Time to Fess Up

I suppose I'd better admit it ... I have a cleaning lady. She only comes once a month, but the fact remains, I do have a cleaning lady.

Problem is, I generally have to find the house before she gets here so that she can clean it! Pretty bad, isn't it. She was here on Thursday last week, and I've vowed that I'm going to try and keep the place looking good. My "inner housekeeper" is going to stick around for a whole month. Now, she's never stayed that long before, but I'm being very nice to her, kind and appreciative and supportive. With any luck, she'll see that I'm serious this time and she'll take me seriously.

Why do I have a cleaning lady in the first place? I know, there are only two of us in the house, it shouldn't be that difficult to keep up with things. I've been through this before, trying to get my house in order and keep it that way. But I'd get really frustrated that I'd be cleaning and tidying, and my DH would be sitting watching TV, completely oblivious to everything, never seeing that things around the house need to be done. I finally told him ... either you help me around the house, or we get someone who will. So he agreed to once a month, and that's when Kathy came into our lives. I never see her. She has a key to the house and she arrives after I leave in the morning, and I come home and the house looks and smells wonderful! It's absolutely marvelous!!!

But I’ve got in the habit of letting things slide between Kathy’s visits. My DH is a "piler" … any flat surface he sees as a place to pile papers both large and small. And they multiply all over the house. I just can’t get him to stop, or even to realize that this is a problem.

So far, it’s been 3 days since Kathy’s visit, and the house still looks good. The only pile he has around is of papers and cheques I need to sign tonight. I’ve kept the bathroom clean. The kitchen sink sparkles and the table is clean. The bed is made. There are a few rough areas that were rough before Kathy got there and it’s not her responsibility to find a home for our “stuff”. I still need to do that.

But, so far so good. Let’s keep fingers, toes and eyes crossed that I can keep it up!