out assignments and everyone went to work. Tasha did her typical picking up in her room so we could vacuum and eventually ended up watching TV, which is fine because she's not fighting with anyone (Kyra) or trying to clean the toilet with a toothbrush or something (eeww). Kyra vacuumed and picked up her room better than it's ever been cleaned. Bill got the tile floors, my least favorite job. I did the rest. It took an hour! Miracle! So we tackled the junk zone in front of the fireplace and can now see the throw rug there. Bill rewarded the kids with a trip to the water/ice-cream store while I finished up by clearing off the island. What a happy day, and everyone contributed.

So then the true miracle happened...Bill and Kyra both agreed, "that wasn't so bad, we could do that every week." Well, I'm not holding my breath and the CL plans on coming next week, but it's nice to know that it can work in a pinch. The 2 legged beasts can be quite helpful and we all took a little pride in a clean house. Now I need to have a party!