I need to start off this post by telling you something… Santa comes to my house for a couple hours every month! Well, her name isn’t actually Santa; her name is Jenny. And instead of bringing me presents, she brings her mop, vacuum, wipes of all kinds, magic towels, and miracle cleaning solutions. She is a home cleaner, and every time she comes it feels like Christmas!! I find myself counting down the days, hours, minutes until cleaning day arrives. And then I get giddy as I anticipate the wonder of my clean house. It is absolutely glorious!
I can’t take credit for the idea of hiring Jenny though. A few months ago, a girlfriend and I were chatting while our kids played. We were talking about the seemingly endless list of duties that accompany motherhood. My friend had realized that while she could buckle down and make a noticeable dent in the mom to-do list, it would likely require sacrificing other meaningful tasks like self-care activities, interactions with friends, or time spent enjoying her family. My friend decided that if she was trying to prioritize her time, the time spent cleaning her house wasn’t worth it. So, she hired a cleaning service of her own.
This really resonated with me. I am constantly making mental tallies of all the things yet to be done. Throughout my day, I frequently come face to face with the many parts of my dirty house that only act as reminders of all the chores I haven’t gotten to yet. And, if I’m being honest, in this season of life I am only able to complete the necessities; anything beyond that is simply not on my radar.
As I thought more about our conversation, I felt a little silly to be honest. Why had I never thought of hiring someone to clean my house?! I think part of it was simply my assumption that hiring someone would incur a huge expense. But I was pleasantly surprised at how affordable hiring a cleaner actually can be! I can have someone come and clean my house once a month for the same cost as a fancy date night out. So the real question became – why not?!
Some of you may be wondering what she does when she comes. My cleaning lady doesn’t come and clean everything. I am in still in charge of all the daily chores and messes. But Jenny is able to conquer some of the items that fall under the ‘deep cleaning’ category. She regularly sweeps and mops the kitchen floor, wipes all the cabinet fronts, scrubs the inside of my microwave, dusts anywhere that needs dusting, and washes windows. I also asked that she focus on the bathroom. With four boys (three under the age of 6) living in the house, she has her work cut out for her. She happily gives the bathroom a once over including the shower, floor, vanity and fixtures. I can also request any additional projects that I would like her to tackle. It is amazing what she can get done in a few hours!
When Jenny first started, she said something that hit home for me. She said, “You deserve the help.” We were talking about my busy boys and the messy nature of my in-home daycare business. And while I may be prone to some extra mess than the average house, I think she was exactly right – EVERYONE deserves the help! Every mom who struggles to maintain the necessities is deserving of help! So as Christmas approaches, I wonder if maybe someone out there needs Santa to start visiting once or twice a month for a couple hours. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I hired Jenny to start cleaning my house, but I have never regretted it for one second. My friend was right, the time spent deep cleaning my house wasn’t worth it – so I hired Santa.
