Friday, March 9, 2007

beautiful noise

Right now, I can't hear my music on the computer as I work downstairs because of the noise coming from upstairs. And I don't care one bit. Why? Because the noise upstairs is of the beautiful sounds of a vacuum cleaner working on my dog-hair, cat-hair, baby-food, dust-covered wood floors and rugs. And the wonderful noise of three housecleaners deep-cleaning my kitchen and bathroom. And the awesome sounds of my furniture being moved around so that the floors can be cleaned. Oh, the beauty of it all. I just feel calmer sitting here. More relaxed. Joyously happy even. I have a smile on my face. I want to get up and jump up and down.

I finally gave in, after three months of trying to clean my own house in an attempt to make-up for having gone to a part-time nonprofit (i.e., major pay cut) job in December. In those three months, I vacuumed once. I tried to mop once. I practically cried in the aisle of Target as I was overwhelmed with all the mops and cleaning supplies. I scrubbed my toilet once. And then, this past week, when the dog tracked in mud and leaves and I found J. eating a leaf on the floor, and I realized that the cost of the cleaners was equal to only about 4 hours of my work hours, and it took about 3-4 hours for me to really clean house, and I realized that I was incredibly stressed about how dirty my floors, bathroom, and carpets had gotten and I had to choose between playing with J, working, or cleaning, I cried "uncle" and gave in. I know when I'm beat, and I'm not ashamed to admit that I can't do it all.

I am going to walk upstairs in about 2 hours and find my house looking like it did back in November, when I last had it professionally cleaned, and I will do a little dance and might even hug the cleaners.

And then, they will be back in two weeks. And two weeks after that. And continue coming until I say stop.

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3 Comments:

  • Good for you! A couple weeks ago a friend told me about her house cleaner and have been considering it ever since. Maybe we should just go for it!

    Thanks for your comment and for telling me I won the quilt prize! :)

    By Blogger Morgan, at March 10, 2007 at 4:27 PM  

  • Yay for you! It's hard to find time to clean. I'm like you--it stresses me out to have a dirty house.

    By Blogger Karen, at March 13, 2007 at 9:56 AM  

  • Hey...no shame in that!! This is my motto on keeping the home clean. When hubby needs some additional help with the car he has to consult a mechanic. This is very similar if not the same as us women consulting some professional help with keeping our homes in order!!

    By Blogger Living to Love, at March 19, 2007 at 6:53 PM  

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