A few weeks ago, I hired someone to come in once a week to clean my house for a couple of hours.

I’m feeling a bit guilty about it.

But I’m also not.

I mean, I’m a WAHM. I should be able to keep on top of my 4-bedroom, 1-bath, 1,090 sqaure-ft-house, right?

I SHOULD be able to, but I’m not.

I keep thinking of the things I’ve got on my plate to justify my decision:

I homeschool.

I work at home.

I have a toddler.

I have  a tween and a teenager.

I have a big, 6’4 husband.

And one bathroom.

AND VERY LITTLE STORAGE SPACE AND NO GARAGE.

It seems like someone sneezes and it gets messy.

A lot of this is my nature…I LOVE a clean house. Floors so clean you can walk barefoot without anything collecting on the bottom of your feet, bathrooms that have a faint smell of bleach and lemon-tinged furniture polish. And yet…if something needs to slide in my life, it’s house keeping.

I’ve never been great at it.

Oh, I am an AMAZING cleaner. I can (and do) clean to a microscopic level.  When I clean, I CLEAN.

I am just not so awesome at doing it every day. I let things clutter. I suck at scheduled, repetitive tasks.  I always have. I marvel at people who have a set and sacred “laundry day”. The only thing that is consistent about me is my inconsistency. :)

I wish it were different, but that is just the way it is.

My husband pitches in a LOT but he works full time, too.

When our house is in chaos Jonathan gets justifiabally grumpy (though he RARELY vocalizes it) and I feel grumpy and utterly failure-ish, too.

We both love a clean and ordered house, but we’re also not optimal at having it stay that way.

Yet, it is really essential for our peace of mind as well. Everything just runs and feels better.

A few weeks ago, I looked around at the chores that needed doing and how overwhelmed I felt and went to talk to Jonathan. I looked at him and said, “I’m working a lot more, you are about to get very busy at work with the new contracts you signed,  and I think this is necessary for us to be less stressed and happier.”

So, I did it.

And it has helped. For some reason, that 2-hours of help I have a week makes a world of difference to how my house looks and runs.  It gives me just enough help that I don’t feel so overwhelmed. Plus, it ensures that I will stay more on top of things done before she comes because I don’t want to waste her time picking up clutter. I’d rather her deep clean.

So, here I sit working while Gabriella THE AMAZING is here fluttering around my house.

My floors look AMAZING.

My bathroom smells like bleach.

My furniture is gleaming.

I am happy.

“MOM!!!!!”

“Yes, son?”

“Who is Mother Teresa?”

“Mother Teresa was a universally beloved Catholic nun who spent most of her life helping the poor, sick and afflicted in India. She’s known as one of the most humble, kind and selfless women in history.”

“I KNEW IT! I knew she wasn’t a stripper like brother kept telling me!!!!”

I saw this comment to a question on a Jeep Cherokee forum on a site that I love and I got mighty curious what the response would be in my little corner of the Internet.

So, my boyfriend bought a ’96 Cherokee (XJ) SE, for way too much, like around $3,000. It broke down and he has put another $2,500 in it and totally rebuilt the engine and did a lot of after market work on it. He has and will do all the labor himself, he refuses to pay for labor. Now, he finds out that the motor needs to be taken back out and fixed again and is looking at another $700. I said he should just sell it and wipe his hands clean, he says he won’t make enough.

**

So…what did you think?

Did you laugh?

Did it piss you off?

Find it too sterotypical?

Who do you think is in the right? Him? Her? Both? Neither?

Did it strike a little too close to home (either way) or…did it just make you want to go off-roading?

Forum is open to the peanut gallery for commentary.