I hired a cleaning lady to help me around the house a few years ago. She would come every two weeks and work for about four hours. She was okay but never did as good a job as I would do. She certainly worked hard while she was here. I paid her $100 for her services and occasionally gave her stuff like old clothes, homemade goodies, fresh garden vegetables, and used puzzles for her father.
Adelina was always cheerful and very reliable. Although mainly Spanish-speaking, we could communicate effectively with her limited English and my halting high-school Spanish. She would always text or call me if there was a change of plans. It was a good arrangement for several years.
Then, a strange thing happened. Every summer, she would go home to Mexico for the month of July. So, in June, she informed me she would be gone the next month and return in August. I hugged her goodbye and wished her a wonderful vacation. That was the last time I heard from her. I’ve sent her three texts without a response. What do you suppose happened? She always seemed happy to be working for me. I don’t know anyone else who used her services. I know she is married with three children, but I don’t know their names. Her Hispanic surname is very common, so a Google search didn’t help. This situation is unsettling, but I don’t know what to do. Her sudden disappearance is entirely out of character.
Seven weeks have passed, so I am pondering whether to hire another cleaning person or just keep waiting. I’ve had cleaning ladies at various times in my life. The first time was while my ex-husband was on military duty in Spain. The help was a necessity. Clothes had to be cleaned daily – on a washboard! (Are any readers old enough to know what those are?) I’ve never been on the cutting edge, but using a washboard was beyond even my experience.
Dirty diapers made the cleaning lady a Godsend. I couldn’t believe the fantastic job she did washing clothes on such an ancient device. Because washboards are made of metal, clothes washed on them don’t have a long life span, but I guess it beats rubbing or pounding them on rocks. We had a clothesline on the roof of the building but couldn’t leave the clothes unattended until they dried. Why? Because the gypsies would steal them. Boy, that was a long time ago, and it sounds terrible, but it really happened.
When the next duty assignment took us to Germany, I had a putzfrau [German: cleaning:lady]. She did a great job – even better than I could do. Ironically, she was afraid of my German dachshund, Wonder Dog. I would lock the dog in another room, but the barking never stopped while the cleaner was there. Come to think of it, it’s amazing that she lasted as long as she did, considering the circumstances.
There are many justifications for having a cleaning person or service. One reason is that it gives one more time to work at a paying job and make money. Of course, that reason doesn’t apply to me as I’m retired. I could spend more time writing my Raves, but I don’t do that for money – it’s just a labor of love!
Another reason is that it can impart a sense of calm and peace of mind at a chaotic time. Now, this may be true if your household has a bunch of kids or pets, but it’s just Hubby and me! Not much chaos around here anymore. Occasionally, we do get company, but none that have little kids. Thank heaven! Yup! It’s pretty peaceful around here!
Hiring an outside cleaning service can reduce conflict among partners. For some reason, partners don’t always agree on issues of cleanliness. What is considered clean? How often should one clean? Who should do it? Should it be shared? Hubby and I have worked that out. I do 99% of the cleaning, and he does 99% of the cooking. Hubby finds my cleaning frenzies annoying. He’s learned to tolerate it – but please don’t touch his desk! That’s irritating since his desk can get disgusting. That may be where COVID-19 originated!
Cleaning services can also significantly help people with compromised physical disabilities. I used to get down on my hands and knees and scrub the floor. Why don’t I do it anymore? Because I have trouble getting up, of course! I have to crawl to the nearest vertical object and slowly work myself up to a standing position. And I can no longer stretch far enough to do a good job. Cleaning the ceiling fans properly means climbing a ladder – a definite NO! NO! I have difficulty keeping my balance on solid ground.
Some believe hiring an expert is necessary to get everything cleaned properly. Nope! Other than my German putzfrau, I am a better cleaner. Just ask anyone! Among the people I know who have outside cleaners, they all complain about something that isn’t cleaned to their liking!
Having a cleaning person saves time and energy and creates time for much-needed rest time. Well, being retired, I have all the time in the world. Sadly, there are days I have difficulty finding enough to do. How much bridge can one play? Reading and doing jigsaw puzzles is entertaining but doesn’t fill day after day. There is TV, but much of today’s news is a real downer, and most programs are a waste of time!
Supposedly, a cleaning service can help one organize space! Really? If someone moves my stuff, I’ll never find it. Some people hire experts to come in and organize their closets. Yes, I can see a use for that service. Then again, if things get too bad, I suggest you call GOT JUNK or read my June 30, 2023 post on cleaning your closet.
Hiring outside cleaners may mean you don’t have to worry about cleaning supplies, but not all cleaners supply them. And if I don’t have what they like, they ask me to get their preferred products. One cleaning service said they only use organic products. Then I wonder if organic products actually clean stuff. Sometimes, something powerful is needed to get the crud off!
Another annoyance is what to do while your house is being cleaned. Do you leave the house? If so, you may worry about what they are doing while you are gone. If you hang around the place, you may get in their way. Some folks have one room cleaned first, then stay there until the cleaning frenzy ends. That’s what we usually do. It’s worked out okay, but somehow, I felt trapped, or worse, like I was being given a time-out!
Being without a cleaning person, I cleaned the house this week. I enjoyed it! It’s much better physical exercise than going to the fitness center. It is more rewarding. Then I realized that hiring someone to clean my house can be fattening. It’s fattening because I can just sit in the lazy boy and not move around much. It also interferes with one of my favorite pastimes – looking for dirt. Most women who grew up in the Midwest can’t help but look for dirt! It’s an obsession!
I will probably clean the house myself even after pondering all the reasons to have a cleaning service. Very few of those reasons apply to me these days. So why did I get a cleaner in the first place? The answer is simple. I DIDN’T WANT TO DO IT ANYMORE!
I have all the tools. I have a closet full of special mops, brooms, and dusters that help me get to those hard-to-reach places. One of my favorite devices is my robot vacuum cleaner. I call her “Honey Do.” Most folks I know have named their robot vacuum cleaners, so I don’t think I am really all that weird.
One last thing – should I call the Mexican policia and file a missing person report for Adelina?
What do you readers think about hiring someone to clean your home? Good idea or not? Your comments are welcomed and appreciated.
3 Comments
Hope you can figure out the whereabouts of your maid! And Wow! What an interesting experience keeping house in Spain. Before I was born that was how the women of my province washed clothes & growing up I remember seeing the old washboard stored in the bathroom, just in case, I guess. It was made of ribbed glass with a wooden frame. What I remember is that finger-nipping old wringer washer, another relic. If I had to wash clothes on a scrub board, I’m afraid garments wouldn’t get washed very often! She loved to hang clothes on the line tho.! And the ironing was done with a real iron that heated up on the old wood stove!
I had the best cleaning lady when my kids were growing up, on my day off she & I cleaned together & she cleaned like I did – we were particular. So at the end of the day the house shone! At that time I worked mornings part-time, did some bookkeeping @ my husband’s business, hit the gym, grocery store on my way home, cooked dinner, cleaned up & just collapsed! Now I am retired, have even given up the gardening. I am not moving so well or so quickly so I need a little break and my new cleaner comes for a couple hours every 2 weeks. She is the worst cleaner, I can’t watch her! But it gives me that relief & in between I give it a good scrub!
Hubby cleans the family room, he’s good in that department because he moves the furniture. And I do the rest of the house. He watched & learned from our old cleaning lady & emulates her. I suggested we switch it up & he do the floors and the bathrooms, no way! Cooking in the kitchen is my domain although after 54 years, 3 meals a day, I am just plain getting bored with it all!
We have trouble with ladders & getting down on the floors. I have devised means to do that – Yoga training came in handy, go to Down Dog position & then walk your hands back. Getting near impossible tho. I have vertigo from Meniere’s disease so don’t mind ladders too much, being light-headed & dizzy has been my life for decades. I have this handy dandy floor steamer. I bought a Sharp, then found out about this Tineco from a young neighbor – we are all in love with it!
Spare time? I know you and I are both avid readers, hubby & I don’t have cable TV anymore but do different streaming channels, lots of hobbies that I’m losing patience with. I still like to peruse the Michigan Farmer’s Market & will miss that when we move.
A fond memory of mine is a young female co-worker who was as particular as cleaner as I am & we used to compare notes on products, methods, etc. One day she asked me if I cleaned around the toilet with a Q-Tip. “Heck no, Mary” I answered, “I use an old toothbrush”!
When I lived in El Paso I had a bi-monthly cleaning lady who spoke no English. I was working slave labor hours at the time and was stressed about my house not getting cleaned properly, even though I had teenage sons and a husband who helped only after being threatened with severe consequences. The first time Alicia came to the house, her husband was with her, and with him translating, we worked out the schedule and the needed tasks, which included ironing my husband’s shirts. She was great with everything. My tiled entryway never looked so good. My husband loved the extra starch in his shirts. She went on vacation and provided a substitute for a month. She was even better! I called my husband on her first day to find out how she was doing. “You mean the woman who took down the lace panels, washed, ironed, and hung them back up?” She rode the bus from Juarez and, instead of 3-4 hours, she spent most of the day. After Alicia retired, I didn’t have another cleaning person until this past year. Like you, it was getting harder to keep up with the vacuuming and mopping. Living at a mile high, my lungs couldn’t handle it. It’s wonderful to see how fast everything gets done so well. I’m happy and not out of breath. Works for me! 🙂
Hope your missing cleaning person is OK. We have solved the cleaning by moving into our 1670 square foot continuing care living unit. We were forced to get rid our junk and get weekly cleaning service. But don’t touch my office. It’s not messy. I know where everything is until someone else moves something!