So here’s me thanking Miss Bonnie and Miss Blanca—they’re my housekeepers and yes, I need them—with a great big smile and a couple of Belgian chocolates. “See you in two weeks, ladies! I’m sure we’ll be ready for you!”
Bonnie agreed, perhaps a touch too readily, saying, “Yep, yours is the one house where we always know we’re needed!”
Isn’t it great to be recognized? Somewhere, out there, there’s an honor for just about everyone…and I’m glad to have been given mine.
After my little girls were born I had Miss Pinky as our housekeeper. She came once a week filled with spunk and a wicked southern drawl.
I miss her.
🙂
Housekeepers? Through the year I have had many, beginning with those years when I had both a nursing baby and a big belly all of the time! I had Kate, and Hannah, and even Alex. Andrea too! I could never quite afford them, of course– academia life does not allow for many luxuries. But I am creative– payment was done in part via English classes, Christmas wish list inclusions, and even grad student’s room & board! I’d do it all over again! I finally find myself now at peace with my own housekeeping duties. Either my house is just dirtier or messier– or it’s all because I have a 12 yr old Number Five around. As I say often: I live in the presence of a saint!
I actually admire you all for having housekeepers, I don’t think I could humble myself enough to admit “I can’t do it all myself” Isn’t that terrible? We are moving next week and going from 1 bathroom to 4, I may have to pray about my humility. I actually like cleaning, I just have a hard time finding the time!
Where do you find housekeepers? We used to have cleaning people (who kind of did a rushed, not so great, cleaning job) when we lived in a tiny house and could afford them. I’m considering hiring someone to do our bathrooms only during the school year. I’d love to hear how you found yours.
LOL!!! Can I borrow them? My daughter just told me today that I need to dust. If she noticed it must be bad.
LOL!!! That is hilarious!
For several years, I resisted my husband’s insistence that we get a housekeeper. (He got tired of me cleaning toilets at midnight.) I felt that hiring someone to help would mean giving up my privacy and my idiosyncratic way of doing things. I was also worried about the expense, and I was not eager to admit that I really could use the help. However, as our brood grew bigger and the demands on my time grew greater, I came around to the idea. I rationalized that it was, for us, one of the trade-offs for homeschooling. I was sacrificing cleaning time to educate our children, so a housekeeper would perhaps be okay, I finally surmised.
Forward several years. I love our housekeepers — a team of three ladies who come just once every two weeks. Not only do the ensure that the basics get done well at least twice a month, but they force me to declutter and tidy things up before each visit. I’m not a packrat, and I’m not one for much clutter anyway. But having the forced clean-up night does even this neat-nik a world of good. I’d be hard-pressed to go back now, and we’ve found that the cost of having these ladies come in is easily made up by cutting a few other superfluous things out of our budget.
I want to homeschool so I can afford a housekeeper! We just had Baby #6 and I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed! Sending children to catholic schools entails its own set of sacrifices–doing your own toilets, I guess is one of them!