Cleaning: It's OK to Outsource

I grew up with a stay-at-home mom who did it all. She cooked full dinners, baked like crazy, kept the house super clean, was the queen of crafts, and volunteered constantly in our schools. One might call her Super Mom.

Somehow, this apple fell a little further away from the tree. I work a full time (often more) job, cannot stand crafts, and do not find joy in a spotless window.

My first year of being a mom was tough for the many, many reasons they tend to be for all of us. I was constantly feeling like my world was in disarray, because my house was a disaster. My husband and I would spend hours every Saturday taking turns watching our son while the other scrubbed, vacuumed, swept, and dusted. And those were only the Saturdays we didn't have other stuff going on or when people were actually coming over.

I finally brought up hiring a cleaning service. It wasn't easy and came with an incredible amount of guilt at not being able to handle it myself. Isn't 'ability to clean' a mandatory part of being a mom? How could I justify the money? As I struggled with those questions, my husband shook his head. For him, it was a principle thing. He felt we had to better schedule our cleaning times, make fewer social plans, find other ways to stay on top of it all. His points were valid, but I realized this: Any extra time I have should be spent with my son and, when I look back on our life, I don't want to remember giving up time with friends for time with a broom. I did the math and realized that if we packed lunches for work, we would more than cover the cost of a cleaning service.

I let go of my guilt, told my husband my sanity depended on it, and set up an appointment. Three hours later the house was cleaner than we would have gotten it and life just seemed a little brighter. I proved my point. Then every month I'd call and set something up until I found a woman that I liked (there was a lot of trial and error). Once I got the call that she had an opening every other Thursday, it became a regular part of our life.

Months later, we are a happier family, living in a cleaner house. My husband agrees that when "I'm right about something, I'm really right." We're still brown bagging it for lunch and every now and then I still feel a little guilty about someone else doing my dusting. But, all of that is nothing compared the feeling of having a clean house every other week. Moms constantly live in a state of guilt, deciding you need help shouldn't add another layer of guilt to life.

If corporations can outsource, so can the CEO of this family.

Lisa blogs at Hannemaniacs, yet another reason for outsourcing the cleaning.

Photo courtesy of Suat Eman / FreeDigitalpPotos.net.