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Home > Hitting the wall once again, time to Housekeeper?

Hitting the wall once again, time to Housekeeper?

September 1st, 2011 at 09:21 pm

I must be crazy in this weak economy to even think about hiring a housekeeper. It never fails to make me feel: like throwing money away on things I could (should) do myself, or perpetuate the cycle of inferior employment of women.

The problem:

1. Longer work hours.
I have increased my work day now that both kids are in middle school. The good news is that I can commute by bus (about an hour each way) saving on fuel, and greatly extending the life of my car. The bad news is I get home later, about 5pm, leaving little to no time for errands and chores.

2. Middle school kids.
Both kids had gotten used to doing chores in grade school. Each year they added a chore and earned an allowance which also went up comparably. My oldest usually was motivated by the money, but this year he is entering the sullen teen years and is more difficult to work with. My youngest was not motivated by money but did still did chores when she was in a good mood! (No chores, no money of course). She is not good with time management and now her homework load is greater which is leaving her with scant time to do the chores.

The options:

Do it myself. Whoa. I've told all family members that if I end up having to do most of the chores I am going to be one very grouchy mom. Home life is not going to be pretty. And YES I have reduced what I expect, even of myself. The bathrooms still need to be cleaned (once a week or TWO if necessary), the laundry done, the dishes/dishwasher emptied, the floors swept (OCCASIONALLY!), the trash taken out, their beds made (DAILY), etc.

Get kids to do the chores. So, if the allowance doesn't motivate the kids, what will. Keeping them away from activities such as sports and friend dates? Taking away electronics? Maybe. Not such a positive way to go. (By the way, husband does chip in, but he also is quite loaded at work).

The Housekeeper. I asked a couple other friends with kids in the same situation and guess what. They have a housekeeper. Once a week, or once every 2 weeks.

Am I going to kill myself over really wanting to try to get through the next 4 years (when my oldest will be out of high school) without a housekeeper.

Frown

Breathe...in...out...breathe

At least this ring has been featured online the past couple days!

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Blush Gold Pearl and 14K Wire



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10 Responses to “Hitting the wall once again, time to Housekeeper?”

  1. LittleMsMom Says:
    1314909360

    I don't see anything wrong with women being housekeepers. It is about return on your investment when it comes to time.

    My mother was a housekeeper, she used to work in a nursing home but she could not physically keep doing that so she switched to cleaning houses. My co-workers wife owns a housecleaning service, I know my female co-worker and I have been thinking of giving her a call. Sometimes it is so worth paying someone to do stuff you really do not enjoy doing.

    Depending on the situation, a housekeeper can make more an hour cleaning houses then if they had another job...Like if they bring their child with (saving on daycare). Or they can schedule work during the hours their children are in school 8:35-3:05 so 9am-2:30pm.

    Enjoy your freetime, don't waste it doing things you really really do not enjoy. I would say the beds and dishes your family could do daily and leave the rest to the weekly housecleaner.

  2. pretty cheap jewelry Says:
    1314910252

    thx for the positive spin!

  3. MonkeyMama Says:
    1314911641

    I was gonna say why not hire a male then? Big Grin (I didn't realize housekeepers were female).

    Personally, I'd just hire the housekeeper.

    Our biggest luxury is a gardener. We get many compliments on the yard, without having to lift a finger. & yes, we get attitude about it from more frugal folk, but whatevah. The decrease in stress is PRICELESS. I wouldn't be surprised if we hired domestic help down the road. I just don't mind house work as much, am not much of a neat freak, and I don't like people in my house (which may be the biggie). BUT, if we both worked? I'd probably get over my issues and just hire someone. As is, I don't really do much around the house, but we all chip in. My share is the least since I am the busiest.

  4. My English Castle Says:
    1314924159

    I hate housework too--and I get grouchy when I'm the only one doing it. We had a maid service for a while, and if I can swing it, we'll do it again. I figure it's cheaper than a child psychologist or a divorce lawyer.

  5. PrincessPerky Says:
    1314987811

    Hey if I could afford it I would get a housekeeper! though I would insist on some work from the kids (else they better hope they have very well paying jobs to pay for their own housekeepers when they grow up)

    Maybe they could pay for the housekeeper!

  6. snafu Says:
    1315039666

    I have a different take on kids and chores. I figure the point of kids doing age appropriate chores is to teach them skills they need to eventually be self sufficient. Those tasks require time management as in get it done before the deadline or I won't like the consequences. If you do a team thing every Saturday or Sunday . Everyone drops whatever they were doing to tidy all public rooms, set backpacks/bags at the door ready for AM departure.

  7. snafu Says:
    1315040460

    Be happy, hire help. Sorry, tried to edit 1st post but it just jumped back, leaving out a sentence.

  8. patientsaver Says:
    1315271240

    Hey, everyone has their personal melting points. For you, it's housework. For others, it might be something else. Or not. Go ahead and get one if it will make a big difference in your life. Keeping a house clean and tidy is a ton of work, and I can imagine how kids exponentially expand on that formula.

    When it comes to personal help, and given the choice of a housekeeper, personal chef, personal trainer or masseuse, I'd personally go for a personal chef. That would be the ultimate. Although I like to cook, too, but having someone to cater to my personal tastes would be divine. Smile

  9. ceejay74 Says:
    1315332120

    I have a housekeeper that comes once a month, just to get the deep cleaning done that we have trouble getting to (scrubbing floors, oven, shower, toilet, etc.) I'd love to have one more often but this seems like a good balance; we do all the tidying and a really basic amount of vacuuming, dusting, counter-cleaning, etc., and he helps us where we tend to fall down over the course of a month.

    And did I mention my housekeeper is a man? Wink I went with a small local company, and our housekeeper is an artist who supplements his art income with housekeeping. I don't feel like I'm exploiting someone who works for a big faceless corporate cleaning company.

  10. pretty cheap jewelry Says:
    1315335023

    we are trying the middle option at present (this is the first full week). For my oldest: Ipod goes to work with the Dad and comes home on the weekend if tasks are done Frown so far it has been not super positive, but I knew that would happen (keep reminding me!!). For my youngest: dance class is on if her stuff is done before. I'm trying to think of a way around having to pay for dance class and then missing some!!! rats.

    Thanks for all the tips. This quote is going on my FB and twitter "Hey, everyone has their personal melting points. For you, it's housework." YUP!!

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