Help Wanted

My increasing work schedule and responsibilities have forced Scott and me to reevaluate the division of labor within our household. I suppose this is a nice way of saying that I have refused to keep all of my responsibilities as a stay-at-home Mom since I'm working full time. For the first few weeks I tried to do everything but quickly realized that I was rendered exhausted and resentful by the end of the day. It became clear that things were going to have to change.

In order to lighten my load, it was agreed that we would hire somebody to clean our home twice a month. I was excited about this decision because I hate to clean. The thought of a crew of people coming into my home to scrub and polish the grime and dirt away felt like a wonderful luxury!

Unfortunately hiring a cleaning crew has morphed from a luxury into a headache. We have been trying to hire a professional service since October. I never thought it would be this hard to hire somebody but it seems that either they can't be trusted or they don't really want the job. This "time saving move" has turned into a logistical nightmare requiring more of my attention than I anticipated.

Our first cleaning service, highly recommended on Yelp, left both Scott and me surprised by the number of trash bags piled up outside. We knew that he had acquired our share of ad circulars and old magazines, but we were embarrassed by the mountain of trash that we had apparently been harboring. As the afternoon wore on I began to notice that I couldn't find certain items, particularly Robby's favorite cups, my travel coffee mugs and most upsetting--Black Bear.

Robby has slept with Black Bear since he was an infant, and although the stuffed animal looks dirty and dingy to others, we see him as well-loved and experienced. We began looking for Black Bear after dinner. When we weren't able to locate him, something told me to venture outside to the looming trash mountain that had been collected by the cleaners. 

My angst about digging in the trash quickly turned into the exhilaration of a treasure hunt. The cleaners didn't throw away old newspapers and magazines. They had simply collected everything that they didn't want to clean and anything that they considered clutter into trash bags to be thrown away. Inside the bags I found my travel mugs, all of Robby's CARS cups, a flash drive, two sweaters, a pair of Robby's pajamas, numerous cat toys and Black Bear.

Obviously, we needed to keep looking for a different cleaning service. The next company that I called failed to clean half of my house but charged me full price. Another simply didn't show up after scheduling two separate appointments. A highly rated company stayed for 90 minutes yet charged me for a full 2 hours. Although they did a great job cleaning, the discrepancy in time made me question their honesty.

I never imagined it would be this difficult to hire a cleaning service. I'm shocked by the lack of communication, work ethic and honesty that has been demonstrated by so many! Although I'm frustrated, I haven't given up hope. We still need somebody to help with the housework.  Today I have a new company coming to clean. Hopefully they will work out because, to be honest, I'm tired of looking!