Do you have cleaning help?

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Forum -> Household Management -> Cleaning & Laundry

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doodlesmom

Thu, Feb 03 2011, 5:43 pm

I have cleaning help about 4 hours a week on Thursday morning which started after my third was born. I cook most of my shabbos on Thursdays.

marina

Thu, Feb 03 2011, 7:36 pm

Britmummy wrote:

No, but I sure wish I did!

I'm a full-time grad student and work part-time freelance, plus I'm a single mother of 3 kids (age 11, 8 , 6)... Before my divorce we had a cleaner AND an au-pair :-/ Since I've been on my own, I've tried to juggle everything myself.

I met a homeless girl recently who would love to find work and I got her number (she lives in a shelter). Hopefully when I move house (March 1st, B"H), I'll be able to to pay her to come a few hours a week and clean for me!

This is one of the very few times that I heartily approve of getting a cleaning lady. Yasher koach to you for this great mitzvah.

Sweet Valley Gal

Thu, Feb 03 2011, 7:38 pm

One hour a week. She didnt come this week. o well...

bdot

Thu, Feb 03 2011, 7:47 pm

I work part time, and dont have a cleaning lady.
I start the shabbos cleaning process on wednesday (stuff that won't get undone) and cook mostly on thursday night.

If I worked full time, I'd probably get cleaning help.

Rivkachka

Thu, Feb 03 2011, 8:22 pm

So funny, I was just discussing this with one of my friends today! I'm a SAHM who's, B"H, very busy. I have two little boys (2 yrs and 4 months) and after DS2 was born, my parents decided to help us get cleaning help, since I wasn't keeping up. So I've been having a service come, but haven't been so happy with it. I only have them come once a month since they are a FORTUNE, and they really aren't that big of a help.

I realized that I would much rather have an individual cleaning lady come once a week, so I'm canceling the service. There's a lady in our community who organizes cleaning help, I think they're usually around $12/hour, and they come for at least 4 hours at a time.

I'm really looking forward to it. I like to have a clean house, but don't seem to be able to keep up with anything except light cleaning.

As for Shabbos, I try to make a little Shabbos all week. I shop on Monday and then make and freeze. Although I prefer fresh, it's too stressful to try and get everything done on Thursday night and Friday. Maybe someday in the future, when my kids are older and more self-sufficient, I'll have fresher food!

MaBelleVie

Thu, Feb 03 2011, 8:25 pm

I work full time. My nanny cleans while the baby is napping- either I give her specific jobs every day, or she just finds what needs to be done. Before I had a nanny I didn't have cleaning help. My dh helped out toward the end of my pregnancy when it got really difficult.

ETA that I do most of the day to day stuff myself- dishes, laundry, kitchen, and general tidying up. My nanny does ironing, floors, bathrooms, etc.

Ema of 5

Thu, Feb 03 2011, 8:45 pm

we have had cleaning help from the start. I was in school full time and knew myself well enough to know that I would not be able to manage both. b"h I got pregnant right away, and had a very hard pregnancy, so its a good thing I had that help 2x a week. then one yom tov we were going to be a lot of people for one of the meals so my husband said ask her to come so I did and it was great and so I started having her come every shabbos afternoon after lunch in adition to the 2x she was already coming.
then she got pregnant......and lazy. so then she got fired. I was looking and looking, and I finally called an agency who sent me someone wonderful Smile

not only did she get the work dont in less time, but she was able to get MY WHOLE HOUSE (not that big, mind you, but bigger than my appartment) clean in about three hours, so now we were at 9 hours a week, including shabbos.
then one day she told me she got a full time job, but she has two friends who can come to me during the week, and she will still come on shabbos. so thats what we do- I have two cleaning ladies, for a total of 11-12 hours a week. the new one is definitely not as good, and shes slower, but my house is clean so I dont complain.
I pay 10 an hour.
I had been working part time for the last year and a half, but then in january I started working full time. now that I am workking, my paycheck is what we use to pay the cleaning ladies.

mommalah

Thu, Feb 03 2011, 8:53 pm

I don't currently have any cleaning help, but am seriously considering it.

tikva18

Thu, Feb 03 2011, 9:50 pm

It seems to me that most people here have cleaning help and are astounded when they find out I don't have any.
Currently I'm finding it very, very difficult to manage - I can't clean early for Shabbos because my kids undo everything. I can't cook early for shabbos because my dh likes to do the shopping and brings it when he wants. I also can't freeze for shabbos because we buy a lot in bulk (bread, meat, etc) and I don't have room - and I have 3 freezers (one in the fridge and 2 small ones in the garage).
My kids aren't helping me at all - and I just don't know where I went wrong. Here we've had a couple of snow days and I told the kids that if they helped me clean up we'd do something fun and I'd give them a treat - nothing, nada. I'm clearly doing something wrong. Now I'm sitting at the end of Thursday - and my house is a mess, my laundry isn't done (they made a mess - a big one - in the laundry room), I haven't started cooking - and my kids (the big ones) are still up.

Feel free to ignore - I think I'm having a pity party.

amother

Fri, Feb 04 2011, 12:43 am

When I grew up my father used to tell me and my siblings that if we want to be fed, clothed and have a roof over our heads then we absolutely have to help out. Let me tell you we kids helped a ton and I am a firm believer that children should participate in daily chores. Of course within reason but helping out is an absolute must.

As for me, SAHM, 2 very young kids and a third on the way. My dh works long hours and isn't home too much to lend a helping hand. I have a cleaning lady come in the beginning of the week for about 10 hrs and then b4 shabbos for another 3 hrs, and pay her $10 per hour.

On this site pple get crucified for having outside help (yeah I'm a coward) but for me, the piece of mind is worth it. And my dh wholeheartedly agrees. B"h we can afford it right now so it's not like I'm racking up cc debt in lieu.

amother

Fri, Feb 04 2011, 12:43 am

mae1984

Fri, Feb 04 2011, 1:20 am

Nope. and I work almost full time, and have a 3 year old and am pregnant... and I cook for shabbat on friday

ABC

Fri, Feb 04 2011, 3:01 am

For those who have cleaning help for 10 or more hours a week, what do they do in that time? I used to have cleaning help for 3 hours a week and found that was enough. 5 or 6 hours and my house would of been sparkling. But 10-12 hours? Do you have a list of things she does? I'd love to see it! And is your house always sparkling and perfect when she leaves?

suomynona

Fri, Feb 04 2011, 3:15 am

I have cleaning help for 2-3 hours a week to do the basics + folding laundry and washing dishes.
I've had this since I got married. I work full time (from home) and never managed to get into cleaning mode.
Even with cleaning help, my apartment is messy most of the time, and could use a good deep cleaning, which will probably never happen, (unless my MIL comes to visit).

geemum

Fri, Feb 04 2011, 4:12 am

I have about 10 hours of cleaning help per week.

I work part time, so a lot of the time she is doubling up as babysitter.

She helps me keep the house and pesach cleaning and sometimes if there is time she helps me in the kitchen.

shabbatiscoming

Fri, Feb 04 2011, 4:27 am

I have no help now.
My help is my husband.
We start cooking/cleaning for shabbat on thursday night.
Other than that, we just do things as they come up.

Mrs.K

Fri, Feb 04 2011, 5:06 am

I have cleaning help for 6 hours every 2 weeks, so basically, it's a really good scrub-down twice a month.
She charges 50 shekel an hour which is about $14 so it's 600 shekel a month.

I work over 10 hours a day. My husband is out of the house for about 12 hours a day. I do feel like I need it to keep my house clean. I can manage to keep things neat and swept and laundry done, but with 4 young kids I feel like it needs a really good deep cleaning twice a month.

I do most of my cooking on Friday. If we're having a lot of company I'll make a kugel or dessert or brisket Thursday night.

Ruchel

Fri, Feb 04 2011, 8:16 am

tikva18 wrote:

If so, how often and how much do you pay?
Was it after a certain point (ie. number of kids you have) or did you always have it stam?
If you don't have cleaning help, how do you manage? how do you keep the house clean? and lastly, when do you start cooking for Shabbos?

Yes.
Twice a week, as a whole 6 hours. I pay 10 eu/hour.
It was when we found. It's very difficult to find a non Arabic one and my parents insisted.
I start cooking on Friday.

saw50st8

Fri, Feb 04 2011, 8:32 am

amother wrote:

The only people I "crucify" for having cleaning help are those relying on tzedaka (including scholarships) and getting cleaning help, provided they are normal and have basic abilities (I think people with illnesses, disabilities etc don't count).

Otherwise, do what you want.

Tamiri

Fri, Feb 04 2011, 8:43 am

OP I am one of those people who don't have cleaning help, never did and probably only will when I am too old to move. I love clean, and my house is very clean most of the time. The sofas must be moved, the fridge and oven as well, all on a weekly basis. There is little/no fluff under the beds. I don't think I can pay anyone enough to keep it the way I want. DH and I do the bulk of the cleaning even though it's done on our day off, Friday, when I have some cooking and laundry to do too. Strangely enough, I love my Fridays. When I was a SAHM (for 19 years) I did a lot of the cleaning work myself, with DS1 helping as DH had no time. DS1 is older and living on his own, and we miss his help, which was reliable.
How we do it: Every Friday is thorough cleaning day. We may start Thursday night, but I like the kitchen, bathrooms and LR/DR left for last. My children, who are older, are supposed to do their floor but usually one of the parents goes over their fabulous work (DS1 did a good job). They are supposed to vacuum their rooms, pick up what's on the floor, and dust plus cut toilet paper and do the bathroom.
All week long people need to pick up after themselves, vacuum a few times/week (the houses in Israel get very dusty and there is a lot of fluff on the floor) and sometimes I take a wet rag and mop the floor during the week. Nothing takes more than a few minutes. We don't let the shmutz accumulate. The stove is cleaned after each use, and on Friday we do the grates too. I keep the fridge clean, doing the handle at least once/week and the shelves as needed. It doesn't take long.
I do a lot of laundry, and hang-dry so that consumes a lot of time. Besides Chol HaMoed and the 9 days, I don't let laundry accumulate too much. I wash, hang, fold and put away immediately, which keeps things pretty neat. When I do linens, I wash, hang then put right back on the bed (weather permitting).
I shop on Tuesdays, and I would suggest you have your husband shop by Wednesday the latest. When we lived in the U.S. and I was a SAHM I would shop Thurs morning, then get right to part of the cooking, such as soup, so there were less groceries to put away. I don't understand how people shop for Shabbat last minute (which by me would mean late Thursday) unless they have all day to cook on Friday.
One important thing in my story: although we have 5 children, same as you, we have HUGE spacing (minimum 4 years but mostly 5 years between children) so I never had a bunch of babies who needed to be waited on while I was trying to do something. I think that makes a big difference in my ability to get things done.
I currently work 25 hours/week and have been a bit lax in my housekeeping compared to what I used to do (I keep folded clothes on my dresser, being too lazy to put them away, for example).

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