Monday, June 1, 2009

Controversial Monday

I was thinking it might be fun to address some controversial issues on Mondays. You know, important stuff like Medical marijuana, end of life decisions, carrot cake, politics and religion.

So the first Controversial Monday topic is this: Maid Service: To have, or to not to? (to borrow a Materism).

Now, I read "Nickeled and Dimed: How to get by in America". After I read it I resolved never to have a maid. But I am reconsidering. Not a maid service, mind you. Just someone to come and clean my house sometimes. For pay.

I don't like to clean. I have other things to do. I have delusions of grandeur and scrubbing koolaid off the bottom of the fridge doesn't really fit into them.

I have flight nurse envy. If I was a flight nurse I could just be scrubbing vomit off the inside of a helicoptor. And it would probably be mine. *sigh*.

This is scattered.

Bottom line?

What do you think about the Maid Issue. Would you ever hire someone to come clean? how often? Have you ever done it? Do you think it is embarassing? Do you think it is hoity toity? Tell me, tell me, tell me!

I want my comments section to be full of all things Maid!

8 comments:

Rachel said...

Thanks for the chuckle! We did hire a couple of cleaning ladies when we moved to our house. The people who lived here had a teenage girl, two rottweilers, and never cleaned. Need I say more? It helped a lot, but then there was stuff they didn't do, that I thought they would do (we were paying by the hour, so it was to their benefit to clean longer). Anyway, I wouldn't say no to a maid, but then I don't think I could deal with the guilt, thinking of what could be done with the money instead. I think a one time deal would be a great gift though for an overworked wife/mom/homemaker.

Momma Bear said...

I'm all about maid services for moms. I too last year felt how you felt, not sure, didn't like the "idea" of having one...but when I was 8 months pregnant with Joseph I reluctantly but excitedly hired a cleaning service. I loved when the came it was so awesome!!! It was somewhat pricey but a worth it investment at that time. However as I became more and more tired after having Joseph, my third, I wasn't able to keep up on dishes or the rest of the house and so when they'd come they would clean around my dishes and laundry and that was it. So I'm walk into a "just cleaned" room and the dishes were still there and dirty and the floor was vacuumed in another room but crap was still everywhere. I realize now that if I hire someone again I need to make sure they'll do my dishes and my laundry, that's really what I want to pay someone to help me with. Oh and clean my bathroom and vacuum. But mostly those 4 things.

I think it's a great idea if you need it. Go for it and don't look back!! It doesn't say anything negative about you, other than your not super woman-so can you handle deep down not being thought of as super woman?! :)
take care!

Billi Jo said...

Let’s just say I personally have too many underlining issues; perfectionism and OCD instantly come to mind; to hire someone to clean my house. I would, however, hire someone to help create an organizational system to show me the ‘best’ way to utilize our space. I would definitely pay (if there were excess funds) someone to decorate my house and to change those decorations for each season. But I would feel compelled to “deep” clean EVERYTHING prior to their arrival.

peter said...

I don't think there's anything wrong with hiring a cleaning person, and depending on how you do it, it could be an opportunity to help someone out who needs extra money. In other parts of the world, it's a major offense NOT to have a maid if you're middle class or above - the way they look at it, you're denying someone a job opportunity.

One thing to be careful of - if you have a household employee who earns more than a certain amount, you could be on the hook for their payroll taxes.

AlyssaJoy said...

This is an interesting question. I always wish I had a cook because coming up with meal ideas, grocery shopping, and implementing them is a much more monumental task for me than cleaning. I think if you have a maid you shouldn't clean before he/she arrives or it really doesn't pay, and you should pay him/her what he/she deserves. Other than that, we need jobs at all levels in the pay scale and there are people for whom cleaning is their best way to make money.

LS said...

My folks gave me a mother's helper as a Christmas gift when I was struggling with morning sickness. She was an 11 year old, Christian girl who came for about 2 hours once a week. What a nice gift so I could run errands or nap. If I did it again I would hire someone who would cook meals too and was a little older.

I'm all for hiring help as the family expands or the mother gets overwhelmed, and I think most people really can afford it. We live on a very small income and yet we could swing $20 a week for 2-3 hours of help if we wanted to. That could be the best gift in the world from a hubby to a wife. If I were you, I'd find some sweet gal like Bethany S. to come take the boys to the park or keep them contained while you clean or you could take the guys to the park while she cleaned!

I have worked as a house-cleaner/maid when I was just out of highschool and it was hard at times because I didn't know where things went or what exactly she expected me to do. I did my best. The gal I worked for was indeed hoity toity and wanted me to clean up after her spoiled rotten 13 year old daughter and clean her messy room. Imagine that!

Unknown said...

I was going to mention what Peter did about other countries and how it was looked upon there. I think that I would be like Billi and clean before they came(: Of course you do have a sister coming home who has no job and probably won't have much of a life...sooooo maybe she could sit on the couch with you(: haha j/k we would be playing settlers! I personally wouldn't hire a maid cause I would feel guilty about it..but I think each situation is different.

Laura H said...

I never even thought about having a maid until I moved overseas. Peter and Karla are correct to say that in other cultures it is expected. Therefore, I have a maid that comes once a week and cleans my house from top to bottom. She is worth her weight in gold. When life gets busy and the dishes pile up, it is such a relief to come home to a clean house. However, there are definitely days I feel guilty about the pile of dishes and I will wash some of them before she comes! I do think it can be a great way to help someone who needs some income, even for just a few hours.