I don't use a cleaning lady

luckyme

Mon, Nov 10 2008, 6:14 pm

[quote="Raisin
I'd love to know if anyone with 5+ kids does not have cleaning help, and if they succeed in keeping hteir house clean and themselves sane.[/quote]
Me.
While I love having a clean house, I loathe the actual cleaning part and delegate, delegate, delegate! A cleaning lady is unfortunately not in my budget. Since some of my kids are older, I give them jobs up to their abilities, boys and girls alike. Oldest do the dishes, younger ones set the table. Oldest dust, little ones pick up stuff off the floor, etc. Husband does the laundry and I had to laugh at the comment about floors being done by men & shiksas as DH does the floors around here LOL

! I do the cooking and the bathrooms, oh and about once a month we do stuff like clean out the fridge and wash the walls.
My house usually looks cluttered, but I feel its clean enough. I would MUCH rather hang out with DH and the kids than have a spotless house.
For me, I hold by 2 adages:
1. a house is a home -not a museum.
2. a saying that hung on my bubbes wall all my life
"Cleaning and scrubbing can wait til tomorrow,
for babies grow up we've learned to our sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs, dust go to sleep,
I'm rocking my baby & babies don't keep".

Raisin

Mon, Nov 10 2008, 6:41 pm

luckyme wrote:

[quote="Raisin
I'd love to know if anyone with 5+ kids does not have cleaning help, and if they succeed in keeping hteir house clean and themselves sane.

Me.
While I love having a clean house, I loathe the actual cleaning part and delegate, delegate, delegate! A cleaning lady is unfortunately not in my budget. Since some of my kids are older, I give them jobs up to their abilities, boys and girls alike. Oldest do the dishes, younger ones set the table. Oldest dust, little ones pick up stuff off the floor, etc. Husband does the laundry and I had to laugh at the comment about floors being done by men & shiksas as DH does the floors around here LOL

flowerpower

Mon, Nov 10 2008, 7:14 pm

I love cleaning. My house is organized and clean for the most part. I love washing and scrubbing but at one point it just exausts you and you would rather save your energy. I get a cleaning lady for 3 hours a week. If she doesn't come I do it myself.

mommy24

Mon, Nov 10 2008, 7:35 pm

I have 5 kids 8 and under, and have no help. I used to have help, but we had to cut corners and although my husband would rather I shop a little less at target I chose to get rid of the cleaning help that came once a week for 4 hours.

I can't say my house is cleaned or organized as much as I'd like, but we try. my husband leaves for work before 8 in the morninng and doesn't come home till 9, if I am lucky- and then he usually learns so I really can't ask him for too much help.

We use a lot of plastic and paper, unless I know I have the time to wash.

Each kid, except the baby has a few jobs- ie take out garbage, empty garbage from certain rooms, cleam the windows, clean the radiators, pick up toys, etc.

Toys are only allowed in one room, and htat room must be cleaned before bedtime.

There are certain rules kids must follow, make beds each morning- I usually fix them later, putting clothes in the dirty laundry, putting shoes away when they come home, as well as backpacks and coats.

Bathrooms are my biggest issue- becuase I feel the moment I finish cleaning it, someone goes in and its filthy and smells- but I try to clean them every other day. more than that I just can't do.

The main thing, I think is getting the kids involved as much as possible-

apple24

Mon, Nov 10 2008, 9:57 pm

Where I live it is very common to have your nanny clean your house too. For us, it was cheaper to have a nanny/cleaning lady come to our house 30 hours a week, then it was for us to send our baby out to daycare. She does all the laundry and ironing, scrubbing, mopping, organizing, and straightening up. She is also excellent with the baby.

I work 2 jobs, and have 3 under 4, I seriously could not imagine is any other way!

octopus

Mon, Nov 10 2008, 10:05 pm

apple24 wrote:

I would love to know her secret of getting it all done.

dillie

Mon, Nov 10 2008, 10:28 pm

Raisin wrote:

"Cleaning and scrubbing can wait til tomorrow,
for babies grow up we've learned to our sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs, dust go to sleep,
I'm rocking my baby & babies don't keep".

[/quote]

I really like that. I'm a little OCD with the cleaning, and I'm tempted to copy it onto a card and put it someplace I could see it every day...
But then other people could see it too, and I'm not interested in comments.

nicole81

Mon, Nov 10 2008, 10:41 pm

um yeah, I work full time. am up at 6, and come home at 4. I have 3 hours with my kids each day, during which I am not cleaning! but I am cooking, straightening up, and taking care of the kids.

then I put them to bed and either head to college (2 nights a week) or do laundry and prep for work for the next day until about midnight. plus I get some me time, too.

maybe someone else could manage my life differently, but I have a packed schedule. cleaning is the least of my priorities. I try to have someone every 2 weeks, but honestly my house stays nice for about 2 or 3 days, and I'm just waiting it out until she can come again!

pecan

Sun, Nov 16 2008, 11:27 pm

A nice story I thought I'd share. My aunt was overwhelmed with many kids close in age, so she went to the Lubavitcher Rebbe and told him that she can't cope. He gave her $100 (In those days, that was a lot of money) and he told her that whatever help she had, she should get double. And that she shouldn't look in the corners.