Do you have a cleaner?

pollypenny

Mojisola said:

Rosa_Damascena said:

Pro: you don't have to do your own housework.

Con: I'd end up at least tidying the house first.

I found your 'con' to be another 'pro'.
A cleaner (unless you pay for extra hours) is there is to clean, not tidy up - for me, that means that the house is kept generally tidier all the time so that I don't have to rush around before the cleaner arrives. 

Absolutely.  When I didn't have a cleaner I found spent too long tidying then skimped cleaning.  With a cleaner, kids were warned to tidy up the night before so that she could clean. 

Re privacy ,it's the things that need to be tidied away that could be awkward. 

SameOldRoundabout

No

I don’t. But I will do once we finish renovating. I don’t mind doing the bulk but just someone to come in and do the horrible jobs, dusting skirtings and blinds, bathroom floors etc would be amazing. I have a 5 bed house, 4 kids and a full time job and I struggle to keep on top of the basics and resent dedicating a weekend morning to the horrible deep clean bits! 

ratrace

Dont have a cleaner i just clean as i go but generally im quite tidy and dont have a lot of excess stuff that needs cleaning, but what i do have is a ironing lady that that picks up my clothes on friday and drops them off on a sunday all ironed and ready for the week ahead well worth the money as i hate ironing with a passion no idea how some people love it. its a great local service

elsien

Rosa_Damascena said:

Pro: you don't have to do your own housework.

Con: I'd end up at least tidying the house first.

I'm not a fan of housework as a task but there is something quite satisfying about mooching around in my PJs in the mornings having a cleaning blitz. Yes the time argument is a powerful one, but I also think that if I can't clean my own home its probably too big for me. On balance, whilst I'm capable of doing my own housework I will.

OTOH I've got to the stage where I actively resent time spent on tidying up the garden; a gardener has been a no-brainer this summer.

I’m completely the opposite. Happy as Larry out doing my garden but detest cleaning with a vengeance, particularly hoovering,
If I had the money I’d far rather have a cleaner than a gardener, although I’d ban them from doing my bedroom and office. 

Rosa_Damascena

I don't mind tidying, but on my own schedule. If my time utility is dictated to by other people, that is when resentment sets in.

On balance, I cannot see me having a cleaner any time soon. 

chrisw

Our cleaner did the tidying and cleaning. It looked great but we could never find anything afterwards!

PollyWollyDoodle

No

I had one when I worked full time, if I could afford it I’d have one again like a shot. Yes, I spent ages tidying up beforehand (but that was good because it meant I kept on top of some of the mess). 

It was absolute bliss to come home and find the floors, sinks and worktops all gleaming. I dislike housework and I’m not very good at it, I could never get the floor as clean as she did.  Do what you enjoy and delegate what you don’t enjoy

goldfinches

Looking back to the time when I had two small children and was making rather a poor fist of working full-time too I wish I had employed others to take some tasks off my plate as it would have greatly improved all our lives.
I do think, essentially, that the kitchen floor and loo won't mind a bit who cleans them but your children mind very much if you are always too tired and/or busy to pay them any attention. 
Go ahead and employ someone and get a bit more pointed about needing help with any relatives who call in too; they can always wash up or help you change the sheets without much difficulty and they were at this stage once too and surely remember what hard work it all was.

Mojisola

Yes

Rosa_Damascena said:

I don't mind tidying, but on my own schedule. If my time utility is dictated to by other people, that is when resentment sets in.

Why resent someone coming to your house when you've set the time that you want them to clean?

My cleaner doesn't dictate to me when she's coming - she comes at the time that suits me.

Rosa_Damascena

Mojisola said:

Rosa_Damascena said:

I don't mind tidying, but on my own schedule. If my time utility is dictated to by other people, that is when resentment sets in.

Why resent someone coming to your house when you've set the time that you want them to clean?

My cleaner doesn't dictate to me when she's coming - she comes at the time that suits me.

A cleaner would expect to come in on given days and at a given time rather than on an ad-hoc basis. When working f/t, it's unpredictable nature had always dominated how I spend my time, and ultimately always came first which meant crazy hours. I went back f/t during the pandemic and nothing has changed. 70hr weeks are not unusual but to then have to fit in some tidying for someone else's benefit would make me cross when I'd rather be saving lives, exercising or sleeping.

So on balance, the cleaning will happen eventually but cannot be a scheduled task.