Too Many Questions, Too Little Time
Yesterday morning, I started taking a very hard look at my finances. Yes, we have substantial debt; yes, it's about to increase significantly with the arrival of Moosebaby and the resultant hospital/doctor bills, the increased childcare expense, oh, and let's not forget the bills associated with Bob's most recent episode. Still--we're making payments, and with my husband now making a little more money, we might be able to make a few extravagant purchases here and there.
Which is why I got on craig's fantastic list and started looking at house cleaning services. I found one who sounded right up my alley and made an appointment for her to come to the house to give me an estimate this evening.
I told Ben last night, and the look on his face was purely male.
"I don't really see that that's necessary."
Oh, you don't? Why not?
"Well, I clean."
Yes, dear, of course you do. But you're a dude. And your idea of clean and mine, well...
"Hey, I cleaned Friday, and I did a good job."
Okay--what exactly did you do?
"Vaccuumed, straightened up..."
Did you sweep the floors? (Because there was a large area full of dust and animal hair swept up by yours truly on Sunday morning.)
"Yes."
Did you sweep the floors in our bedroom?
"Yes." (Again, given what I found in there Sunday morning, this is highly suspect.)
Did you vaccuum in our room?
"No."
Did you dust? Anywhere?
"Well...no."
Did you clean the bathrooms?
"No. But I wasn't going to clean the whole house."
Why not?
"Well, because, it was Friday afternoon, and I..."
...didn't want to?
"No."
But you think, for some reason, I wanted to?
"Well, no, but..."
Uh-huh. My point exactly. I don't particularly enjoy spending three hours or so every weekend cleaning the house to my own standards. So if I want to pay someone else to do it every other week, why not?
"Okay, it's your money."
(Snort.)
Unfortunately, the cleaning lady emailed me this morning that she filled her available time slot, so she won't be coming over this evening, after all. Dammit. I did, however, schedule an appointment with someone else for Thursday. I just hope it doesn't end up being another Angela situation.
Angela was the housekeeper I hired after Bob was born and I realized I could not work full-time from home, care for an infant, AND keep the house from being a disaster (and no, db would not stoop so low as to perform "woman's work"). She only charged me $40 a week and she was fabulous. She scrubbed all my floors by hand. She took every item off every shelf and dusted it and replaced it. She did dishes (we didn't have a dishwasher). She folded laundry. The whole place sparkled when she left. She came every Friday and I loved her for a whole month. Then she didn't show one Friday, and a friend of hers called me two hours after she was supposed to be there and said she'd had a car accident on her way to my house and wouldn't be there that day. Three days later, she showed up in her (undamaged) car and apologized, asking if I still wanted her. Well, sure, but please be prompt. She came the next day and did her usual fantastic job. Then I never saw her again. I tried to call her and her phone was disconnected. I wept like a Sicilian mourner. I tried a service, but they never did the job Angela did, so I fired them. Eventually I just tossed out the biggest mess-makers (db and his dog).
So yeah, I approach potential housekeepers the way a jilted lover approaches prospects on Match dot com.
I'm very curious as to how Bob's day at school is going. He was Mr. Drag-Ass all weekend, which I attributed to the new medication, which I was told might "make him a little drowsy." Then last night, I went to Target and had a near-dreadful gastrointestinal experience, which I attributed to being pregnant and having consumed cream-cheese stuffed jalapenos for dinner. Then I put Bob to bed and discovered rather old vomit on his blankets, which he couldn't remember when exactly it got there. Then today, our receptionist called in sick with the same gastrointestinal virus that's sweeping the 'hood. So now I'm wondering, has Bob been tired and sick because he's sick, or because of his medication? Has he been in a better humor because of the medication, or because he's sick? And why didn't anyone tell me raising children required a Ph.D. before I had them?
Which is why I got on craig's fantastic list and started looking at house cleaning services. I found one who sounded right up my alley and made an appointment for her to come to the house to give me an estimate this evening.
I told Ben last night, and the look on his face was purely male.
"I don't really see that that's necessary."
Oh, you don't? Why not?
"Well, I clean."
Yes, dear, of course you do. But you're a dude. And your idea of clean and mine, well...
"Hey, I cleaned Friday, and I did a good job."
Okay--what exactly did you do?
"Vaccuumed, straightened up..."
Did you sweep the floors? (Because there was a large area full of dust and animal hair swept up by yours truly on Sunday morning.)
"Yes."
Did you sweep the floors in our bedroom?
"Yes." (Again, given what I found in there Sunday morning, this is highly suspect.)
Did you vaccuum in our room?
"No."
Did you dust? Anywhere?
"Well...no."
Did you clean the bathrooms?
"No. But I wasn't going to clean the whole house."
Why not?
"Well, because, it was Friday afternoon, and I..."
...didn't want to?
"No."
But you think, for some reason, I wanted to?
"Well, no, but..."
Uh-huh. My point exactly. I don't particularly enjoy spending three hours or so every weekend cleaning the house to my own standards. So if I want to pay someone else to do it every other week, why not?
"Okay, it's your money."
(Snort.)
Unfortunately, the cleaning lady emailed me this morning that she filled her available time slot, so she won't be coming over this evening, after all. Dammit. I did, however, schedule an appointment with someone else for Thursday. I just hope it doesn't end up being another Angela situation.
Angela was the housekeeper I hired after Bob was born and I realized I could not work full-time from home, care for an infant, AND keep the house from being a disaster (and no, db would not stoop so low as to perform "woman's work"). She only charged me $40 a week and she was fabulous. She scrubbed all my floors by hand. She took every item off every shelf and dusted it and replaced it. She did dishes (we didn't have a dishwasher). She folded laundry. The whole place sparkled when she left. She came every Friday and I loved her for a whole month. Then she didn't show one Friday, and a friend of hers called me two hours after she was supposed to be there and said she'd had a car accident on her way to my house and wouldn't be there that day. Three days later, she showed up in her (undamaged) car and apologized, asking if I still wanted her. Well, sure, but please be prompt. She came the next day and did her usual fantastic job. Then I never saw her again. I tried to call her and her phone was disconnected. I wept like a Sicilian mourner. I tried a service, but they never did the job Angela did, so I fired them. Eventually I just tossed out the biggest mess-makers (db and his dog).
So yeah, I approach potential housekeepers the way a jilted lover approaches prospects on Match dot com.
I'm very curious as to how Bob's day at school is going. He was Mr. Drag-Ass all weekend, which I attributed to the new medication, which I was told might "make him a little drowsy." Then last night, I went to Target and had a near-dreadful gastrointestinal experience, which I attributed to being pregnant and having consumed cream-cheese stuffed jalapenos for dinner. Then I put Bob to bed and discovered rather old vomit on his blankets, which he couldn't remember when exactly it got there. Then today, our receptionist called in sick with the same gastrointestinal virus that's sweeping the 'hood. So now I'm wondering, has Bob been tired and sick because he's sick, or because of his medication? Has he been in a better humor because of the medication, or because he's sick? And why didn't anyone tell me raising children required a Ph.D. before I had them?
posted by Mitzi Green at 10:40 AM
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