A couple of years ago, I had a cleaning woman who used to drive my blood pressure up on a bimonthly basis.
Every time, it was something different. She canceled or switched her day a few times due to some issue with her son. Other times, she would leave me these notes, saying anything from "I need more money for the day I just cleaned" to "I can't clean the microwave, that's extra" to "I don't want to take your trash out anymore." I used to dread her little notes. She never did the dishes. I mean, we had a dishwasher, so occasionally, there'd be a few spare dishes in the sink. And she'd just leave them there. That's the ultimate insult--to pay someone all this money to clean your house, and then you come home to dirty dishes in the sink.
I let it go on because she'd come well recommended so I truly believed that this was the best cleaning people could be. Now we have an actual decent cleaning person and not one note in nearly two years complaining about something he didn't want to clean.
Anyway, after this woman acted like a complete flake for several months, one day she left me a slightly different kind of note: it was a photocopy of her BLS certification, and an offer to babysit for me if I wanted.
Right, because you've already proven yourself completely unreliable for cleaning my house. Naturally, I'd trust you with my child. If she had a dirty diaper, I'd probably just find a note stuck to it when I came home, saying she didn't change those.
It amazes me how people will act like total flakes and then expect you to hire them for childcare. That is one thing I won't do. When we were looking for nannies years ago, we scheduled two appointments on two different days at 3PM. At 3:15PM on the first day (late), a nanny showed up. Except it was the wrong nanny. One of the two nannies showed up on the wrong day and the other didn't show up at all! We literally ended up hiring the first nanny who showed up at the correct time and date.
I had a cleaning person who, the first time I hired her, complained to me that the kitchen floor had been really dirty and she'd had to scrub it on her hands and knees. I was like, "Duh, this is why I hired you."
ReplyDeleteDon't get me started about the flakey babysitters.
I just can't fathom how a cleaning person could complain about having to clean certain basic things. Like dishes. How could there be cleaning person who doesn't do dishes??
DeleteI know its the ultimate first world problem to complain about your cleaning person, but mine doesn't clean the microwave or fridge either. She does do the dishes though at least, if there are any in the sink.
ReplyDeleteER MD
Having my fridge cleaned seems far too much to hope for. Even now, I pay $10 extra for the oven.
DeleteActually, the developing countries I've lived in are the only places where I've had a person to clean! It's much more common (affordable) - and not just amongst expatriates - than home. :)
DeleteThis is true. It is affordable and commonplace to have "house helps" as they are called in Nigeria. They come with their fair share of problems though and sometimes they are not worth the headache.
DeleteNot worth the headache for me. My house must be cleaned weekly. That's provided I always scrub kitchen floor on all fours daily.I totally spent this(house cleaning) money on my children's extracurricular (expensive) activities. Managing nannies has been hard enough. Cannot bring myself to dealing with one more person. Besides a lot of my friends either overpay cleaners to "do everything" or constantly complain about them.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry for your problems (all of you). We started with a cleaning service (locally owned) about 15 years ago and they are the best! No, they don't clean my fridge - but they do dishes, the stove - and they don't complain about cleaning. I don't know what I'd do without them! Oh, and the same woman has been coming to my house for 10 of those 15 years...
ReplyDeleteIs it reasonable to ask the cleaning service to do your windows? Perhaps for an extra fee? My husband and I disagree about this. He thinks they should just do it. I think maybe they will do it if we pay extra.
ReplyDelete-Grace
Windows are a HUGE job. They usually charge extra, although when my son was little they would remove his little fingerprints from the large slider in the livingroom free of charge.
ReplyDelete